How Fleet Technology Can Help Small Business Management

The importance of small business management should not be underestimated, which is why it makes sense to make business processes as efficient as possible. 

Management softwares such as a fleet tracking system can help streamline and facilitate these processes. Before we explain how these systems can help with small business management, let's take a look at the current situation regarding small businesses in Australia.

Small businesses are a very important contributor to the Australian economy. Last year, “97% of all Australian businesses were small businesses”. (1) In total, Australian small businesses and family enterprises “contributed over 32% of Australia's total GDP (which is about $418 billion). Medium-scale enterprises contributed $287 billion which is about 22% of the total nation's GDP”. (2)

Despite being so profitable and being indispensable for the economy, small businesses do have some catching up to do to be on par with their medium and large counterparts when it comes to digitalisation. 

With more services being offered online, an increase in company web presences and more interaction on social media, it makes sense for small businesses to jump on the bandwagon and invest in technologies to help their business grow.

With more than “4.7 million people in Australia working for small business i.e. 41 % of the business workforce and therefore making it the country’s biggest employer, the time has never been better to concentrate and invest in technologies with the purpose of improving small business management”(3).

Challenges That SMBs Have To Face In This Post-Covid Situation in Australia

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the government and financial services sector were able to implement a range of measures to help small businesses and the wider economy stay afloat during these trying times. Despite this financial help, many businesses were still heavily impacted.

According to 2022 Fleet Technology Trends Report in US, NA fleet managers face these challenges every day and have to overcome them to keep their businesses competitive: 63% increased costs, 54% Driver shortage/Lack of quality workers and 49% Meeting customer demand.

Many small businesses have found themselves unable to submit payments punctually or require extensions to bide themselves more time. This has an impact on a business’ cash flow, which is quite worrying since a poor cash flow is the main cause for businesses going bankrupt.

This is where technology can help out. A Xero survey reported that businesses that used more than one business app experienced less of a decrease in revenue (12 % less) than other businesses. If they used five or more apps then this resulted in even less of a loss – 33 % less than other businesses.

How GPS Technology Can Help Your Small Business

GPS technology is one of the potential digitisation options that small and medium-sized businesses can implement to help the business increase its productivity, reduce operating costs, and improve customer service, therefore making small business management more efficient. This is how GPS technology can help your business:

1. Help improve customer experience: GPS tracking solutions enable you to keep customers informed of driver location and ensure that you can respond faster and more accurately to customer queries with accurate ETAs
   
   
2. Help reduce your business costs: Fleet management solutions can aid in monitoring uneconomical driver behaviours such as idling, speeding, and harsh acceleration, which all add to increased fuel consumption. You can also monitor unauthorised use and idle time
   
   
3. Help improve your productivity: This small business management software can help you to be more productive by scheduling jobs in an efficient order, creating optimised routes for every vehicle to fit more customer appointments into the working day, and eradicating wasteful behaviours.

Benefits that Small Businesses Achieved Since Implementing a GPS Tracking Solution

According to the 2022 Fleet Technology Trends Report in US Survey conducted for Verizon Connect by Bobit Business Media, 46%% of North American businesses improved productivity since implementing a GPS fleet tracking solution, 48% reported an improved customer service, 10% lowered their fuel costs, and 10% lowered labour costs.

Discover how we can help you to boost your business and help with small business management. Get a free demo here and see it in action.

Sources:

(1): https://www.asbfeo.gov.au/contribution-australian-business-numbers

(2)https://www.asbfeo.gov.au/contribution-australian-gross-domestic-product

(3). https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/public-practice/inpractice/small-business-trends-2021

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