PHP is one of the key languages for companies developing web applications and business systems. It drives millions of websites and e-commerce platforms, although, it is worth emphasizing, it is not always the only sensible choice.
For SMEs, PHP often means practical and cost-effective solutions. You can quickly set up a store on WooCommerce or Magento, hook up payments (Stripe, PayU), integrate accounting modules (e.g. Comarch, QuickBooks) or build a dedicated CRM or customer portal. In real projects, project management and report generation applications also work well; in my experience, a quick prototype in PHP can convince a client more than long explanations.
A big advantage is the rich ecosystem of frameworks. Laravel will speed up the development of complex applications, Symfony gives a solid foundation for larger projects, and CodeIgniter lets you get simpler solutions up and running in no time. Each of these tools has its own strengths, but also limitations, so it's worth choosing them for your specific scenario.
PHP is also flexible in terms of deployments - from traditional servers to the cloud (AWS, Azure) to containers. It works well with popular databases such as MySQL and PostgreSQL, making it easy to build complete IT systems for your business.