LeanBPI, a Limerick-based digital growth consultancy, has supported 750 small businesses in digitising their operations, with combined savings of €25 million. The milestone matters to the sector because it shows how smaller firms with limited budgets can close part of the digital gap with multinationals that typically command far larger digital resources.

Founded in 2014 by John O’Shanahan, LeanBPI is a business improvement consultancy that helps small businesses select, integrate and adopt digital solutions, including custom-built tools, and now offers support in process automation and AI.

The €25 million combines operational efficiencies, cost reductions and revenue improvements delivered through strategic digitisation initiatives. That makes it a blended measure of benefit rather than a pure cost saving.

LeanBPI’s support lets smaller businesses streamline processes, automate routine tasks and use digital marketing and customer engagement tools that were previously out of reach, capabilities that matter in both domestic and international markets.

One client, Cratloe Hill Cheese, Ireland’s first sheep cheese producer, worked with LeanBPI’s John O’Shanahan to digitise its business, as part of the roughly 750 businesses the consultancy has supported. The consultancy’s work combines digitisation with lean business practices aimed at boosting client revenues.

John O’Shanahan, founder and managing director of LeanBPI, has said: “Supporting small businesses in their digital transformation has been a key factor in our scaling journey.” He has also said: “I’m proud to help small businesses harness lean and digital tools to thrive in a competitive world.”

Small businesses often struggle to invest in digital infrastructure and expertise at the scale multinationals enjoy, which is the gap the announcement says LeanBPI addresses.

The structural driver is the digital resource gap between small firms and multinationals, which consultancies address by making process improvement, system selection and automation accessible to businesses with constrained budgets.

For the sector, the milestone shows demand for accessible digitisation expertise among Ireland’s small business community, which forms the backbone of the national economy and employment base.

Source: irishbusinessnews.ie / thinkbusiness.ie / leanbpi.ie / irishexaminer.com