If you are in a country like Sri Lanka, Pakistan, or poorly performing countries with excessive debts, promoting small businesses is a viable option instead of giving subsidies that can’t be sustained and that can’t solve the economic problems faced by those countries. It is also the right time in developing and developed countries to start a small business if you are planning to start one. We will get into the nuances of starting a small business, but before that be aware that small businesses are going to thrive because we have more motivated skilled labor and passionate entrepreneurs present than at any other time in the recent past. So what does a modern small business need? We will do a soul search before delving into the practical aspects of it.
Passion
The first thing a small business person requires is passion. If you want to start a business, you should have a passion and love for that particular business. Only a passionate baker can make cakes that can compete with the big modern packaged food and beverage industry at that price point. If you are a fabulous and meticulously crafted baker, you can even sell cakes that have a premium price point than packaged goods and it is going to sell grandly.
Niche Products
The consumer post-pandemic is looking for niche products. If you are a handloom art and crafts creator and if you target the right customers like foreign tourists, you are going to make a handsome amount of money. The product should be made niche with creativity and a touch of elegance, not just another one in the row. These products are going to make huge profits and are going to give an economic boost to the artisans behind them.
Marketing
If you have a good product and it is not selling properly means you are not following an appropriate marketing strategy. Marketing involves wrapping the product with the right envelope, be it having an appealing look in stores or providing a clean atmosphere in restaurants, marketing involves a lot of strategy. Marketing to the right customer at a minimal cost can be possible with the advent of online and digital marketing. It helps small businesses focus on the customers they are targeting with precision. Suppose you are a supermarket owner in a small town, you can advertise online on YouTube channels that exhibit news about that locality or which exhibits news about supermarkets or simply rope in social influencers who bring eyeballs to your business ads. Facebook and Instagram are also helpful in reaching out to the masses. AdWords helps you put your business websites on search engines when a customer searches for a particular word like supermarkets in your town. It targets your core customers with less money, as you pay only for the number of visits to your supermarket's web page.
Technology-driven
Technology has become an inseparable part of our lives. From billing to online payments, and inventory management to tracking goods, technology has come to the doors of small businesses, optimizing their resources and bringing down their expenses. Quick Response Codes [QR] have changed the way small businesses operate. Unified Payment Interface [UPI] introduced by the Indian government has not only reduced the hassles of cash payments faced by small businesses, but it also provides valuable information to the fintechs to calculate the creditworthiness of small businesses, thereby helping them to provide loans to small businesses.
Online presence
Small businesses should have an online presence. To exhibit their products and their prices if necessary, to woo customers by expressing their unique selling points, and to get feedback from the customers regarding their products. Introducing new products to the customers and receiving their response, providing customer care and touchpoints through emails gives an edge to small businesses over their big business competitors. Online presence is not a costly affair as presumed by small businesses. Suppose you are a sculptor doing the age-old occupation of making idols, going online is going to get a lucrative sum of money, even from international customers.
Quality
Quality determines the profitability and sustenance of the business itself. Only quality products are going to make you a winner in the business you are operating in. Quality is not an acronym for products of big brands. If you are an oil mill owner, there can be no better oil than what can be produced from properly maintained machinery and good-quality oil seeds. In fact, small businesses can produce good quality organic food products that taste better than big business products and can charge even more. Quality is key to the success of any product.
Innovation
Innovation is the reason why humanity has seen progress. Small businesses like restaurants can innovate. By tweaking rare food products from our ancestral palates to suit the tastes of modern consumers, restaurants can innovate. These food items will bring a new identity to the restaurants and make it an instant success.
Creativity
Creative products have a lucrative market. Suppose you are a weaver of silk sarees [ Indian Traditional wear ], you can capture the market of niche products by creative artistic design by partnering with artists who are good at designing fabulous clothes. Creative artists also benefit from it. As mentioned earlier, idols which are designed by creative designers are a lucrative market for sculptors.
