Singapore is home to many ambitious small businesses that use fleets to deliver goods and services. Using GPS (the Global Positioning System) to improve their small fleet management can lead to overall growth.
Let’s first explore Singapore’s enterprises and their challenges. Then, we can dive deeper into the many details of Cartrack’s GPS tracking and how it can help these small fleets and their businesses thrive.
We will also discuss the Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG) and how it can help these small businesses access this technology.
Understanding the current state of small enterprises in Singapore is crucial to understanding how GPS tracking for fleets can help them thrive. These solutions include Live GPS and GPS-supported features delivered via Cartrack’s fleet management platform.
We will explore these solutions in depth, but for now, let’s examine Singapore’s small businesses’ knack for innovation through their positive approach to obstacles.
Small businesses are essential to Singapore's economic strength. They employ up to 70% of the local workforce, accounting for half of the country’s GDP. However, if the financial landscape is not at its best, these enterprises may struggle to take on this vital role efficiently.
A July 2024 Business Times article, "Singapore SMEs in expansionary mode after five straight quarters of contraction: OCBC” spoke of a sluggish economy. The article reported that Singapore's business environment had weakened over several consecutive quarters. However, following this slump, the government injected spending into the country, and the second quarter of 2024 suddenly began looking up.
These determined and growing enterprises were already expressing hope before the government's injection. In March 2024, right before the second quarter, over 50% of small enterprises anticipated experiencing growth over the year. They recognised innovation as the main reason for this growth, and at Cartrack, we can definitely support this sentiment—but we will leave that for later.
In the meantime, let’s explore these small enterprises’ challenges.
While Singapore’s small enterprise landscape remains alive and well, it is not without its challenges. Let’s examine them.
In 2022, The Straits Times reported on a study that stated that around “six to ten SMEs” felt that their cash flow would not “last them” for less than half a year.
Operational costs have only grown higher as inflation refuses to release its grip. This means that business owners have to reach deep into their pockets to invest in their businesses while also providing their services or products at a profit range that could make it difficult for the consumer, affected by inflation, to afford it.
The Straits Times also reported that businesses grappled with recruitment and employee retention in their infancy.
Skilled and quality drivers, in particular, comprise a considerable part of any enterprise’s fleet operation success. As we covered in our blog, “The Secret to Fleet Driver Retention: Eye-Opening AI Technology Revealed,” driver retention leads to decreased costs, a “focus on business growth”, increased efficiency, sustainable and continuous productivity, and strengthened “driver loyalty.”
On the other hand, losing staff requires more training for new employees, driving up costs and wasting company time and general resources. These resources could all be used to support and grow the present workforce. If you do not have the time for coaching and upskilling your employees, they may feel discouraged and disincentivised by the lack of attention spent on their growth. In addition, having less money for raises and bonuses can lead to even more dissatisfaction and the loss of even more staff. A staff shortage could also drive the current employees to burnout, resulting in lower production output.
Driver fatigue, comparable to burnout, can be caused by “Extensive shift work,” as we cover in our blog, “Fatigue Driving: Powerful Prevention Solution is Key to Saving Your Fleet Drivers.” This blog speaks about the fact that beyond retention struggles, driver fatigue can lead to accidents, fatalities, and jail time.
While not all stressed-out workplaces result in bleak consequences, these environments can appear uninviting to potential employees. On top of this, with less guarantee of success, those interested in their long-term career prospects and financial future may be hesitant to apply for jobs or commit to them long-term.
Desperation for new hires also leads to hiring and investing in employees needing more education, skills, or experience for the job. Even if this shortage of required skills does not impact productivity, it will undoubtedly affect the quality of small-scale enterprises’ products and services.
A high level of competition in the market makes it difficult for these businesses to stand out and make a profit. They have to provide exceptional service and customer delivery and build a broad and sparkling reputation through marketing—all of which require money, a resource that young enterprises may struggle to get their hands on.
This dilemma rings especially true when faced with large companies with an advantage due to their massive funding, well-established reputations, and well-worn relationships. These relationships include a long history of loyal clients, customers, investors, and partners.
