How to Generate Cost Effective Web Traffic?

Online marketing is slowly transforming the success scenario of many SMEs and providing them with new, potential arenas. It can greatly contribute in providing them with a larger status and put them in the same league of larger firms.

Website traffic can be increased by developing online partnerships whereby various concerns host each other’s web links and connect every user to the other’s web page and also advertise their own wares. The traffic can also be boosted by promoting search engine listings.

What Does the Customer Look For?

An SME needs to understand the way in which customers rely on search engines and the way they pick up keywords in a particular content. Search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc. are potential platforms for customers, existing and new ones, to search for a particular product and service. They work as effective channels to guide users towards a particular site. One can choose between paid listings or organic listings as per their convenience. Generating back links or link building is vital for a website to have a higher position on the listings.

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is fast becoming a favored option for SMEs who are realizing the power of the World Wide Web. SEO involves the process of promoting the visibility of a particular webpage or website through unpaid search possibilities. Initially the search algorithms depended on information provided by the websites such as keywords which was later converted based on the keyword density. Presently, each search engine has their own criteria for listing a particular website. Many of them employ crawlers which browse across various pages of a website and seek out keywords and content elements. SEO can be planned according to the various kinds of search including image search, video search, academic search, news search, among others.

Where & Why to Invest

Many SMEs invest in SEOs as part of their internet marketing strategy and they are incorporated in their website design. SEOs are expected to bring optimum return on the amount invested. Search engines change their algorithms or search criteria and thus websites can suffer a loss in the visitor counts. Thus, SEO-responsive material needs to be updated from time-to-time. SEO could practically include a variety of materials including website designs, content management systems, videos, images, shopping carts, and elements which are programmed for search engine exposure.

SMEs can also boost the prominence of their web page by cross linking which consists of multiple links on various pages to bring the reader/user in connection with some important pages on the site.

Another form of ensuring free web traffic is the mode of free articles. An SME should publish a lot of articles which are themed along their products or services. They can involve their subject of expertise and offer their customers tips and guidelines which can make for an informative read.

You can also start a newsletter that can easily carry a variety of experts on the subjects together. The SME can be also part of online communities and forums where they can share their information and expertise with their potential customers.

So, be everywhere without shelling extra pennies and attract extra web traffic to your website.

NIESBUD partners with International Finance Corporation for MSMEs

The National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD), which is an autonomous institution under the Ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) has collaborated with the International Finance Corporation, which is a member of the World Bank Group, for undertaking various projects in regard to entrepreneurship development in this country.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been inked and NIESBUD will partner with the IFC in conducting training of the trainers (TOT) programme for boosting the training skills of the MSME trainers.

For more information: http://news.indiamart.com/story/niesbud-partners-international-finance-corporation-msmes-155248.html

Expert Speak: Mr. Ajay Wahi

SMEs: Do a regular dipstick on SWOT 

Achievements are to be savored. Enjoy them, but do not let them make you or your leadership complacent, because nothing stays the same. We have the recent experience of the global recession of 2008-09 to go by, in which many global giants went under completely. And these are the same global giants who taught the world what SWOT meant! But it seems they initiated the concept and grew complacent, eventually stopping the SWOT analysis and thus fading away.

Therefore, doing SWOT analysis should be very much a part of our life. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. For instance, for a particular SME, its strength may be a very good product; weaknesses might include poor customer support, which would endanger the company and/or its future growth; the Government abolishing sales tax on sales of its product might present the company with an opportunity; while a competitor might have announced the launch of a similar product, which would be a threat to the SME in the future.

However, all this is true only at a point in time. One year, or even one month after the above SWOT analysis, the scenario might be different, because change is the only constant; hence the need to do regular SWOT analyses.

SWOT analysis offers many other benefits as well!

1. As an SME, you are growing and dealing with many opportunities, and rushing all the time. Unless you take time off to assess the situation you are in, you may find you are running around, but are not reaping the full benefits of your effort. So you need to track your progress, and SWOT helps you do this.
2. SWOT analysis forces the leadership to keep abreast of developments in technology, market, economy, competition etc. As a result, the management gains more knowledge, giving them greater power, for knowledge is power!
3. It ensures that each member of the leadership team is working towards a common goal. Conducting frequent SWOT analyses helps in aligning the working of each department towards a common organizational goal.
4. Sharing the conclusions of a SWOT analysis with employees enthuses them as they see the company as one with clear-cut objectives.
5.  Lastly, a SWOT analysis is a key tool for a reality check. Remember, something that was an advantage 3 months back may be a threat now. Your advantage was that you sold a lot more than your competitor, but did not take care of your client support whereas the other competitor sold half but had satisfied clients. So if you don’t take a break from sales and improve your client support, you could effectively land up gifting your clients to the competition too!

