To close Tomorrow’s Office event, there will be a round table discussion themed: “SMEs in an uncertain world. How to prepare for the challenges of tomorrow” (in French). CK Group’s managing director Laure Elsen shared some thoughts.
What are some of the biggest challenges SMEs are facing while adapting to a changing work environment?
While it is difficult to predict the future, I believe that it is possible to prepare for it. Since SMEs are essential drivers of economic growth, innovation, employment and social integration it’s important for everyone that they prepare for the future as soon as they can.
Since the beginning of the Covid-19 health crisis, there has never been such a profound change in the way we work. The impact was significant and immediate on all our practices, considerably modifying the notion of the workspace and forcing everyone to adapt quickly.
Add to that the ecological and energy crisis, the supply chain issues and inflation everyone is facing and it becomes clear that SMEs have a lot of hurdles to overcome in the near future. While this could be cause for concern, we at CK Group also believe that there is a solution to every challenge. Some of these will be presented during this round table discussion.
Four seasoned entrepreneurs will be participating in the discussion moderated by Pedro Castilho. In what ways are entrepreneurs well-suited to respond to this theme?
Following the Covid-19 crisis, all four of these entrepreneurs were able to change their work habits, their work environment and the way they prioritize and organize. As such, they are great examples to listen to and perhaps even follow. While some of them have massively adopted new digital tools, others have succeeded in creating opportunities.
As entrepreneurs, they also spend a lot of time in the field and are therefore very aware of the needs of businesses and the solutions that already exist. Furthermore, they all bring their own unique vision of the future to the conversation which will hopefully inspire the attendees to rethink their own and spark new ideas.
CK also has its own vision and we know that the challenge ahead is not small. But we started with printers and are still doing well and continuously adapting to change. There is no doubt that the future is digital and that’s where we are going!
“I think it’s important to act fast and to realise that challenges are not only constraints but surely also great opportunities to grow the Luxembourg economy.”
Laure Elsen, Managing Director of CK Charles Kieffer Group
What kind of solutions do you think Luxembourg-based SMEs are most in need of right now?
Since the Covid-19 crisis, companies have certainly evolved and remote working has been adopted by many companies, by some better than others. But what’s lacking for many SMEs is a comprehensive digital transformation. It’s not just about having access to documents remotely and having videoconferences, companies must really start with a thorough reflection of the whole internal organization. Only then can they hope to have measurable positive effects on the company and see sizeable gains in productivity and efficiency, especially when it comes to controlling operational costs. That’s why we prefer to talk about digital evolution instead of digital transformation.
Other than attending your event, what tips do you have for SMEs preparing to overcome the uncertainties of tomorrow?
I recommend they work with reliable and resilient partners that help them provide the necessary guarantees. They should at all times be aware of their strategic vision and how they want to achieve their business goals.
And, as said in the last question, they should not wait until it’s too late to start on their digital evolution. It might not seem necessary now, but it’s better to invest in the long-term now and ensure they are ready to face the future than try to get it right in a rush when it’s already too late.
Lastly, it’s important to stay optimistic and look forward, despite the uncertain future ahead.
Times of uncertainty always also give rise to new opportunities. In your opinion, which opportunities are under-explored in the Luxembourg market?
I think that there is still a lot of room for better workflow solutions, e-signatures and archiving tools, among other things. CK offers solutions to all these problems. I would highlight our Remote Working solutions which offer a complementary approach to digital and paper, as printed documents are not going to disappear from work processes any time soon.
We also have workflow solutions which support documents to be managed from receipt to return with, for example, an electronic signature, or for electronic invoicing. Furthermore, our solutions are related to dematerialization, archiving and cybersecurity.
For SMEs, the shortage of good qualified workers with IT profiles as well as the high budgets they require can pose a serious problem. That’s why we developed a shared IT Manager which we will premier at Tomorrow’s Office event.
While companies are facing many different crises at once, I think it’s important to act fast and to realise that challenges are not only constraints but surely also great opportunities to grow the Luxembourg economy.
