Many businesses are unsure how to systematise their operations to scale their company without the headache. How does one prepare their business for the unexpected and create a lean, profitable machine? And what is holding back small, digital agencies from growth? 

By 2024, small businesses could add up to 2.3 trillion dollars to the global GDP growth. However, recent historical events have drastically impacted small businesses.

The fall of small businesses

The COVID-19 pandemic, for instance, hit small businesses hard. Up to 96 per cent of all small businesses were affected by the pandemic, as 59 per cent of these companies had to lay off a substantial number of their employees.

In fact, nearly 30 per cent of small businesses closed their doors permanently due to the global pandemic. Globally, 20 per cent of women-led small businesses reported closing compared to 16 per cent of small businesses led by men. BIPOC-led small businesses were at least 50 per cent more likely to report permanent closures, reduced sales, and employee layoffs.  

The rise in numbers

However, in 2021, the global small business closure rate fell from 24 per cent to 18 per cent. Just about 34 per cent of small businesses reported lower sales than a year ago, indicating the upward trajectory of small business sales.

In the United States, closure rates fell to only 16 per cent. The future for small businesses thus looks brighter than the recent difficult years. For instance, Americans created 2.8 billion more online micro-businesses in 2020 than in 2019. Moreover, 67 per cent of these micro-businesses plan to expand into full-time operations. 

Likewise, 50 per cent of small businesses are focused on digital agency growth and rebuilding in this more promising time for the global economy. However, 36 per cent of small businesses report still being in survival mode due to the pandemic.

20 per cent of small businesses have drastically altered their business models since the pandemic, and 62 per cent of businesses that shifted entirely to digital business models plan to maintain and expand options moving forward.

Also Read: COVID-19 and the wave of business digitalisation

45 per cent of small businesses are ready to start planning for a digital future, while 28 per cent of small businesses are already working on this integration into the digital sphere. 

Consistency in growth

Businesses should prepare for the unexpected in these optimistic yet ever-changing times. Many small business owners take full responsibility for nearly every aspect of their business, including 75 per cent of sales, 75 per cent of client management, 72 per cent of hiring and onboarding training, 72 per cent of overall team performance, and 50 per cent of the ultimate delivery and results.

Consequently, more than half of small business owners are reported to be too terrified to leave their businesses for time off or a vacation. In fact, three out of four small business owners are not prepared for their second-in-command to take a temporary leave. 

And most small businesses are not prepared for unexpected challenges or unexpected successes. More than 96 per cent of small businesses are unprepared to handle a sudden influx of leads. Similarly, more than 80 per cent of small businesses are not prepared to handle one huge new client, and 79 per cent are not prepared to get as little as ten new clients in a single week.

Therefore, now is the time to build a resilient and scalable business to handle the fluctuation of the consumer market and optimise revenue. Small businesses can create a complete and optimised business system to easily delegate needs. This system allows businesses to track the performance of each pillar to identify strengths and gaps within the workplace. 

These pillars include workflow, tech stack, documents, training, and metrics. As a result, businesses can easily see the repeatable steps to track progress, streamline processes to run more efficiently, support assets so they do not have to start from scratch every time, enable people to perform each process and reach levels of excellence, and measure the efficacy of each of the processes. 

Businesses wondering where they stand compared to their competition can check the varying opportunity matrixes. These show how 400-plus agencies ranging from US$250 thousand to US$7 million in annual revenue performed across the five pillars and seven functions of their business.

The seven functions include sales process, client onboarding, production, client management, reporting, hiring process, and team onboarding. Identify gaps in your business to yield greater success.

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Bangkok-headquartered one-click checkout firm Beam has announced the completion of its US$2.5 million seed funding led by Sequoia Surge with participation from Partech Partners.

The payment firm plans to use the fresh funding to hire employees, acquire more merchants, and expand to other countries in Southeast Asia.

Also Read: Humble Sustainability raises funding to bring excess inventory back into circularity

Founded in 2019 by Nattapat Chaimanowong, Mike Chinakrit Piamchon, and Win Vareekasem, Beam makes online transactions easier on e-commerce and social platforms. The firm claims its solution takes just 20 seconds, 4x faster than an average online checkout, enabling brands to go direct-to-consumer.

