More than one year into the global pandemic, as the economy around the world and in the region gradually recovers, small to medium enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore are expecting a brighter outlook for the future.
In the latest SBF-Experian SME Index released by the Singapore Business Federation, business sentiments for the six-month period from April to September 2021 are at their highest ever since the start of the pandemic in the first quarter of 2020.
SMEs are looking at business expansion opportunities and are expecting to step up on hiring. With many businesses becoming digital-first today, the questions here are, how and where should SMEs focus their resources and efforts at this juncture?
The scramble we all experienced 15 months ago as we migrated to more agile, flexible work methodologies underlines just how important technology has become.
And it will only become more central to the way businesses are run as both big and small organisations put in place hybrid working solutions.
Our 2020 Asia Pacific SMB Digital Maturity Study reveals that 69 per cent of small to medium businesses (SMB) in Asia Pacific are accelerating their digitalisation rates to address COVID-19 challenges.
Also Read: BukuWarung rakes in US$60M to build an OS for Indonesia’s 60M MSMEs
However, while we all intuitively know the importance of IT, managing it is a very different proposition, particularly if you are a small business with dozens of issues competing for your time and attention.
Most micro-businesses operate with either one or two people helping to keep things running and operating an ad-hoc help desk. According to the same study, lack of digital skills and talent is the top challenge for SMBs undergoing digital transformation.
With IT so central to the success of businesses, and with the accelerated evolution of the IT function, what role should an IT team or department play in SMEs?
Working with SMEs across the Asia Pacific region, there are three critical questions SME owners need to ask themselves when they consider their investments in the IT function:
Would a failure in your IT systems stop your business from operating?
Some businesses can manage pretty well if their IT systems face a temporary outage, or even for an extended period of time. While it might be inconvenient, and an increasing struggle with employees working remotely, a small bookkeeping firm, for example, could likely survive for a few days if there was an IT failure.
But imagine the impact for an online retailer? Without their website and the backend systems, the business would grind to a halt almost instantly and with it, revenues. And an extended stoppage would have long-term consequences as customers choose other retailers.
Is cybersecurity risk to your short-term operating viability, and your long-term success?
For companies that depend on the Internet, a cybersecurity incident could be catastrophic. Let’s take the example of our online retailer again. A Denial-of-Service attack – where a website is targeted with so much traffic it stops working – would bring revenue streams grinding to a halt within minutes.
But consider the impact of a data breach; customer trust could be seriously affected if credit card data was stolen. That is the kind of threat that can close businesses within just a few weeks.
Could technology help accelerate your business?
Technologies such as big data and AI are revolutionising the way businesses are able to identify business opportunities. While often the preserve of larger firms, the rapidly decreasing costs of both of these technologies and the rise of many tech-first emerging businesses are bringing them into the sphere of even the smallest of firms.
With the benefit of agility, smaller businesses can then take advantage of changing trends and get ahead of larger organisations.
If you answered “yes” to these questions, IT should be a central part of your business strategy which supports the resilience and drives growth. It also means that you require dedicated expertise in each of these areas, rather than a “jack of all trades” kind of IT personnel.
Also Read: 4 ways to protect your business from cybersecurity threats
The evolution of IT: From technical support to driver of growth and innovation
As we have seen, IT teams are – or should be – more than just IT support functions helping people deal with laptop issues. At their best, IT teams should be a central part of driving a business towards its objectives.
Our 2020 Asia Pacific SMB Digital Maturity Study classifies SMBs across four stages of digital maturity, starting with the earliest stage of Digital Indifferent to the more advanced group of Digital Challenger and finally, Digital Native.
In terms of people and skills, Digital Indifferent SMBs are characterised by a lack of digital skills, while Digital Challengers make strategic investments in talent and Digital Natives see talent as a top priority and competitive differentiator.
The study found that Digital Challengers generate 50 per cent higher sales and productivity growth, while Digital Natives are able to grow their revenue twice as fast as SMBs in the early stages of digital maturity.
Other than making sure that all aspects of the IT infrastructure function smoothly, the IT function should ensure that the team stays on top of developments in technology including cybersecurity and data privacy regulations so they can recommend smooth, long-term upgrade paths that contribute to revenue and productivity growth.
