'Buyer Seller Meet' - A platform by IndiaMART.com for SMEs in Healthcare sector to Network & Grow

The medicine and pharmaceutical industry in India is truly cutting edge. It has seen plethora of advancements in the past few years. Messe Duesseldorf India Pvt. Ltd. endeavors to constantly remain in the forefront of the changes, sweeping advances in the field. In association with MEDIC and IndiaMART.com, India's largest online B2B marketplace, as its online media partner Messe Duesseldorf has put its best foot forward with the support of Indian associations such as AIMED (Association of Indian Medicals Device Industry) and IAPMR (Indian Association of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation), as well as vital international institutions to bring the medicine and pharmaceutical industry under one roof at Bombay Exhibition Centre (BEC) in Mumbai via 'Medial Fair India 2012'. 

But, what actually would interest the Small & Medium Sector Enterprises (SMEs) of healthcare sector here will be the 'Buyer Seller Meet' which IndiaMART.com will be organising in partnership with Messe Duesseldorf India Pvt. Ltd. Before delving deeper on what this meet has in its store for Indian SMEs active in healthcare sector, lets get acquainted with Medical Fair India 2012.

A Curtain Raiser
Medical Fair India 2012 will provide an interactive platform for the entire medical fraternity to gather under one roof and celebrate the technological advances in the field of medicine. It is a three day celebration of diagnostics, medical technology, rehabilitation, medical equipment and components. In fact, such a meeting is much more than just a scientific interaction. In addition to facilitating the exchange of expertise and knowledge, the fair provides an invaluable opportunity for the sellers to exhibit their equipments to the buyers.

It is anticipated that over 311 exhibitors from all over Asia, Europe and USA will attend the event showcasing the technological advances equipments and health care products to more than 5000 visitors. This event will also witness footfalls of entrepreneurs from various SMEs across the sector apart from industry leaders. As a matter of fact, for the very first time in the history of medical fairs in India, there will be a US pavilion with the Illinois State Office, the Minnesota State Office and the US Commercial Service participating, as well as group exhibitions from the Czech Republic and Japan.

Upholding Traditions: Where Buyers Meet Sellers
Partnering with Messe Duesseldorf, IndiaMART.com will organize a 'Buyer Seller Meet' alongside the fair. This meet will provide an exclusive platform to buyers who will come with their specific requirements and sellers who will showcase product samples of their respective companies. IndiaMART.com will make arrangements for pre-fixed meetings between buyers and suppliers of medical products as well as it will ensure that every buyer gets to meet multiple numbers of suppliers. The objective of this meet is the cultivation and promotion of various businesses across the field of medicine, creating prospects for exchanging of views on the development in instrumentation, establishing contacts and face to face meeting with prospective buyers. This meet not only gives a golden opportunity to Indian SMEs in healthcare sector to explore a whole new world of healthcare products & services but also a perfect platform providing enormous future prospects, latest trends and exclusive networking with the companies from the same industry.

Health & Welfare
The medical fair aims to direct the health care group giving them an opportunity to gauge trends and developments in medical industry. It gives them a chance to meet decision makers from India and abroad, whose and who of medical fraternity as well as renowned doctors & veterinarian surgeons. The fair tries to accomplish welfare of the buyers and sellers belonging to health care groups and pharmaceutical industry at its best.

Welcome to Mumbai
So, IndiaMART.com welcomes all manufacturers, exporters, importers, purchase managers, doctors, et al to be a part of this mega event in Mumbai, the bustling and lively city of India which is enjoying both an excellent economical climate and blooming healthcare services sector. Come and join IndiaMART.com at 'Buyer Seller Meet' where it opens gateway for Medical & Healthcare sector to a better tomorrow.

'Buyer Seller Meet' Schedule:

Date: 2nd - 4th March, 2012
Time: 10:00am - 04:00pm
Venue:  Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai

Fill up your buyer's registration form by clicking on the link below and get a Face-to-Face interaction with suppliers of medical products:
http://trade.indiamart.com/mailer/ts231111/medical-fair-india.html

For more information, please visit:
http://www.biztradeshows.com/medical-fair-india/

Free for SME's: Internet based Services to Help Your Business Grow

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.

