Small to medium is big business

At Accenture, we define Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) as companies with up to 500 employees and annual revenues of up to $1 billion.

• Micro-SMBs: 2-19 FTEs
• Small-to-medium SMBs: 20-99 FTEs
• Larger SMBs: 100-499 FTEs

SMB’s play a central role throughout the global economy and represent a massive untapped opportunity for global enterprise (software and platform) growth. According to the World Economic Forum, “Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which represent around 90% of all firms globally, provide roughly 70% of all employment and, by some estimates, contribute to up to 70% of global GDP.”

“SMBs just behave like consumers / enterprises”: SMBs lie at a nuanced intersection between consumers and businesses (‘pro-sumers’) so enterprises cannot fall back on either of these standard approaches when addressing SMBs.

“All SMBs are the same”: SMB buying behaviors, needs, and preferences vary wildly (especially along key vectors like digital maturity and company size), so enterprises need to invest in segmentation to build out the right treatments and strategies.

“Enterprises understand SMB needs”: SMBs consistently voice concerns that enterprises don’t understand them and instead care more about sales than SMB success, and the majority of enterprises do not have dedicated SMB functions.

“SMBs trust Enterprise solution partners”: There is a significant trust gap between SMBs and the enterprises they buy products from. In fact, most enterprises vastly overestimate the degree to which SMBs trust them.

1. SMBs need help to digitize their businesses: SMBs are looking to learn and adopt new technologies. While newer SMBs show greater digital confidence, most SMBs are not overly digitally mature and need help navigating their digital journey.
2. SMB decision-makers are time constrained: Many SMB buyers wear multiple hats in their organization. As a result, they often do not have time to muddle through a massive array of enterprise content.
3. SMBs lean on their peers when discovering and evaluating digital solutions: Whether they are searching for new solutions or looking for advice during the purchase journey, SMBs rely heavily on their network of peers.
4. SMBs want SMB-specific treatment: SMBs want to see solutions that are built for them, not rebranded consumer or enterprise products. They expect the same fast and high-quality experiences they have with brands they use in their personal lives, but with the account-level support and sophistication their business needs.

These are the most important actions enterprises can take to win more SMB business:

• Price affordability
• Provide better customer service
• Customize products for SMB needs
• Understand SMBs better
• Build quality products