Stay Profitable During Rising Costs

Recent forecasts see the Singapore economy progressing by a glacial 1%-3%, a far cry from the national growth average of 6.96% over the past few decades. This means that consumer demand and capital investment potential for many businesses continue to be limited.

This comes in addition to the rising costs in manufacturing, manpower and rental spaces. In short, it has become harder for SMEs to flourish than ever before.

“While things are expected to pick up next year, here are a few methods that could help your business tide through rough times.”

Stay informed on the best deals

Even office equipment and solutions are getting increasingly costly. With everything from laptops to transport growing in price, it is important to be on the look-out for deals that could save your business from spending more than is necessary.

Keeping track of local deals manually is not the most reliable way to stay ahead of the latest promotions. Consider apps like the UOB Business App, which keeps you updated on the latest exclusive promotions for SMEs. The UOB SME Exchange sees businesses like UOB, Starhub, Grab, SPC, Fuji Xerox and Hubspot, coming together to help SMEs reduce operating costs through exclusive business offers.

Stay on top of foreign market news

As the local market is relatively small and limited, more SMEs are considering tapping into other markets for new revenue streams. If your business is planning on overseas expansion, the UOB Business App helps you keep abreast of market trends and current affairs in the key cities that you may consider expanding into, so you can make informed and timely business decisions. Get the latest news updates from major Asian publications as well as economic and currency trend reports from the UOB Economic Treasury Research team for exclusive insights from industry experts.

Business news is not the only thing you need to keep track of. The UOB Business App helps SMEs stay informed on the latest in the foreign exchange market. It offers daily Forex insights, personalised Forex alerts, an in-built currency converter and preferential Forex rates.

Size up the competition

“Find out your business’s strengths and weaknesses and compare it to your competition, so you know where the bulk of your resources should be directed.”

To see how your product measures up to similar businesses, perform a Gap Analysis, comparing your product to others on offer in your target market.

This gives your business an indication of its advantages over competitors and where improvements should be made. It also shows where your competitors are lacking, which could provide a good opportunity for you to introduce something new into the market.

Here’s a simplified example of a gap analysis:

By saving on great deals, looking into new revenue streams and fine-tuning your resource allocation to stay ahead of the competition, your business stands to gain an edge that will see it through trying economic times.

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