“We want to help brands go direct-to-consumer and cultivate shopper loyalty by improving the online transaction experience and optimising platform fees. Shoppers should be able to shop wherever they want and check out with just one click,” said CEO Vareekasem.

Beam is part of Surge’s seventh cohort of 15 Southeast Asian and Indian startups.

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Enterprise leaders felt the urgency of digital transformation in 2019, but as the world continues to determine paths forward following the pandemic, that urgency has gone into overdrive.

Business success depends on the ability to do more with less, stretch existing resources further, and respond to changing conditions. These imperatives intersect when it comes to democratising business application development. Enterprise recovery efforts will benefit from no-code application development in particular. 

When the capability of creating business applications is extended beyond IT to the people most closely associated with the challenges, for example, business analysts, administrators, and marketing specialists, the speed at which a company can move and the number of people working on solutions can both increase dramatically.

If every emerging challenge needs to be handled by technical staff or every new application requires dedicated engineering resources, operating with the velocity and responsiveness that this moment requires is impossible, even for organisations with robust IT resources.

Why is no-code so important?

Less than one per cent of the world’s working population are software developers, and no-code aims to disperse software power to the other 99 per cent.

Scott Galloway, an NYU professor, entrepreneur, and marketing guru has described a trend he calls “The Great Dispersion,” in which consumers increasingly receive greater value from industries or offerings.

Also Read:  The secret sauce of getting started with ‘no-code’

In a sense, no-code is the dispersion of software development. No-code tools now allow end users (entrepreneurs, innovators, employees, product managers, etc.) to create and manage software faster, cheaper, and easier than they could before.

Despite this, no-code awareness remains low. According to a study conducted at MIT Sloan School of Management, an outlet for future entrepreneurs and product managers, 76 per cent of respondents are unfamiliar with “no-code.”

By quantifying key trends in the industry, mapping examples of powerful tools and their applications, and identifying groups that can benefit from no-code technologies, this article aims to raise awareness and adoption of these revolutionary technologies.

No-code growth and industry trends

From media and entertainment to health and fitness, commerce, and more, the pandemic rocked most industries and woke them up to the need to go digital first. As a result, launching a new company can be less expensive, with a much broader reach and a much more competitive field. 

With no code, people can solve problems regardless of their backgrounds, democratising software development. As a result of the pandemic, people are also taking a closer look at how technology is transforming their workplace.

As a fast-growing industry, no-code development is expected to reach US$21 billion by 2022. Adalo’s survey of no-code experts predicted that by the end of 2022, it would be as common as making a Powerpoint. Most schools and universities will offer no-code courses by 2025, according to these experts.

As VC money continues to pour into no-code startups, the investment world has noticed the huge value of no-code. During the last few years, 110 no-code startups and companies have raised $5 billion in venture capital.

No-code use cases and resources

The goal of no-code tools is to make their platform as easy to use as possible so that as many users as possible can get value out of their data. They are also SaaS-based, which means anyone with a web browser can access them, and they have automated connectors for integrating data across organisations.

In this approach, the no-code tools play a key role. Using these tools, any user can create charts and indicators quickly and intuitively. As a result, they will be organised into a web page without having to write any code and can then be easily shared with colleagues, customers, citizens, and other stakeholders.

In other words, users can learn how to use complex business intelligence platforms or how to programme in HTML or CSS to create web pages.

Also Read: How no-code platforms are providing a boost to the real estate industry

Four key features enable anyone to create interactive, compelling visualisations without any training quickly:

Accurate calculations built-in

To compare two results or establish an average, users can learn simple formulas or perform calculations themselves. They select from a list of suggested indicators the type of operation they need to perform in their graphs.

Simplicity through a single screen

Visualisations can be created without leaving no-code tools. All data-sharing options with other users within and outside the organisation are available directly from the tool.

An intuitive navigation experience makes navigation easy

Creating a data story or report is a simple process. From selecting the source dataset to selecting a visualisation, configuring the graphs/KPIs, and customising their appearance, the tool guides the user step by step.

An interface that drags and drops

By dragging and dropping graphics, indicators, and text areas within a page, users can organise the different sections of a page.