The IT team – or its most senior member – should be a core part of the management team. They can bring their expertise to bear on all aspects of an organisation that might require technology to work or excel.
Whether that is putting in place HR management software or customer relationship tools, the IT team can help smooth the way from identifying possible vendors to the roll-out.
Given all of this, it goes without saying that IT teams must have excellent technical skills. But one aspect that is often overlooked is “soft” skills.
With the role that technology plays across a business, everyone in the IT team needs to come armed with more than just programming and technology skills: they need the ability to get on with colleagues, create alliances, and drive consensus.
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If you are in a place to do more than 20 with out
resting, add resistance with weight in your again and/or elevate your
toes (doing the latter will focus this more in your upper pecs).
If you give out before hitting 20 reps or you add resistance as
explained above, the pushup is an okay chest train. The pectoralis major is responsible for key arm movements that you just do daily.
By training your chest muscle tissue, you enhance useful power and make daily tasks simpler.
This is amplified by stronger arms and shoulders which are often a
byproduct of chest workouts.
Diamond push-up is an in depth grip variation that allows you to emphasize the tricep and mid-line of the chest.
Moreover, various the depth and volume of your workouts
can help in reaching general strength gains and muscle
growth. Strive incorporating these advanced techniques gradually to elevate your chest workout intensity.
In addition to the Barbell Flat Bench Press and the Horizontal Cable Crossover I
confirmed you above, I’ve got a couple more favorite workout routines for mid chest.
We can do this by making sure we select workouts that follow the varying orientations
of the upper, mid and decrease chest fibers. There are a number of issues you want to do to build a strong, muscular, well-developed chest with dumbbells.
Dumbbells are extra versatile so you’ll be able to transfer
your arms in a means that’s snug for your joints.
In the shoulder girdle, the serratus anterior and
pectoralis minor are the main muscle tissue concerned.
When well-developed, the serratus anterior — located on the edges of the body under the armpits — can be seen as
fingerlike projections immediately above the external obliques.
The pectoralis minor is positioned on the chest beneath the pectoralis main.
The dumbbell reverse bench press is kind of a common bench
press besides you’re holding the dumbbells in reverse (underhand grip) and your
arm positioning is somewhat closer to the physique.
The dumbbell fly is a traditional accent exercise for opening up the complete chest,
enhancing vary of motion, and building strong definition of your
internal chest. The dumbbell twisted fly is the same
exact concept but it allows for even more muscle fiber activation.
This exercise primarily targets the muscular tissues of the chest, particularly
the pectoralis main, as properly as engaging the latissimus dorsi and triceps.
It’s an effective method to have interaction multiple muscle groups for general upper
physique strength and improvement. This step-by-step
information is broken down into sections to help you find exactly the information you’re on the lookout for on chest day.
Plus I’ll direct you to a resistance training plan that can assist you get a strong chest no matter
what tools you might have available. The higher chest, which
is your clavicular head, is activated most when transferring your arms up (shoulder flexion)
or press at an upward angle. So, exercises like
incline dumbbell presses, incline flys, and seated or standing low to excessive flys will
best target your upper chest.
You can’t do justice to the exercise program in case you are not paying enough emphasis to diet.
In this half, we are going to cowl the dietary side of constructing a a lot bigger
and stronger chest. Plyo pushups are an advanced variation that
provides a “jumping” element to common pushups.
These pushups add explosive power to the chest, triceps, shoulders, and
core. Gaining most energy and muscle mass is the final word goal
of bulking phase, and we now have designed a training routine preserving that in thoughts.
Take your pec improvement to an entire new degree with the best
chest exercises.
Subsequent is a dumbbell chest exercise and not utilizing a bench — the dumbbell chest fly.
It enhances muscle stretch and contraction, enhancing chest shape and
suppleness. This motion isolates the pecs, decreasing reliance on the triceps and shoulders.
It employs multiple muscle groups at the similar time and, in some cases, can set off
a hormonal response. The pecs, or pectoralis major, is
what we all know as the chest and is a large,
fan-shaped muscle. The chest (pec major)
is composed of two muscle heads, sometimes considered the upper and lower chest.
These muscle heads work collectively to perform rotation and pushing movements, like the bench press.
Work out your chest muscles and hit your back, and you’re simultaneously working your higher arms too.
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