Digital disruption: How tech can help small businesses thrive

Digital disruption has been kind to start-ups, creating an environment that's conducive to innovation and growth. Look at how successful and ubiquitous companies like Uber, AirBnB and Alibaba have become in a few short years - all because they tapped into the advantages that digital disruption has to offer.

Keeping abreast of digital trends allows business owners the opportunity to pivot more comfortably to meet evolving needs of employees, partners, and customers. And if the recent COVID-19 pandemic taught businesses anything, it's that technology can help make a powerful difference in remaining stable even if unexpected and unpredictable events like this health crisis happen, catching everyone off guard.

Leveraging digital technology is as much about running a business as it is about establishing a solid enough footing to continue growing.

To do this, business owners must have a sound understanding of local and global digital and mobile tech trends as they relate to ever-changing markets as well as the moving target that is customer preferences. Some of these preferences link directly to the digital marketplace.

Having the right mix of digital tech tools as a small business owner can really help it to thrive.

How to benefit from using today's tech to lower risks to your business

Tech tools also offer you a way to assess and lower business risks by identifying areas where your business may need added protection.

Discovery Business Insurance, for example, combines technology with big data to create real insights to measure risk and the health of your business. This advanced risk-assessment technology consists of:

• Thermal imaging to detect potential and existing electrical faults
• Online tools to self-assess risk and behaviours that could affect your business growth.

So, how can these technologies benefit your business, your clients, and your insurer?

Benefits for your business

Discovery Insure CEO Anton Ossip says: "The use of available technologies to assess risks will allow insurers to gather more accurate and more detailed data about the risks your business may face."

This data will provide you with deep insights into your business, allowing you to anticipate problems that could arise before they happen. It will show you where you need to improve your risk management and what measures to put in place to avoid interruptions to your business. Ultimately, these technologies can improve the sustainability of your business.

Benefits for your clients

"Improved sustainability of the business means that your clients can continue to enjoy the services and products you offer for many years to come," Ossip continues.

This is important to clients who may be dependent on these services and products. For example, your client may be a local baker who gets his flour supply from your business. Any interruptions to your business would lead to losses for the local baker as well.

Benefits for your insurer

"Our technology enables us to get a view of areas that humans would ordinarily not be able to reach, and so allows us to collect more accurate data about the risks of the business," Ossip explains.

For example, thermal imaging helps to detect electrical faults in distribution boards and electrical connections that would otherwise not be visible to the human eye.

The online self-assessment tool which businesses (or their brokers) can complete quickly and conveniently.

"All of this enables businesses to understand their risks better and improve their risk management, resulting in reduced risk exposure and lower claims for the insurer and thereby improving the sustainability of the insurer for all their clients," Ossip says.

How has technology changed the nature of risk and how it is assessed?

With the prominent use of technology, businesses today are increasingly facing intangible risks relating to cyber security and social media liability.

To assess and manage these risks, you need expert knowledge in the field. "At Discovery Business Insurance, we believe that it's important for our clients to understand all the risks their business faces," Ossip says. "This is the first step to helping businesses improve their risk management."

"This is why we have partnered with many experts. One example is our partnership with an IT service provider, AVeS Cyber Security, to offer cyber risk assessments and cyber protection packages at discounted rates so that our clients can protect their computer systems from the threat of cyber-attacks."

Human constraints are making it more difficult to assess the evolving risks that businesses face today. Advanced risk assessment technology makes it possible to understand and assess these risks so that businesses have the tailored protection they need.

Ossip says, in conclusion: "By using this technology, we can offer efficient and effective risk management solutions to our clients and brokers."

Are you aware of all the risks in your business? Know and tackle them with the help of technology and experts in the field of risk assessment for a strong and sustainable business.