MODERN LEADERSHIP
5 tips on how SMEs can
capitalise on the ‘We
Space’ and use commercial
collaboration to expand
By Janine Garner
S
MEs are often seen as sitting
in a slightly isolationist
position within the general
business environment. This isn’t
surprising; most SMEs are the
creation of a single entrepreneur,
or perhaps a partnership, and as
a result have an understandably
inward looking approach to the
way they operate - and also a
flat management structure. The
focus is on ‘my’ creation. But
the world is changing. Demand
for better and faster product
delivery, improvement in product
offering, innovation in concepts
and constant reinvention across
all industries and sectors
characterises the way business
is being run in the digiworld.
Those with bigger capabilities are
winning.
This means that those SMEs
who are willing to embrace a
collaborative approach at a
commercial level – what is being
called the ‘We space’ – are able to
capitalise on shared capabilities.
Working together to share ideas,
concepts, skills - sometimes even
physical space - and intellectual
property, is an invaluable chance
44 ModernBusiness
January 2016
for expansion, and of course as a
result, revenue increase.
in productivity, both mental and
fiscal.
So what are some cost-effective
and reasonable ways fo