Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 04 | Page 22

COMMENT Are you a ‘grow-getter’? Or does your business fail to ‘get growth’? Monzer Tohme, Regional Vice President, Middle East & Africa, Epicor Software, talks about how organisations can leverage technology to ‘get growth’ and navigate economic and political challenges as they arise. N o business can grow unless the people behind the organisation are focused on achieving growth. As new markets expand and globalisation becomes the norm, growth opportunities can become limited and even niche areas of business can become saturated. The ambiguity of the economic climate and differences of opinion amongst experts and forecasters is blurring many markets, and this is further compounded by increased competition and operational complexity. There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to growing your business, so it is therefore important to focus on the variables that influence growth. The Holy Grail of profit Profit is often seen as the benchmark metric for measuring business growth and is ultimately the Holy Grail of business goals. There are many more ways of tracking growth, such as through measuring footprint, workforce and product offerings, and all have a real impact on a business’s overall development. These significant factors often need to grow before profits can be achieved and so businesses need to build strategies to pave the way for growth. All businesses have their own growth journey and before now there has been little research 22 INTELLIGENTCIO Monzer Tohme, Regional Vice President, MEA, Epicor Software tracking business growth and its related metrics on a global scale. Our latest study attempts to change this, bringing the state of global business growth to life, and showing exactly how the business landscape is evolving. Getting growth – trends across the globe The research draws out some global trends despite the unique nature of each business’s journey. It shows that that one-in-three (36%) businesses across the globe have failed to grow their profits in the last 12 months, leading us to question where these businesses are on their growth journeys. Do they ‘get’ growth? What goals are they chasing? Are profits on the horizon, or out of reach? Not achieving profits may be down to strategic decisions. Companies may be investing elsewhere, for example, or growing in other ways, before they can see a growth in profits. The companies that are coming out on top in the profit stakes are those with a ‘grow getter’ approach, taking opportunities when they are presented to them. As a result, these ‘grow getter’ companies have invested in technology to empower their workforces, drive efficiencies, and increase agility and profit margins. They use technology to adapt quickly to change and demand, allowing them to drive expansion into new markets, and establish processes to adapt their product ranges to match consumer demand. What is interesting to note is that these ‘grow getter’ businesses tend to be in emerging economies like China, India and Mexico. Around three quarters of Chinese and Indian firms (74% and 73% respectively) and 63% of Mexican firms cited IT investment as important, compared to a global figure of 54%. Companies with this proactive ‘grow getter’ approach typically see speedier profits and returns on investment. An impressive 80% of businesses in India grew their profits in the last 12 months whilst businesses in other regions www.intelligentcio.com