By Mark Williams, Chief Operating Officer at Sharp UK
The start of a new financial year is more than just a turn of the calendar; it’s a valuable opportunity to reflect on achievements, reassess priorities, and set a course for future success. Whether it’s adopting smarter technologies, refining strategies, or fostering stronger connections with customers, the new year offers fresh possibilities to do things differently and better. As we plan and prepare for success this financial year, here’s my perspective on the key considerations SME leaders could adopt to thrive and grow in 2025 and beyond:
- Get the most out of the tech you have
With the rising cost of doing business, SMEs are looking to reduce waste and streamline operations. A way to achieve this is by fully leveraging the capabilities of the tools and technologies already at your disposal. We often speak to organisations and businesses that have licenses to a broad suite of technology and platforms that don’t get the most out of or just don’t use.
Driving efficiencies will become more important in a changing economic climate, so reconfiguring, reimplementing, or simply learning how to properly leverage existing tools will ensure you and your team can speed up on tasks and get time back. This approach will not only help your business remain competitive but also leave you primed for growth – in spite of external pressures.
- Invest in your team
In an increasingly competitive environment, businesses need to do more than simply offer great products or services. Taking the time and effort to invest in your team will result to improved productivity, greater job satisfaction, lower staff turnover, and overall business success.
FY 2025/26 is set to be another challenging year when it comes to rising costs and economic uncertainty. But by enhancing collaboration and communication within your business and committing to staff training and development, you can achieve direct, measurable benefits for your team and business alike. When a company prioritises its employees, it positions itself for long-term success.
- Ensure cybersecurity is at the top of your agenda
Technology is evolving faster than humans can understand it and businesses will be hearing a lot about AI threats, deepfakes and a whole host of other anxiety-inducing cybersecurity threats in the coming year. Unfortunately, these fears are not unfounded.
Sharp recently conducted research that revealed some concerning insights. The vast majority (86%) of UK employees said that they are more concerned about business cyber risks than last year – with AI cited as the biggest reason for this. 29% of employees in UK SMEs believe they could not identify an AI security threat or fake email. 43% haven’t had any form of training regarding cybersecurity in the last year (despite the emergence of new threats) and, alarmingly, 16% have never received any formal cyber security training at all.
Making security mission-critical for your business doesn’t mean necessarily mean heavily investing in the latest, greatest tech. Individual team members are an organisation’s first line of defence. Introduce regular security training and exercises, educate teams on the latest tricks used by cybercriminals and have mechanisms in place to double-check and verify information. Simply getting the basics right will significantly strengthen your business against any potential threats.
- Test and learn how AI works for you – before wholesale implementation
AI tools, such as Microsoft 365 Copilot, can be valuable in driving efficiencies – but it’s vital for business leaders to critically evaluate how it can work for you, to build a use case and justify its investment. One way to do this is by setting up a small group of dedicated, internal ‘Copilot Champions’ within your organisation – ideally from different areas of the business. Give this group – and only this group – licenses for Copilot and have them test its capabilities. We’ve done this ourselves at Sharp; thanks to rigorous testing, learning and sharing, we saved 20% of a team members time by using Copilot effectively – which enabled them to make the case for another licence.
While it’s going to become increasingly important to consider how AI-enhanced technology will impact your industry, it’s also worth remembering that most leading software solutions companies, like Microsoft, are embedding AI into their products. SMEs will – at a basic level at least – be able to leverage the latest advanced technology by default. But it’s what you do with it, that counts.
- Celebrate the wins
In striving towards your business ambitions this year, don’t forget to celebrate the wins – however small. Recognising individual and team achievements helps to reinforce a sense of progress and motivates teams to keep pushing toward bigger goals. It also serves to create a positive work culture, where employees feel valued and encouraged, in turn cultivating an environment of continuous improvement and optimism. And who doesn’t value a workplace that appreciates what you do?