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India is a fast expanding economy and there are rapid changes in our industrial policies, export benefits, SEZ regulations, foreign players’ entries etc. Simultaneously, political, financial, economical, regulatory, and competitive aspects are changing so fast that we need to do SWOT regularly to know how such changes will impact our company.

This dynamism and fast pace is a wonderful opportunity for an SME because an SME being lean can react fast whereas larger companies are slower to respond. The telecom sector is a case in point. Because of regulatory and competitive changes, Bharti and Reliance who had a field day with less competition now have 13 competitors and it is the new ones who have upset the giants by announcing war-like tariffs!!  

Caution:  SWOT analysis should be conducted frequently enough for it to be useful, but not so often as to use up all employees’ energies doing SWOT alone!

Actions from the SWOT analysis must be given weightage so the SME focuses on those actions which will make the most difference to its future growth. 

Sum Up:  SWOT lets us be proactive, anticipating the future.

The company and employees are intellectually challenged, and can make plans which are practical and achievable, and form the basis for solid growth of the SME.

The contributor of this article is Mr. Ajay Wahi, author of management books like 'and the award for the BEST SME of the year goes to...' and 'Get Noticed Get Promoted'.

He can be contacted at 9810027979 or awahi2010@gmail.com

Single Retail Brand: Will it work for SMEs?

FDI has been in the limelight for quite some time now. In a recent directive, the government has revised FDI in single brand retail from 51 per cent to 100 per cent. Even though clarity regarding the term ‘single brand’ is yet to be ensured but it intends that foreign companies would be able to sell their products which were sold internationally under a ‘single brand’. Does this benefit SMEs or is it a constraint?

The concept of ‘single brand’ implies that sale of goods of multiple brands, even by the same manufacturer, would not be allowed. In such an example, if Swatch obtains permission to retail its watches under the Swatch brand, it would not be allowed to retail any other brand such as Longines or Titan. The agency would have to seek separate permission and would need to operate separate outlets for it. This would mean a lot of SMEs that are playing in the retail and manufacturing sector. 

Are We Being Too Ambitious?
The ‘single brand’ is an ambiguous term and the present policy does not clarify whether goods retailed with sub-brands under a major brand can be qualified as single-brand retailing. Single brand retail is expected to bring in a lot of investments from across the globe to India. On the other hand, it could slowly eliminate the existing domestic set-up due to a lack of implementation of the policy directives. India presently has a large number of SMEs, unorganized retailers who are an integral part of the retail. Ample care needs to be taken for their sustenance in case of 100 per cent FDI.

Big, Bigger, Biggest
Retail is a big phenomenon in India and one cannot simply participate in this process and mimic some settings from different context and expect it to work. On one level, many could perceive it as a threat of colonialism effected on a country which is familiar with its harmful effects. The biggest drawback remains in the lack of a level playing field for the domestic and small retailers which are still servicing a major part of the country. 

The onset of large retail is imminent but the policy still needs to prioritise public good which is missing from the existing framework. Every Indian has the right to a better product and a better service but they are the final users which decide the success of such brands. The present policy needs to include quality directives which need to be adhered to by the foreign investors. Similarly, there is a lacuna in the labelling of ingredients and misleading marketing tactics which could harm the Indian population. The policy should include directives which are equal to both consumers from developed countries and developing countries such as India.

Single brand retail will give the Indian consumers access to foreign brands and it would also benefit the Indian economy as the money spent would be within Indian shores. Both foreign retailer and his Indian partner can benefit out of this system with the foreign investor getting acquainted with local market knowledge and the Indian partner learning best techniques in management, design and technological knowhow. Overall, with some corrective measures, this move could propel Indian economy to a new level. This presents a greater opportunity for SMEs to watch out for new liaisons and benefit from changes the economy will be witnessing.

RBI asks banks to set up dedicated verticals to help SMEs

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), asked the financial institutions to constitute dedicated verticals to provide financial assistance to small and medium businesses.

 

While addressing an industry seminar organised by the SME Chamber of India here, RBI Deputy Governor, Mr KC Chakrabarty, said, “An SME-promoter knows the product, but he doesn't know finance. I think this is a product innovation, which needs to  be done by banks and it needs to be done across the globe.”

He asked banks to strengthen their long-term association of lending partners with SMEs by providing consultancy on finance, cash-flow management, taxation and other related things for a fee.

Read more at: http://news.indiamart.com/story/rbi-asks-banks-set-dedicated-verticals-help-smes-154822.html

The Merger Benefit for SMEs

The Indian economy is bubbling and along with that are the big players. Pleasantly, this time round a lot of SMEs are also joining the bubbly bandwagon. A primary reason for this growth is the way smaller enterprises are taking to business decisions like mergers and acquisitions.