Customer-centered
Small businesses should be customer-centered as any other business. Small businesses which are nimble in aligning their products with customer’s tastes are going to survive and flourish. Suppose you are a retailer of Amul Dairy products [ Indian state government-owned dairy ], you should gauge the products that are selling more in the locality and fill the inventory with those products. Customer engagement is an important part of any small business. The advantage of small businesses over big behemoths is their customer-facing ability. They can talk to customers directly and suggest products according to their tastes. They can even flatten the customers with their service if they are smart enough. This gets them customer loyalty and stickiness to their shops.
Expertise
For any business to flourish, expertise is required in that field. Expertise in small businesses is acquired from an earlier generation of business owners or you get expertise in that field through experience you gain by working in similar firms in that field. Expertise can also be obtained from skill development programs conducted by government or private firms. Expertise can also come from digital tools like YouTube if you are just starting a business. Also, books and peer contacts in that field can gain you expertise. If you want to be a small business owner, employing people who already have knowledge in that field is also necessary. I suggest you go through all the above-mentioned ways possible for you before starting a small business. Expertise is the one that makes you strong in that business and it is the one that helps you stand against the competition from other business owners.
Diversity and Inclusion
Diversity and inclusion are not fancy talks made by modern industries. It is a must for small businesses to thrive. Women’s participation is what is preferred by Micro Financial Institutions [ MFI ] and Fintechs. Because they are the most reliable people to loan and get a good return on loan profiles. Women are trusted and dedicated participants, especially doing small businesses, in rural areas.
Now let’s get into the market of small businesses, their needs, their preferred practices, their models, and other practical aspects of it.
Skill development
Skill development is a must in modern economies as it boosts the employability of its workforce and meets the business requirements of its ever-growing industries, be it goods or services. There are ways by which we can impart skill development to the workforce of small businesses as well as big businesses.
Vocational training can be given in educational institutions for employees and owners of small businesses for a fee. Example. We can impart knowledge about how to use software like worksheets and accounting software for small businesses as it reduces the whole workload of accounting being done manually.
Workshops can be conducted by industry experts and veterans through programs sponsored by governments with private partnerships for a fee. Example. Industrial Training Institutes [ ITI ] can bring in industry-experienced veterans to give talks about requirements, practical aspects, and nuances required to start a mechanical repair shop.
Industry-ready teaching in higher educational institutes having ties with small businesses can be done by signing a Memorandum of Understanding and recruitment commitments from small businesses. Example. Medical shops and Medical Test Labs can recruit B Pharm students from institutions by imparting necessary practical knowledge to them and recruiting from those institutions.
There must be associations between trade owners of similar businesses to promote trade opportunities and awareness among their peers. Example. Trade associations in industries like garments can promote exports through exchanging trade opportunities and awareness among their peers since a single small business can’t bring in the atmosphere and visibility of foreign country importers.
Franchise/Partnership
The franchisee and partnership model helps a new small business start by imparting knowledge to the newcomer regarding the operations and nuances of the business. Through this, the franchisee and the franchisor will both benefit, as the franchisor gets money for imparting knowledge, and the franchisee gets money through selling the products of the franchisor. This reduces the risk profile of the new franchisee as established working models can be obtained from franchisors. This helps in securing loans from banks based on an established solid foundation of an already successful franchisor model.
Industry body
There should be an industry body for every category of small business. It helps to get collective bargaining ability for small businesses. Example. Tax benefits for exporting crackers from Sivakasi. Industry bodies should visit Industrial Training Institutions to showcase the job opportunities and acquire talent from them. Industry bodies should assist members with technological advancements and opportunities thrown open by it like the availability of the latest machinery. Industry bodies should assist members with trade opportunities such as exports, and impart knowledge on government regulations, foreign trade, and government schemes. Cottage industries should be given exposure through modern marketing methods to exhibit their products, facilitated by Industry bodies. Example. Industry bodies should find venues and festivals where there are opportunities for the cottage industry to exhibit their products.
Ancillary Industries
Heavy Engineering Industries should impart knowledge to ancillary industries to partner with them to get their input requirements. Only by facilitating the Small Businesses of ancillary industries can a heavy engineering industry survive and flourish. Innovative and latest models of engineering, with new techniques and development, should be continuously brought to ancillary industries by heavy engineering industries.
