New research has exposed clear areas where small business owners feel fintech tools could drive improvements within their organisation. Around half (47%) believe adopting accountancy or payroll tools could help their business become more efficient, and a similar number (45%) think it would save time.

There is also a case to be made for using fintech tools to improve customer service. A third (35%) of respondents think that using fintech tools would give them greater insight into their customers, and two in five (39%) think using payroll or accounting tools would allow them to better serve their customers.

In today’s world where choice is abundant to the point of overwhelming, the value of providing personalised, fast, and high-quality services to customers cannot be underestimated.

The research comes at a time of intense and ongoing economic uncertainty, with energy bills, volatile global markets, and talk of an impending recession presenting a challenging backdrop for businesses of all sizes. In response, many business owners will be looking for ways to optimise operations to maximise efficiency, and fintech tools can be an effective mechanism through which to do so.

Richard Prime, co-CEO and co-Founder, Sonovate, comments: “With global markets under pressure, inflation soaring, and the energy crisis at a critical point, this is a difficult time for businesses. Fintech tools - while by no means the silver bullet - can provide some welcome relief for business owners by helping them to drive efficiencies across all areas of their business.

“Using fintech tools can improve cash flow, automate operations, and enhance customer service, ultimately freeing up time for business owners to focus on the important things - notably growth, or simply staying afloat in the current climate. Recent developments such as Open Finance and Open Banking will allow fintechs to keep adding functionality and opening new avenues in finance that have not been available to SMEs so far.”

The Sonovate platform delivers flexible funding and a bespoke technology platform to streamline and automate the tasks related to funding and managing contract worker placements and freelancer projects. By embedding Sonovate’s invoice finance solution, cash and resources are freed up, enabling recruiters, consultancies and labour marketplaces to focus on growing their business in the UK and internationally.