Micro Small and Medium Enterprises form the backbone of emerging India and there are no two views about the same. In the past few years, and through times such as the economic recession, the innovation and growth of the MSME ensured that the Indian economy maintains its sheen and strength. There have been tremendous employment opportunities created in the past by the MSME's and they are constantly being generated, while employing not only the urban Indian, but also creating a plethora of never before opportunities for the rural India.
In terms of value, the sector accounts for about 45% of the manufacturing output and 40% of the total exports of the country.
The Business Evolution: the Internet Revolution
One of the biggest evolutionary factors for the business ecosystem globally has been the advent of the Internet. We have evolved from being in just a" having website" to the "web 2.0". The business dynamics have changed as the world has gone online. Well, worth noting is that as perceived, not just the communications part has changed but, internet as a technology has changed how SMEs are scaling up and growing to the next level. Businesses have come to realize the power of the medium across operations, marketing, sales and many other intricate business functions.
The India MSME story
The Micro Small and Medium Enterprises in India, for whom Internet is a major boon, are still not utilizing the full potential of the medium. Internet penetration in India is one factor, but the education on the usage is the other, which is a roadblock in the growth of the MSME. There are many industries which have adapted to the new media and mode and hence benefited, while scaling up.
A recent study by Assocham predicts that by 2012, the SME sector is expected to contribute 22% to India's Gross Domestic Product, up from 17% at present.
Internet based services across the value chain for MSMEs: Focus Marketing
The IndiaMART Knowledge Services team has published reports before which have found their place in Business Standard. There are many free and cost -effective online applications which are available for all business processes that an SME may has.
Marketing is one of the key and crucial activities for any SME. Building a brand and creating and finding a recall with the customer is extremely crucial. And not just that, it is important for the brand to have a strong presence and recall in the market to attract the relevant talent from across the market.
When we said 'Free' for SMEs, we meant it
SMEs can leverage the internet powerfully to achieve business objectives, while keeping their spending to the minimum. And at times at no cost at all. Most of the SMEs find it difficult to allocate funds for marketing due to budgetary constraints and depend on goodwill, personal-contacts and word-of-mouth for their sales.
There are many solutions available online which can take your emerging enterprise to the next level, without making a hole in your pocket. All that you need to do, is to be aware and that is what IndiaMART Knowledge Services team aims to achieve with this blog!
Which online tools can you leverage for marketing?
In terms of value, the sector accounts for about 45% of the manufacturing output and 40% of the total exports of the country.
The Business Evolution: the Internet Revolution
One of the biggest evolutionary factors for the business ecosystem globally has been the advent of the Internet. We have evolved from being in just a" having website" to the "web 2.0". The business dynamics have changed as the world has gone online. Well, worth noting is that as perceived, not just the communications part has changed but, internet as a technology has changed how SMEs are scaling up and growing to the next level. Businesses have come to realize the power of the medium across operations, marketing, sales and many other intricate business functions.
The India MSME story
The Micro Small and Medium Enterprises in India, for whom Internet is a major boon, are still not utilizing the full potential of the medium. Internet penetration in India is one factor, but the education on the usage is the other, which is a roadblock in the growth of the MSME. There are many industries which have adapted to the new media and mode and hence benefited, while scaling up.
A recent study by Assocham predicts that by 2012, the SME sector is expected to contribute 22% to India's Gross Domestic Product, up from 17% at present.
Internet based services across the value chain for MSMEs: Focus Marketing
The IndiaMART Knowledge Services team has published reports before which have found their place in Business Standard. There are many free and cost -effective online applications which are available for all business processes that an SME may has.
Marketing is one of the key and crucial activities for any SME. Building a brand and creating and finding a recall with the customer is extremely crucial. And not just that, it is important for the brand to have a strong presence and recall in the market to attract the relevant talent from across the market.
The challenge here is the investment. There is a lot of money needed for marketing. Apart from hiring a team one has to invest into advertising, branding.
When we said 'Free' for SMEs, we meant it
SMEs can leverage the internet powerfully to achieve business objectives, while keeping their spending to the minimum. And at times at no cost at all. Most of the SMEs find it difficult to allocate funds for marketing due to budgetary constraints and depend on goodwill, personal-contacts and word-of-mouth for their sales.
There are many solutions available online which can take your emerging enterprise to the next level, without making a hole in your pocket. All that you need to do, is to be aware and that is what IndiaMART Knowledge Services team aims to achieve with this blog!
Which online tools can you leverage for marketing?
- B2B Portals
If your businesses' current and pressing need is to generate business leads, find suppliers, connect with buyers, create a global business, while not investing into creating global operations, the best option which is available to you for free or at a very low cost are B2B portals. The top B2B portals existing are:
- IndiaMART.com
- Tradeindia.com
- BizXchange.in
- Busytrade.com
- Itrademarket.com
- Indianyellowpages.com
- Sme.in
A very valid question this. A proof in case will be IndiaMART itself. With more than 50 lakh buyers and suppliers registered globally, IndiaMART has helped many SMEs PAN India to develop global business.