Preview in real-time

It enables users to preview how the page will look when integrated into a data portal or data service in real-time, saving time and effort. In addition to the no-code tools, the platform provides powerful APIs for expert users, allowing everyone to turn data into value using the tools they need.

No-code “personas”: Who can use them?

Everyone can use no-code, which makes it so powerful. There are five main types of no-code users.

• Business Users under strategic roles
  Chief Strategic Officer
  Chief Executive Officer
  Chief Information Officer
  Chief Transformation Officer
• Business Users Under Tactical Roles
  Line managers
  Demand Managers
  Portfolio Managers
  Enterprise and IT Architects
• Business Users under Operational Roles
  Business Analyst
  Subject Matter Experts
  Business Consultants
  Marketing Managers etc.

Key Takeaways

• By 2022, the no-code industry is expected to grow to 21 billion dollars.
• In the last few years, 110 no-code startups and companies have received over US$5 billion in venture capital investment (Google, SAP, Celonis, etc.)
• Many use cases are possible, including website and app building, workflow automation, internal enterprise tools, analytics, forms, memberships, and chatbots. Increasingly, these are becoming “no-code by default,” similar to e-commerce today.
• To fully harness the power of no-code, no-code communities, resource websites, and education websites are essential.
• Everyone can use no-code: Entrepreneurs, Product Managers, Large Companies, Developers, and Freelancers.

With no-code, anyone with the ability to drag and drop can create and build software without using code, “distributing” what less than one per cent of the working population could do previously.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic

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A new social media platform was unveiled early this month at the Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) 2022.

Kampd, founded by Amit Gupta and Ullrich Loeffler, two serial entrepreneurs and co-founders of digital research and advisory firm Ecosystm, aims to provide a platform for like-minded professionals to engage with each other within communities of interest anchored around purposeful content.

According to its CEO Gupta, the social platform unleashes the immense potential of the creator economy to benefit professionals across domains through the promise of rich, meaningful content.

On the sidelines of the launch, e27 sat with Gupta, who talked about the platform, its USP, goals, and how it differentiates itself from LinkedIn.

Edited excerpts:

What is Kampd, and why was it created? What problem does it solve?

For years, creators and enterprises have struggled with a fragmented business content ecosystem. With platforms built around networking, good content is drowned by a huge influx of irrelevant content. As a result, users struggle to find quality business content and engage in a consistent community experience with creators and enterprises.

Kampd is here to solve that. It is for those seeking to connect with like-minded professionals and enhance their knowledge by consuming content that caters to their interests and passion. The platform empowers creators, who are thought leaders and industry stalwarts, to create and amplify their content on Kampd and across platforms to eventually build sustained engagement with their followers within the relevant communities.

Also Read: Ex-Amazon execs attract US$1M for their work-and-play social network for engineers startup oi

While professional communities exist today, their full potential has yet to be harnessed as it lacks sustained engagement through a platform that caters to such communities.

The fragmented nature of content today means one has to go to many different content platforms that are often dictated by the content formats rather than interest areas. There is no one place that’s the home of professional content.

Who are the users of Kampd?

The platform was built to serve the needs of creators, enterprises and users.

Creators ‘kamp’ all their content, across multiple formats, in just one place and amplify and monetise their professional brand meaningfully with the right set of creator and engagement tools. Kamp is the niche, topic-oriented communities on the platform.

Enterprises will ‘kamp’ all their content, across multiple formats, in just one place and, through curated communities, drive sustained engagement with employees, customers, partners and prospects.

Users will consume all their thought leadership content, across multiple formats, creators, and platforms, in just one place and, through our personalisation engine, engage with other like-minded users and enhance their brand by building up their influence and thought leadership.

How is Kampd different from LinkedIn or other social networks? What benefits does it bring to its users?

Unlike the traditional social media platforms that emphasise ‘who you know’, Kampd enables users to maximise their potential with ‘what you know’.

We build on the untapped potential of professional communities where like-minded people can have sustained engagement with other professionals and experts on interest areas they are truly passionate about.

We believe that communities have to be curated. With this, the content and engagement become most relevant to the professionals in such communities. Members can access or be part of ‘kamps’. It provides a ready platform for thought leaders to engage with their audiences sustainably.

What opportunities do you see for Kampd in Southeast Asia?

