Technology leading to higher integration for first- and third-generation entrepreneurs

Technology is integral to all businesses today across sectors, however, not all entrepreneurs and businesses have the financial and technical wherewithal to adopt tech in their day-to-day operations. This can act as a road bump, especially on the road to India’s transformation into a US$5 trillion economy. In line with this, Archanna Das, Chief Executive Officer, of ASCENT Foundation, shares some crucial aspects that every entrepreneur or micro-, medium-, and small-sized business must consider to future-proof their business models.

Understanding the Plug and Play model 

Today, technology is not only necessary for service-based businesses but also traditional manufacturing businesses. However, a lot of organizations are still hamstrung by the lack of funds needed to innovate and keep their business models ahead of the curve. This is where the plug-and-play model can act as a game-changer. The inherent embedded and integrated nature of this model offers flexibility and affordability and even allows entrepreneurs to completely control information at an employee level to maintain complete confidentiality. To understand what the most suitable integration is for their business, it is key that entrepreneurs and small business owners are exposed to peer support from leaders and tech experts whose businesses have also undergone such shifts. Sharing of best practices and collected learning, access to trusted toolkits will assist businesses of all sizes to integrate technology to a greater degree and develop products at an effective cost and at a lower turnaround time.

Choosing the right expertise

Picking the right curated learning sessions and applying the learnings to the various business functions is integral to a business’s success. However, whether such training is conducted internally through entrepreneurial toolkits from respected sources or by external cohorts is a call entrepreneurs would need to take. An entrepreneurial toolkit, for instance, includes various frameworks, tools, and templates that are needed to build, run and scale a business.

Similarly, bringing external consultants in is necessary when specialist knowledge is needed or if entrepreneurs lack the requisite in-house capabilities, especially for diversification. This external outlook brings freshness to the approach ensuring MSMEs are ahead of the competition. Also, experts bring in varied experiences, enhance, collaborations and engagements and offer a 360-degree view of the operation of the business.

Leveraging technology 

The hybrid working model has made technology ubiquitous in every facet of an entrepreneurial venture. Especially when it comes to activities such as workforce management, technology allows for a framework that manages scheduling, forecasting, and budgeting for smooth day-to-day operations. By using automation tools, entrepreneurs can develop and meet strategic goals at a nominal cost, all while remaining efficient. As per a recent study, 35% of Indian SMBs are spending more than 10% of their revenue on technology. A host of entrepreneurs are leveraging technology to build long-term solutions encompassing stakeholder management, marketing, supply chain management, and product development. For instance, the advent of digital payment methods has also reduced dependence on physical banks and sped up payment cycles.

It is anticipated that small and medium-sized businesses will create 2 million jobs in the next five years. Therefore, leveraging technology to create democratic hiring practices will allow for a diverse talent pool. Similarly, feedback-based learning and constant innovation hold the key to long-term success. As most small businesses and entrepreneurs are dipping their feet into the technology pool for the first time, learning from each other and consistently improvising the existing technology is crucial to reap tangible benefits.

Growth of Entrepreneurs

India’s culture of entrepreneurship has driven the country to be the third-largest start-up ecosystem in the world. This is creating a generation of young entrepreneurs who are using technology to modernize their family businesses and change traditional systems to create cost-effective, seamless, and more automated ways of managing operations. Before the pandemic, SMBs were slower to adopt the technology due to high infrastructure costs. However, as technology progressed, business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce platforms, innovative payment solutions, alternative funding mechanisms, office management suites, and upskilling programs were developed. Therefore, a greater number of first-time businesses and even second and third-generation entrepreneurs have started to lean towards advanced tech-based operations that optimize their business processes and lower unwanted costs.

(The author is Ms. Archanna Das, Chief Executive Officer, of ASCENT Foundation and the views expressed in this article are her own)