And while we are looking at future growth options, we are seeing the trends where almost every small and medium enterprise owner (be it your corner tea stall owner) aspires to grow to the next level and hence B2B platforms like IndiaMART are the right choice.
- Social Networking
There is a buzz around now-a-days about social networking and we are sure, many of you would have heard of and a majority of you will be having their accounts on sites like: facebook, LinkedIn, twitter etc.
Let us first set and create the expectation that Social Networking is not a game for only the young and the kids. Its serious business. Some of the largest organisations globally are leveraging the power of this media to connect with their target audience globally and new business models are emerging out.
Social Networking is one of the most cost effective media to be leveraged to effectively market your brand to the relevant target audience.
Which Social Networking sites should I go to, for serious business?
- LinkedIn: Professional networking system that can be used for marketing, business development and searching for new business contacts, customers and employees.
- facebook: SME's can choose to market their service offerings by targeting its audience aptly by using its premium ad space or by creating a facebook page for the brand, which is a free service
- twitter: SME's can powerfully use this platform to quickly spread news, connect with relevant people globally who are somehow connected to their domain
- ibibo.com: SMEs can choose one of over 230 categories to list their business on ibibo CityAd for free and get leads on their mobile directly through ibibo's free SMS service. Other way is to use iPromote to promote business or website to others present or not present on ibibo.
Social Networking is no more just the buzz word. We strongly suggest that your business must leverage the power of this medium for effectively reaching out to the relevant target audience globally.
Source: http://alpha-web-design.com/web_images/grow-your-business-online.jpg
- Blogs
Blogging is one of the most powerful way of engaging your target audience to your message/ communication. Blogs as a medium of communication have been very effective, engaging and powerful. Almost every large organisation that we know of, either has 'a blog' or a 'collection of blogs'. A blog must be positioned across as the branding/ communication platform for your business.
Which are the platforms that you can quickly setup your blogs on and does it cost you anything?
- Wordpress.org
- Typepad.com
- Blogspot.com
- Blogger.com
There are many others as well, but these are few of the top and well known blogging platforms. You can download the installation from wordpress.org and install a custom blog on your own hosted server.
But who will blog for me? There has to be someone who writes!
Obviously this is a critical question. You have to have a smart team which understands not only your product/ proposition/ services, but also your customers and how your customers feel about your proposition. This will help the blog really gain acceptance and relevance in the target segment.
- Google Maps
Mark your business on the global map. Google maps is a free solution which helps you mark your business on the global map. And its not just about marking a presence on the map, its about the fact that your business is visible to people globally who are searching for directions on Google maps. Infact Google sends you monthly e-mails which allow you to know the number of times your business found an impression in front of the audience which was searching for either your business/ or something near by.
- Wikimapia
Wikimapia is an online map and satellite imaging resource that combines Google Maps with a Wikipedia
system, the largest online encyclopedia. It allows users to add information, in the form of a note, to any location on Earth. It is free and over 650,500 users from around the world currently are registered.
- Google hosted Email
The Google hosted Email solution was previously a free (fr the 1st 50 employees) and now is a low cost hosted Email solution for SMEs. All it takes is about 15 minutes to read all the instructions given by Google clearly and while following them, configure your mail server with Google hosted Email solution and you will have a perfectly working online hosted Email in no time at all.
This solution is scalable to any size, as your organization grows.
How can I access this service?
This is the official Google Apps for business website where you can find not only the hosted Email but many other Apps available.
- Website creation
You can quickly build a good looking and fairly scalable website in less than a week's time using Wordpress as the content management system. Wordpress is a free solution which you can download on your own hosted server and build not only blogs, but integrated websites on the internet.
There are many WP experts in the market who cost you a very little and hence your official website can be built and managed in either no cost at all or a very little cost.
The solution is easy enough for you to get a hang of it in a few days, post which you may not really need much management support from your web design vendors.
- Free business Guides and Newsletters and News Updates
- SME Toolkit: This is an online resource centre to empower Indian SME's and help them become globally competitive. It also has free downloadable software tools such as the 'Business Plan Maker' the 'Website Builder' and a large collection of 'How To Articles' (http://india.smetoolkit.org/india/en/index)
- SME Times: (http://smetimes.tradeindia.com/)
- SME News: (http://news.indiamart.com/)
The information has been sourced from 'Free for SMEs' report issued by IAMAI (Internet and Mobile Association of India) in collaboration with IndiaMART.com.
To know more drop in a comment to this post and the IndiaMART Knowledge Services team will be happy to help you grow!
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