Loans
Loans for small businesses can be processed through Industry bodies after examining the proposal. Examining the proposal of the small business in written form and with further interviewing can help the Industry body to get an overview of the knowledge the applicant possesses and the commitment she has to the business. Private banks can streamline this process with the help of Industry bodies and provide loans. This should be made a standard practice to be followed by all banks in the subsequent years. Documenting the loan approval/rejection procedure in the local language and sharing it with the one who applied for the loan can bring transparency to the process and avoid malpractices.
FinTech/Artificial Intelligence
FinTech has come a long way in the process of providing loans to small businesses. It provides loans based on the creditworthiness of the small business with its credit rating software. AI should be extensively used in fintech to find areas of interest that are making good business and which have a potential for that particular business and provide loans to them. It should also calculate and accommodate dynamically changing industry trends while providing loans. Fintechs can provide ancillary services to its borrowers regarding the profitability and viability margins of a business in a particular locality. It can provide business trends simplified to its borrowers.
Exports
Small businesses can export too if it has a product that has a unique selling value. Example. Traditional clothes and artifacts have an intrinsic value, especially to the Indian diaspora in foreign countries. It can also sell traditionally valued products like incense sticks with a unique fragrance.
Cottage industries can export their products to foreign countries. Example. Toys which have Indian origin like Tanjavore Doll.
The industry body should play a crucial role in educating its members about the export opportunities available through online channels and promoting its products in foreign countries with the help of the Indian trade body located there.
ONDC/e-commerce
Open Network for Digital Commerce is a non-profit organization established by the Government of India to promote open e-commerce. It connects shoppers, technology platforms, and retailers. It is aimed at providing a level playing field for small retailers lowering the barrier of entry and discovery online.
E-commerce provides a valuable tool for small businesses to thrive. Anyone in a small town can buy a product produced by a small business anywhere in the country with a click of a button. Any small business can affiliate itself with an e-commerce giant like Amazon or Flipkart and sell its products with a wider reach.
E-commerce giants can promote best-selling products in a country across geographies based on the authenticity and popularity of a product specific to a country. Example. Small business [ Iruttu Kadai Halwa ] can promote its product [ Tirunelveli Halwa ] which has authentic roots in Indian food across geographies with the help of e-commerce giants.
Mom and Pop Shop / JioMart Model
Mom and Pop shops are always going to survive despite any headwinds whatsoever come it may. It provides immediate delivery of packaged and fresh food products along with stationery, medicines, and such products that can’t be delivered by e-commerce or food delivery in small towns and villages. JioMart is a model by which Reliance Jio takes care of the shop altogether along with inventory management, supply, and upkeep of the shops. The owner of the shop performs his business at ease. Similar models have been introduced even in agriculture, with a startup 'growpital' taking care of all the expenditure of farming by providing good seeds to farming machinery. Farmers work there with a monthly income of 15,000 INR with incentives. Anyone can invest in the firm and get returns for their investment.
Conclusion
Small business has the potential to change the whole landscape of an economy since it has a huge number of people doing small businesses. Appropriate knowledge, guidance and financial assistance given to them can change the course of progress in the country, which will be inclusive and ethical. I will write about achieving those goals with the help of a new concept of providing consultancy services to small businesses, which will drive all the participants to greater benefits.
In God, We Trust
God preaches Karma Yoga in the Bhagavad Gita [ Sacred book of Hindus ]. Lord Krishna says one who performs his prescribed duty with all the fruits of success or failure in submission to Him and one who always performs his duty with God in his mind is the one who is dear to Him. This is called Karma Yoga, as prescribed by God. Let’s perform our duty in this wonderful world. What else is this beautiful world for? God created this Universe with perfection. Everyone should work and earn in this world by doing their duty in their own way. It’s all about helping ourselves for the betterment of our lives. Let’s all pray to God that He helps us to make this world better for us every single day.
Support Us: https://supportusbydeepak.blogspot.com/
Comments
Post a Comment