The Sage SME Pulse collates a wide range of up-to-the minute operational data that shows how UK firms are performing. We explain how businesses can leverage their own data to boost productivity and streamline decision-making processes.
By Chris Torney
The data collected by the Sage SME Pulse offers policymakers and industry groups unparalleled insight into the performance of Britain’s small companies as well as the challenges they are facing. But this real-time information also has a vital role to play in enabling those businesses to maximise efficiency and identify growth opportunities.
The recent launch of Sage’s SME Pulse has highlighted the important role that accurate data can play in helping policymakers understand what’s happening in the UK’s millions of small and medium-sized businesses – and what support they need to overcome current challenges.
The SME Pulse uses anonymised payroll and accounting information from hundreds of thousands of Sage customers to build a comprehensive, up-to-date picture of Britain’s business landscape. It covers metrics such as headcount, employee earnings, revenue, profitability, investment and productivity, across all UK regions and every part of the economy.
Put data to work in your business
The data provided by the SME Pulse should help the government and civil servants to design and implement better-targeted policies in areas such as taxation, the minimum wage and investment incentives. But these real-time insights also have a hugely important role to play in helping businesses themselves to improve decision-making, identify risks and enhance efficiency.
The increasing adoption of digital solutions that can leverage the power of technologies such as cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) is having a dramatic impact on business productivity – an area where progress has been disappointing in recent years.
Sage CEO Steve Hare says: “If we want stronger SME performance, we need higher productivity. And if we want higher productivity, we need wider, faster, better digital adoption.
“We don’t want digital for its own sake, but digital that improves cash flow, decision quality, compliance, speed, and resilience – digital that helps firms scale with confidence, digital that gives smaller businesses access to capabilities that used to only be available to larger enterprise customers.”
So how do businesses make the most of the data generated by digital adoption? “Access to real-time data can definitely change day-to-day operations,” explains Caroline Carruthers, co-founder of global data consultancy Carruthers and Jackson. “Used right, you can spot issues earlier, respond to customer needs faster and make more confident decisions.”
Carruthers adds: “Cloud-based platforms and modern tools make this far more accessible, allowing businesses to connect systems, automate data flows and generate insights that would previously have required significant investment. In some cases, this can be transformative – for example, using real-time signals to manage inventory, staffing or customer engagement.”
Mark Finlay, chief commercial officer at Moneypenny, a provider of business support services adds: “The businesses we work with are using these tools to make quicker, more confident decisions. For example, spotting peaks in customer contact can highlight where additional support is needed, while patterns in enquiries can reveal changing customer needs or emerging opportunities.
“One of the biggest benefits is linked to efficiency. Real-time data helps business leaders identify where time is being lost, whether through repetitive tasks, bottlenecks or underused capacity, and take practical steps to streamline operations.”
Focus on the road ahead
To take full advantage of the opportunities presented by improved data visibility, business owners and management teams may need to adjust their approach to decision-making, Carruthers points out. “There’s also a mindset shift required,” she says. “Many organisations are comfortable with backward-looking reporting because it feels certain. Moving to continuous, forward-looking decision-making requires a different way of thinking, where data is used not just to explain what happened, but to shape what happens next.”
But she notes that small firms can be at a significant advantage as they are often more agile and less constrained by clunky legacy processes or risk-averse organisation cultures. “For businesses of all sizes, the cultural element is often the biggest hurdle and improving data literacy plays a critical role in this. If people don’t feel confident interpreting and acting on data, the benefits of real-time insight remain theoretical. Investing in skills and allowing time for staff to build confidence is essential.”
Crucially, Carruthers says, businesses need to be clear about what they want to use data insights to do. “Firms should focus on the decisions they want to improve and design their data around that. If an insight doesn’t change or inform a decision, then its value is limited.”
AI has the potential to deliver further benefits, Finlay says, not by taking control of decision-making, but by identifying vital insights that may otherwise have been overlooked. “It can highlight trends, flag anomalies and support forecasting, allowing business owners to focus their attention where it matters most.”
He adds: “Looking ahead, the advantage will increasingly lie with businesses that can combine real-time data with human judgement. Data provides clarity, but it’s how leaders interpret and act on it that ultimately drives results.”
Hare says: “At Sage, we believe AI can be a powerful tool for progress for SMEs when it's applied to the right problems, inside the right workflows and with the right controls. It should raise capability, but not complexity.
“We're embedding AI where decisions are made, where outcomes are measured and where you can see the audit trail. It's about software, data and AI working together to make the business better run. This is the model we will help SMEs compete in the next decade.”