Smaller companies struggle to present an acceptable credit score to obtain funding as they don’t have comprehensive records of their past finances. This is especially true for those newer businesses just starting and needing the funding more than their well-established competitors. Banks and other institutions that could fund these businesses are wary of providing these necessary funds. Even if they manage to get funding, they will likely have to deal with high interest rates as they would be considered high-risk.
These high interest rates make it difficult for small enterprises to invest in themselves. It traps them in a cycle of paying off interest with money they could otherwise have invested in the business. This makes it challenging to grow as they need help to make the necessary investments in their infrastructure, marketing, and employee salaries. These financial challenges can ultimately leave them battling to retain employees and stand out from the competition - a collection of ‘worst-case-scenario’ challenges that appear to run in a vicious cycle if not dealt with innovatively and perhaps with some digitalisation.
As said, Cartrack is dedicated to supporting innovation as a driver for business growth. We choose to support this via our inventive technology, which can help you manage your small fleets more effectively.
Establish your small business with technological innovation and advanced digitalisation. Cartrack’s live and GPS-fueled fleet management tracking solutions offer many benefits.
Using our fleet management platform is especially beneficial for smaller companies because, with fewer hands to implement operations, it can be challenging to efficiently and effectively oversee and enforce multiple management duties, including tracking and managing your fleet in real time.
Use our fleet management platform to access many of our innovative and valuable live GPS tracking benefits, such as those listed below.
All businesses, whether significant corporations or smaller ones, face the challenge of keeping up with digitalisation, an essential ingredient for business growth and survival in the 21st century.
While not solely based on or using GPS as their main function, GPS tracking supports multiple digitalisation processes on our fleet management platform, such as:
To empower your business by uplifting your small fleet through GPS tracking, contact us today.
Cartrack provides all these solutions and numerous others - all available for Singapore’s small fleets. We future-proof our premium-quality technology by employing 4G/5G connectivity. Access to 4G/5G generates a high data transfer rate, leading to consistent and rapid access to all your fleet’s information.
This rapid access means you can access your small fleet’s real-time information faster and accelerate communication, leading to more productivity. Prompt information accessibility and swift communication lead to more immediate implementation.
Picking up the pace is excellent for any business as you perform more timely deliveries and higher product output.
From 4G/5G to our multiple GPS tracking solutions, Cartrack is always ready to empower these determined small businesses through our advanced and inventive technology; that said, with less capital than the average medium or large company, they may struggle to access this - but technical solutions are not completely out of reach.
The Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG) is an initiative by the Singapore government to generate more business countrywide. More specifically, the initiative was born in 2018 to improve SMEs’ performance by employing technical solutions. This grant focuses on many sectors, such as accounting, logistics and engineering.
If you invest in our fleet management solution, you could secure a 50% Productivity Solutions Grant. This PSG grant could assist you in purchasing IT solutions and equipment and affording consultancy services.
Find out if your enterprise is eligible for this grant by clicking here.
Q: What is a GPS fleet tracking system?
A: Sometimes called vehicle tracking or Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL), GPS fleet tracking is a system that manages and monitors a fleet’s activity via GPS, including the drivers, goods and other assets involved in the specific fleet operations.
Q: How should you track fleet cars?
A: It is best to use a fleet management GPS tracking system that tracks and monitors fleet cars from many angles. A comprehensive approach includes location, routes, driver behaviour, fuel management, and much more.
Q: What is the best fleet tracking software?
A: Cartrack provides fleet tracking software for your fleet management needs. Our fleet management solution incorporates real-time tracking and monitoring, such as driver monitoring and management. Task management is paperless and easy to assign. You can also receive alerts via RSS, SMS, and email for vehicle maintenance and speeding, among other things.
Cartrack is unwavering in its commitment to your small business and its fleet’s growth. To build a solid software foundation by choosing our GPS-powered fleet management solutions, contact us today.
Improve safety, and productivity, and reduce costs with real-time tracking for small businesses with GPS Tracking
