02.12.2021

THE DIGITALIZATION OF SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED BUSINESSES - HOW IMPORTANT IS COST CONTROL

On November 30, 2021, a webinar on "Digitalization of small and medium-sized businesses - the engine of financial management and cost control" was held, organized by Enterprise magazine.

The official partners of the event are the developer of business process automation software products Contro and the mobile payment technology company Settle.

The event was held with the support of the Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency (BSMEPA), the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) and the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI).

Vladimir Minev, Director of the Directorate "Internationalization of SMEs" at BSMEPA, presented the National Strategy for Small and Medium Enterprises until 2027 and its priorities and goals.

The digitalization of SMEs is one of the six areas of impact included in the strategy - entrepreneurship, access to markets, access to finance, digitalization, business environment, environment, he said.

According to him, it is important for SMEs in Bulgaria to realize the importance of information technology in order to increase their profits. SMEs to take an active part in training related to digital technologies in order to improve the skills of their employees.

Vladimir Minev stressed that Bulgaria is the country in the EU with the weakest application of digital technologies in business, according to the DESI index.

He recommended that businesses review their processes, look for duplicate patterns, identify areas where the same information is entered more than once, to identify areas for digital transformation.

The digital transformation is a journey, not a one-time purchase, he said, advising not to rely on outdated technologies, not to invest in untested solutions and not to ignore information technology as part of the business.

Krum Alexiev, Director of Corporate Clients at Unicredit Bulbank, presented a forecast for the dynamics of Bulgaria's GDP and the country's macroeconomic framework in the context of the health crisis, a jump in fuel and electricity prices and a political blockade.

He also presented the bank's service model and business opportunities.

Yordan Karabinov, Managing Partner at Contro, spoke about the digitalization of control and cost implementation, presenting the company's practical solution together with Velizar Dimitrov, CFO of Novotel, users of the solution.

The software eliminates paper, provides real information in real time in order to make adequate management decisions, commented Yordan Karabinov.

Velizar Dimitrov pointed out that the hotel embarked on the journey to digitalization 7 years ago. The processes we control with this program are the approval of each expenditure by departments and items, the stages of contracts, control of expenditures on them. That is how we make informed and timely decisions, he said.

The software solution is also used as an archive because documents are not printed, he added.

The two demonstrated the possibilities of the solution in different situations.

Detelina Momcheva, Acting Country head, Settle Bulgaria, talks about innovations and trends in payment methods. She presented data according to which 4.4 billion users worldwide will use a mobile application for payment by 2025 compared to 2.6 billion in 2020; 3 trillion the dollar is the projected volume of the global mobile payments market by 2024; 68% of Europeans have a mobile wallet; 39% of consumers would use more mobile payments if merchants offer them.

In 2020, the use of mobile wallets when paying in physical stores will reach 26%, she added. 44.5% of consumers choose mobile payment when shopping online.

Nearly a third of Bulgarians refuse to shop in outlets that pay only in cash, added Detelina Momcheva.

Mobile payments guarantee security, remote payment, allow different sources of financing, do not impose restrictions on a bank or mobile operator.

Settle builds an ecosystem through which the user receives and sends money instantly, has access to a list of businesses and offers in the application, chats with other users, pays from any available card, transfers money to any available bank account.

With Settle, businesses accept payments from any location, reach more customers, accept on-site or delivery orders, and integrate solutions.