The study reveals that a quarter of small firms say they find it hard to keep pace with technological change. One in ten small businesses (13%) still do not use email, a third (30%) have yet to use the internet as a source of information, and less than half (47%) believe that such technology has improved working life. A fifth (18%) believe that technology has taken the ‘personal touch’ out of working relationships.
The research also highlighted that most small businesses are not exploiting technology to its full potential, with only a third (35%) reporting that they have used the web to generate business and only 28% saying that investment in IT has helped them develop new markets.
Half of the businesses surveyed said they had spent less than £5,000 on IT over the past 12 months. Firms in the business services sector were the biggest spenders, with a quarter (23%) spending more than £20,000 over the past year, compared to only 17% of manufacturers and 5% of retailers.
Stephen Pegge, head of communications, Lloyds TSB Business, said, small firms have tended to limit their use technology to communicate and organize information, but, have been slower to wake up to the opportunities these tools might present for purchasing, production and distribution.
If small businesses fail to invest for the future, they may not meet customers’ expectations and could find they are soon overtaken by more efficient and more productive competitors.
