In India, Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) came into existence via the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Act of 2006. These establishments were primarily engaged in the processing, production, conversion, and preservation of commodities. Not only this, but MSMEs have also got a pivotal role to play in the across-the-board evolution of the industrial economy, and they also contribute to around 8% of India’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product).
MSMEs face certain challenges because of their very nature like stiff competition from imports and established players in the market, financial constraints, and the pressure for utilization of key resources like power, raw materials, and water.
To survive and vie with large enterprises and overcome these limitations, they need to follow innovative, imaginative, and creative strategies in their work area. Adoption of innovation in assorted parameters like product development, technology up-gradation, business processes, and marketing strategies can bring a sea transformation in their general wellbeing.
Innovative strategies MSMEs should adopt to succeed
- Describe your products: If people are unaware of the products and services you offer, how come they will be interested in buying them? Product exposition plays a noteworthy role in drawing customers’ attention. Several MSMEs lack writing skills, they don’t know how to write appropriately structured blogs, but we say, you need not worry about your writing aptitudes much.
All that product description requires is small articles that talk about what your enterprise has got to offer, if you don’t want to correspond anything at all, you can publicize your products via your social handles too, keep posting aesthetic images of your products along with a little characterization as to how they are used, why should someone purchase them. This is a straightforward yet innovative and effective strategy needed to be followed by MSMEs in this digital era.
- Power of cooperative/collective focus: MSMEs are no doubt small and fragmented, and they do not enjoy the godsends of collective focus in areas like sales operation, marketing, and product development. The sense of cooperation among MSMEs can lead them to absolute win-win situations as they get the advantage of each other’s strengths.
Standing as a part of the group, MSMEs can get the advantage of economies of scale and enjoy effortless access to financial resources, i.e., capital, from conventional lending channels. In a cluster, all the MSMEs face similar kinds of challenges which makes the problem-solving process more manageable. Not only this, but collective focus also fosters healthy competition among contenders.
- Build a niche: Creating a niche is the root of every flourishing business establishment, and MSMEs are no anomaly to this rule. In order to thrive, every organization needs to find out what realm it is specialized in. Identifying your specialization will help you determine your target audience and attain better outcomes.
This innovative strategy helps MSMEs in resource optimization. They put in great efforts to get the best results out of the resources available and achieve better business upshots. By their very nature, MSMEs are fully furnished to assist the niche set of patrons and satisfy their audience.
- Join hands with Influencers: Every business which prioritizes customer satisfaction tends to enjoy good word of mouth and clients’ testimonials, post what your customers think about your organization on your social media handles. It’s called the butterfly effect. The more positive the reviews, the better the deluge you will see in the number of patrons.
In the bargain, if you get a megastar or a well-known influencer to advocate your services, the visibility of your products and services will grow exponentially.
- The internet as an equalizer: This world is constantly evolving; the one that doesn’t change, doesn’t succeed. On the path of innovation, the internet has enormously contributed to the rapid growth of MSMEs.
Online existence not only helps increase the discoverability of the organization but also maximizes customer convenience.
Now more than ever, MSMEs which are not yet acquainted with the internet need to shift to the digital platform as soon as possible. If they do not do so, there will soon be a time they would have to shut down their operations.
- Online accessibility 24 × 7: One of the greatest strategies for MSMEs to lead the path to success can be online accessibility. If you are a Micro, Small, or Medium enterprise, you must create your business’s profile across all social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Keep your contact information updated so that it becomes more comfortable for the customer to get in touch with you.
Needless to say, this strategy is not a replacement or an alternative to your offline marketing strategies that include sponsorship programs, hoardings and banners, and pamphlets, i.e., printed ads. The right balance must be maintained between the two.
Final Takeaways
Not only to survive and thrive, but also to enhance effectiveness and efficiency, achieve economies of scale, improve infrastructure, and introduce cost-effective products, MSMEs need to adopt innovative approaches. These establishments may be smaller in size in comparison to Multinational Corporations (MNCs) but they have got huge potential to adopt ingenious and out-of-the-box approaches.
MSMEs in India are extremely assorted in the nature of services they render, and products they produce, and innovation plays a vital role in shaping MSMEs into more profitable and sustainable associations. It helps in the production of world-class products and services at reasonable prices. There exists a strong relationship between innovation and demand, as increased revenues and profitability are the questions, and innovation is indeed the answer.
Adoption of innovative approaches in this business world is nothing new, but there have been instances when MSMEs have come up with cutting-edge ideas that transformed the outlook of the entire industry. Hence, to leverage your business operations and keep booming you must keep the research going on and on.
Hope you found this write-up helpful, we will be right back with another super useful article for you, and of course, don’t forget to adopt these simple yet effective approaches in your business organization. Keep Flourishing!
(The author Mr.Avneesh Agarwal, Founder & CEO of SpeckyFox Technologies India Pvt Ltd. and the views expressed in this article are his own)
