Small-sized businesses invest around 9 percent of their annual revenues on technology, which is three times more than the amount spent by large companies. According to a survey, over half of the small-scale business owners would like to invest more money in technology. This confirms the belief that software is an essential source of revenue, growth and operational efficiency in this segment. Smaller companies do not, however, spend the majority of their money on low-code platforms or the resources required to scale and manage customized apps. Why do small companies not use low-code platforms?
Small companies do utilize low-code platforms to develop applications and services, as we have seen from the size of certain Zoho Creator Platform customers. Yet, most small businesses are hesitant about the perceived costs and the complexity of designing custom apps. This is especially true for upmarket businesses, medium-sized firms, and enterprises that can tap into the expertise of IT to create specific, code-intensive apps and advanced system integrations, all of which are extremely scalable and integrated into the tech infrastructure of their enterprise. All of this is not crucial to the average small-sized business owner; however, if this article does one thing, it’s to dispel the notion that low-code development of apps is only intended for IT and doesn’t offer any benefit small-sized businesses.
Are you able to build an app too much for a small-sized business?
We’ve observed when studying Zoho’s Creator Platform customers that a large number of small-scale business users have created, implemented, and managed crucial applications with no or little knowledge of coding. Business users who are not technical have developed all kinds of software for workflow management. These sales tools are custom to customer databases and recruitment systems, all of which have added immense value to their businesses and customers. Analysts say this is where low-code is headed: away from IT and to the hands of citizen developers. Gartner estimates that in 2024, 80 percent of the technology-related items and applications will be created by people who are not in IT. This is a reality that is very likely if non-technical users have confidence in low-code platforms. This is already occurring, though it’s not as fast.
How do you build applications without programming?
Let’s take the example of creating an application for sales… Utilizing Zoho’s Creator Platform, users can drag and drop various fields for data such as customer name, salesperson name, contact details, the date of sale, the description of the product and line items, etc.–onto an online workspace in one window. Users can manage the security and permissions for each field or the app in an options menu that allows them to filter out duplicate data. A majority of low code platforms come with visual blueprints that permit users to control the flow of data and trigger actions and automation by adding or eliminating processes or procedures. If a potential client contacts the company with an inquiry about the product, for instance, it is possible that the application could be programmed so that it will send a response to a form and simultaneously notify a specific sales rep based on specific requirements of the customer, like time of day and the location. The initial app creation process isn’t as complicated as launching the landing page with the website builder. The benefits for small-scale companies are astronomical when compared with standard tools.
What are the advantages?
The primary benefit of slow use of software for small companies is the expense. Smaller companies already invest most of their revenue in technology. Reducing that expenditure by implementing mission-critical apps that help improve the customer experience has huge implications for businesses with small margins and scarce funds and capital. Custom applications also enable small-sized businesses to be more effective in recruitment, sales, and retention strategies. They also facilitate data flow and consolidation. As low-code users gain experience in creating tools and applications, their applications’ complexity and integration with the wider software ecosystem go up. Instead of having to pull customers’ information from a spreadsheet and then expose the data to analytics to extract useful insights, low-code users can create central databases that integrate with business intelligence software to determine when and what the customers are buying. Similar processes can be implemented for internal teams, too, constructing tools to evaluate teams’ performance and formulate strategies based on accurate data so that the company is more efficient and efficient.
Does it matter?
For small businesses struggling to look beyond the problems of the present and invest in something systemic and perhaps somewhat confusing. It’s unnecessary to be disruptive, and the payback can be quick as long as both businesses and users agree to change. Our Creator Platform customers boosted employee retention after re-configuring their sales software, which made the system more user-friendly for agents. The agents were then more satisfied with the system. A small-sized business owner could avoid the expense of an ERP for an enterprise and enjoy huge productivity and operational gains by removing spreadsheets and developing bespoke applications that reduce the need for manual data entry. As with everything beginning from scratch can be difficult, which is why small-scale businesses are advised to start small and build one app at a time with a particular purpose and end-point in mind and balancing expectations during those initial months and even years.