The Pretty Picture
A burgeoning number of Indian SMEs are entering into mergers and acquisitions with various players from India and worldwide. The numbers have nearly doubled over the last two years alone. At this juncture, one needs to thoroughly understand the advantages of mergers for a particular SME. With a merger, an SME can acquire a greater set of resources for itself which can include manpower, machinery and other innumerable assets. In turn, this can boost its efficiency which can lead to an increase in its output and also lead to a reduction in the cost of producing a particular product or services. This reduction in the expenditure and improvement in the output can convert to better business growth for the enterprise. 

How Mergers Help
Mergers can help an SME in covering/removing its weaknesses in the long run. For example, any SME that is lacking in its R&D is advised to merge with an agency with strong R&D skills which can boost the productivity of both enterprises. Similarly, in the global context, mergers assist SMEs in penetrating new markets. Any Indian SME can also partner with agencies from foreign countries to facilitate retail for both their brands within India. Besides bringing a host of new technology and products into the country, it would also introduce better management, practice and culture to the agency. Both the agencies stand to gain from merger and it provides foreign SME with the know-how about Indian market and its demands for the coming times. Also, while SMEs go into mergers, they get into some fruitful partnerships regarding proprietary rights for products which can benefit the end user. IT sector is a clear example for such mergers where SMEs combine to offer a variety of products for the user. This also opens new markets for the SMEs and also contributes to innovation and propagation of a particular merger.

Reverse Mergers
In many cases, mergers also help SMEs in rising out of debt and works as effective exit strategy for many companies. Many SMEs can also enter into reverse mergers whereby a private company can merge with a public enterprise and form a public entity with a control exerted by the private company. With a reverse merger, private companies can exert better control on an existing public company and still run an enterprise with a public existence. There are a number of examples in India itself where an SME has acquired a larger status through its timely merger with another SME. Most of these mergers are found to be from the manufacturing sector although service sector is also joining in this process. The option of  leverage buyout financing and acquisition funding process which is supported by private equity houses prove to be some of the reasons for the sudden spurt in mergers amongst SMEs. Mergers prove to be one of the best ways for an SME to grow and expand. With the advent of globalization, it has become a more opportune growth for SMEs.  

How relevant is R&D to SMEs?

The Indian market is developing at an accelerating rate and with rapid globalization, the contribution of technological potential is critical for any firm’s survival or growth. R&D is required to develop distinctive technological competencies and is vital to imbibe external technologies. Relying only on the strategy of reverse engineering and innovative cost-effective processes would simply be insufficient to support under the new technology policy regime.

While initiating an R&D project, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have to consider thoroughly whether the particular research is necessary for their business and if it would deliver the expected results. They also need to examine what is their exact purpose from the research which can dictate its methodology and also clarify the kind of partners required for the project. 

In SMEs, research helps in a number of ways including bringing innovation to existing products or developing new ones. It helps the company in accessing new customers and entering new export markets besides offering an unparalleled edge over the competition by increment in sales, turnover and growth in business. R & D also facilitates global collaboration leading to an intensification of international contacts between SMEs and other companies involved in the field. 

 Indian manufacturing firms of various sizes (small, medium or large) are often found to have a low incidence of in-house R & D and have very less budget allocation for the same. Some of the industries, such as chemicals & chemical products, electrical & optical equipment, drugs & pharmaceuticals and machinery & equipment control about 80 per cent of the entire SME R & D of the country (as per a research by Jaya Prakash Pradhan, SPIESR). Incidentally, these industries are also in the top four across the various SMEs, in India and worldwide in their share in the R &D sector.

Initiatives such as EU-INCOOP-Inter-institutional Cooperation in EU are gaining prominence by bringing together experts from key areas of computing technology from India and EU. This association is expected to boost the IT industry and benefit SMEs in gaining valuable data for entering new markets and also help in understanding details about market dynamics in a developed economy.

Many countries also offer tax relief to SMEs conducting R & D supporting the fact that creation of innovative, high-value-added products and services boosts profitability and growth of such companies and economy of that nation.

Indian SMEs are supported by schemes such as SIDBI’s Technology Development and Modernization Fund, ISO-9000 Reimbursement Scheme and Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme for Technology Upgradation, among others. The government also supports SMEs through direct incentives for promoting in-house R & D activities. Any industrial unit which has received recognition from the Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR) is given tax deduction equivalent to the revenue and capital expenditure spent on R & D. 

With a variety of tax initiatives by the government and the global market knocking at our doors, SMEs are safe in opting for a bigger budget allocation for R & D activities which could substantially improve their businesses.