{"id":469172,"date":"2021-10-19T05:48:36","date_gmt":"2021-10-19T12:48:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=wherenext&#038;p=469172"},"modified":"2024-05-10T06:24:04","modified_gmt":"2024-05-10T13:24:04","slug":"smb-innovation-during-disruption","status":"publish","type":"wherenext","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/smb-innovation-during-disruption","title":{"rendered":"SMBs Combine Tech and Innovation to Weather Disruption"},"author":501,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1001,369792,369812],"tags":[476372,1321,476362],"department":[488822],"wherenext-category":[],"industry":[],"class_list":["post-469172","wherenext","type-wherenext","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commercial","category-location-intelligence","category-market-development","tag-business-model","tag-innovation","tag-smb","department-sustainability-risk"],"acf":{"short_description":"A McKinsey study on successful small and midsize companies highlights the importance of SMB innovation when headwinds blow.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Resilience has taken on new importance for small and midsized businesses in recent quarters. While big businesses have largely weathered the ill effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, many SMBs struggled to survive the lockdowns that crimped in-person customer spending."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Left","content":"<strong>Article snapshot:<\/strong> The COVID-19 pandemic has been particularly challenging for many smaller companies. Past disruptive events show the importance of SMB innovation and creative use of location intelligence in weathering market turmoil.","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"SMBs that stayed afloat can teach other businesses valuable lessons about navigating disruption and uncertainty, says a team of McKinsey researchers in a <a href=\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/2021\/06\/lessons-on-resilience-for-small-and-midsize-businesses?ab=hero-subleft-1\">recent <em>Harvard Business Review<\/em> article<\/a>. The team found that successful companies applied a unique blend of SMB innovation\u2014accelerating <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/digital-transformation\/overview\">digital transformation<\/a>, employing flexible work modes, and prioritizing operational efficiency.\r\n\r\nAnother key: embracing business agility and quick product innovation, something 60 percent of SMBs plan to do in the near future, according to the McKinsey survey. Unfortunately, SMB innovation is easy to appreciate but often hard to achieve.\r\n<h3><strong>Timing SMB Innovation Just Right <\/strong><\/h3>\r\nTwo companies that were facing disruption in recent years used a combination of workforce savvy and tech-driven insight to forge new and profitable business paths.\r\n\r\nIn the past decade and a half, the newspaper industry has suffered a major reduction in readership and revenue. Circulation has dropped to its lowest rate on record, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/fact-tank\/2020\/02\/14\/fast-facts-about-the-newspaper-industrys-financial-struggles\/\">advertising revenue in 2018<\/a> was less than half what it was in 2008, according to the Pew Research Center.\r\n\r\nSome outlets have embraced innovation to survive and thrive. Among them is the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/star-tribune-serves-as-a-gis-consultant-and-research-partner\/\">Star Tribune Media Company<\/a> in Minneapolis, publisher of the region\u2019s largest newspaper. While other publications folded, the <em>Star Tribune<\/em> tapped into a geographic information system (GIS) and expanded services to advertisers by helping them identify new markets and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/advice-from-a-retail-leader-seven-steps-to-post-covid-success\/\">overlooked customer opportunities.<\/a>\r\n\r\nThrough GIS analysis of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/psychographics-market-analysis-moves-beyond-demographics\/\">demographic and psychographic data<\/a>, the Tribune team advised the owner of a furniture store chain on where to focus advertising to reach target buyers, creating a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/five-ways-smart-maps-changed-business\/\">smart map<\/a> of new or undeveloped markets. As <em>WhereNext<\/em> explained in a recent article:"},{"acf_fc_layout":"blockquote","content":"[The map] tells an organization the location and interests of customers and identifies which advertising channels are likely to be most effective. This location intelligence gives a prospective advertiser confidence in the <em>Star Tribune<\/em>\u2019s solutions and, in turn, helps the Star Tribune hit the ground running if the company decides to advertise."},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<h3><strong>Transforming Main Street with SMB Innovation and Location Tech<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nIn the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/financial\/overview\">financial services industry<\/a>, another SMB applied innovative thinking and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/location-intelligence\">location intelligence<\/a> to create a unique value-added service."},{"acf_fc_layout":"form","form_type":"aside","form_position":"Right","form_title":"THE ESRI BRIEF","form_desc":"A biweekly email connecting business leaders and innovators with thought-provoking articles on location intelligence and emerging tech trends.","form_button_label":"Sign up now","form_content":"https:\/\/go.pardot.com\/l\/82202\/2017-10-12\/jw1bmb","form_tag":"low-commitment-form\/sign-up-form"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"The number of people who listed paper checks as their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atlantafed.org\/-\/media\/documents\/banking\/consumer-payments\/research-data-reports\/2020\/02\/13\/us-consumers-use-of-personal-checks-evidence-from-a-diary-survey\/rdr2001.pdf\">preferred method of paying bills<\/a> declined 23 percent from 2015 to 2018, according to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Sensing that trend, Alabama-based check printer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/as-sales-grow-one-smb-embraces-business-transformation\/\">Main Street Inc. prepared for disruption<\/a>. Even as the company\u2019s printing business remained strong, executives sought innovative ways to broaden the company\u2019s services.\r\n\r\nTrading on many years of industry experience and the location intelligence produced by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/enterprise-technology-behind-big-business-decisions\/\">GIS<\/a>, the company began to advise banks and credit unions on how and where to reach more customers and succeed in new markets.\r\n\r\nUsing analysis from GIS-based smart maps, the Main Street Inc. team advised a Texas credit union on a strategic expansion covering four counties. GIS technology revealed that the underbanked\u2014people who rely on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/fednow-banking-location\/\">alternate financial services<\/a> such as check-cashing services and payday lenders\u2014comprised a substantial untapped market. The credit union implemented an advertising plan to reach that audience, resulting in a 50 percent increase in new members from the company's target demographic and underscoring the value of SMB innovation for companies facing disruption\r\n<h3><strong>Prepare for Future Risk<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nThe experiences of the <em>Star Tribune<\/em> and Main Street Inc. show how location intelligence plays a key role in SMB innovation, whether that takes the form of discovering new markets or diversifying business models to overcome disruption.\r\n\r\nMcKinsey\u2019s report found that digitization translated into revenue-generating innovation for many SMBs in the COVID-19 crisis. During good and bad economic times, market-leading companies have repeatedly proven that a strong digital foundation, savvy use of location intelligence, and a team dedicated to SMB innovation improve a business\u2019s chance of long-term success."}],"references":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>SMB Innovation Critical to Weathering COVID, Other Disruptions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"SMB innovation and location technology have helped many small and midsize companies survive and outperform during economic upheaval.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/smb-innovation-during-disruption\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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