The SEA region will witness one of the fastest growth in the knowledge economy, boasting some of the youngest populations in the world that are increasingly getting into the professional workforce.

We are witnessing a thriving culture of innovation, entrepreneurship, and diversity. The young generation represents the next wave of professionals and business leaders increasingly led by purpose. We have visualised Kampd as the platform that empowers this generation of professionals and drives their knowledge journeys towards a collective purpose-led approach.

How does the platform plan to make money?

Our current focus is to provide the professional community with a platform to connect with like-minded people and discover content that will help them grow. So far, we have seen a great response from communities and professionals seeking to join the platform.

Also Read: How one LinkedIn message changed the fate of my failing startup

In the long term, Kampd plans to empower communities and creators to monetise, as we believe there is immense potential in the professional landscape.

Many social networking sites were launched in the past but were unsuccessful because of competition, poor patronage, or poor execution. How will Kampd address such challenges?

At its core, the solution is to listen to the market and continuously test, optimise and repeat. At Kampd, we have spent the last two years of our build phase taking feedback, usability testing and market sensing to understand better the needs of professionals, communities and creators alike.

We are committed to staying true to our North Star, which is to enable professionals to engage with each other through specific communities that are anchored through purposeful content in a way that is simple and intuitive to use.

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Even in 2022, the issue of the funding gap between male and female founders remains prevalent in the global tech startup ecosystem. There are many solutions proposed to help solve this problem, but putting women at the centre by making them a target for impact investment was a popular one. Investors aim to create a positive impact in society by investing in female founders as part of their impact investment strategy.

But is this really the best solution to the problem? What kind of impact does it bring to female founders, the industry, and society in general? Is it possible that focusing on women for impact investment brings more harm than good?

On November 11, at the She Loves Tech Global Conference 2022 in Singapore, the organisation hosted a debate on women as the focus of impact investment and whether it is the way to go. Chaired by Arvin Abraham, Partner at McDermott, Will & Emery, the debate featured leading names in the global startup ecosystem: Kamila Katya Sharipova (Sturgeon Capital), Michael Lints (Golden Gate Ventures), Mohan Lakhamraju (Great Learning), and Shiyan Koh (Hustle Fund).

Opening the debate was Lakhamraju with his argument of how, in the context of a mature market, putting women in the centre of impact investment is counterproductive to the goal of promoting gender equality in the startup ecosystem. Speaking in favour of meritocracy, he dubbed the motion as “an insult to the capabilities of female founders.”

Also Read: Women in Tech: Female leaders shaking up insurtech in Asia

Responding to his argument, Sharipova brought up data about how capital that goes to women has not moved in the recent years and that businesses do not “operate in a vacuum” –this means that business owners need to be aware of how their operations are impacting the society. This called for a form of affirmative action represented by women as the centre of impact investment.

“If you’re positively biased towards investing into diverse teams, or teams that understands diversity … that’s teaching women that investing in talented women is the smartest decision [one can make],” explains Koh as part of the opposition team.

Throughout the debate, concerns regarding the long-term impact of a women-centred impact investment kept on coming up. In his speech, Lints pointed out that impact investment on women is nothing more but a “minimal contribution” and a step to “check the boxes” when it comes to levelling the playing field and promoting diversity.

“We also have to remember that impact investment is often the first one to go during a time of crises,” he stressed.

Editor’s take

As a spectator of the debate, if I were to name a winner, then I would give it to Sharipova and Koh’s team. However, the score margin between the two competing teams is relatively thin.

In deciding the winner, I go by the team that can elaborate on their points and defend their key arguments.

While Lakhamraju opened the debate with a bold point about the values of meritocracy, this point was easily tackled by Sharipova in the opening of her speech when she pointed out that meritocracy was not achievable in every market. In communities where there is an apparent disparity between what men and women can do, there are steps that should be taken by policy-makers (and those who are in power) to ensure that everyone can get to the starting point at the same time.

Also Read: Gina Romero’s quest of unchaining women through AI and digital tasks

The affirmative team returned to the top spot with Lints’s argument about long-term impact and sustainability. While these could have been the points that saved the team’s spot, I noticed that Sharipova’s earlier point on the necessity of affirmative action stood –Lakhamraju and Lints’s ideas were not able to be realised without acknowledging the different situations on the ground.

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