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:

1. IndiaMART.com
2. Tradeindia.com
3. BizXchange.in
4. Busytrade.com
5. Itrademarket.com
6. Indianyellowpages.com
7. Sme.in

But are these B2B portals giving any value or is it just about creating another account on a website with no results?!

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?

1. LinkedIn: Professional networking system that can be used for marketing, business development and searching for new business contacts, customers and employees.
2. 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
3. twitter: SME's can powerfully use this platform to quickly spread news, connect with relevant people globally who are somehow connected to their domain
4. 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?

1. Wordpress.org
2. Typepad.com
3. Blogspot.com
4. 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

1. 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)
2. SME Times: (http://smetimes.tradeindia.com/)
3. 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!

IAMAI and IndiaMART.com Announce First Ever Conference on 'ICT for SMEs'

• First ever conference on ICT for SMEs.
• SMEs poised to benefit out of conference on ICT.

New Delhi, 30 June 2009: The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IndiaMART.com, India’s largest online B2B marketplace are organizing a first of its kind conference on “ICT for SMEs” to focus on technology-driven growth avenues for the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector.

The one-day conference, to be held on July 10^th in New Delhi will provide SME's owners and managers the opportunity to understand and choose the right technology for their respective growth plans.

Among a host of relevant issues, speakers at the conference will shed light on potential barriers to technology adoption by SMEs which effectuate issues like operational flexibility, reaching potential clients globally, competitiveness in domestic market and boosting ROI with minimum resources. IAMAI President - Dr Subho Ray said, “Since SMEs are the largest source of employment in India, it becomes imperative for us to build and equip them with the latest and available technologies so that they can achieve their business objectives and run their businesses effectively. Being the nodal body of India's internet and mobile industry, it gives us immense pleasure to be able to play a constructive role for the SME sector”.

“Given the humongous base of SMEs that India has, it is only imperative that they be encouraged and hand-held for better adoption of ICT. This conference will go a long way in exhorting SMEs to graduate to the next level”, said Dinesh Agarwal, Founder and CEO of IndiaMART.com.

The conference will have distinguished speakers like Mr. Dinesh Rai, Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Government of India, Mr. Dinesh Agarwal, Founder and CEO of IndiaMART.com, Mr. Shekhar Kirani, Vice President, VeriSign, Mr. Ramraj Pai, Director-SME Ratings, CRISIL, Mr. Rajiv Sodhi, Director, Emerging Geographies, Microsoft India, Mr. Gurmukh Singh, Head Business Marketing, Intel South Asia, Mr. Sugata Sarkar, Group Business-Director, IMRB, Mr. Harish Bahl Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Smile Interactive Technologies Group, Mr. B. Muralikrishnan Director- Category & Product Management, eBay India.

About IndiaMART.com

IndiaMART.com is India's largest online B2B marketplace connecting global buyers with suppliers through business directories, online product catalogs, buy-sell offers, industry specific marketplaces, printed media and trade shows participation.

Founded in 1996, the company has a presence in over 100 cities pan-India. With approximately 1000 employees, IndiaMART.com offers an extensive range of value-added products and services to over 500,000 members and over 5 million global buyers across industries and verticals.

IndiaMART.com has won numerous awards over the years including Red Herring 100 Asia & Emerging India and the company has been widely covered by media such as CNBC, BBC, BusinessMoney, CNN, Businessworld, Economic Times, Financial Express, etc. Its existing investors include Intel Capital and Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd (Times Group), India's largest print media group.

About IAMAI
The Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) is a not-for-profit industry body registered under the Societies Act, 1896. Its mandate is to expanupgradationd and enhance the online and mobile value added services sectors. It is dedicated to presenting a unified voice of the businesses it represents to the government, investors, consumers and other stakeholders. The association addresses the issues, concerns and challenges of the Internet and Mobile economy and takes a leading role in its development.

Media Contact:

IndiaMART.com

Arun Tyagi

Marketing and PR

Mobile: + 91 - 9711003832

Tel: + 91 - 120 - 6777777, 3911000

Fax: + 91 - 120 – 2424943

E-mail: pr@indiamart.com

Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI)

Kalyan Biswas
Mobile: +91-9971768811
Tel: +91-11-4657 0328
E-mail: kalyan@iamai.in