The wrath of COVID-19 was unexpected and at the beginning of this year, no one evenly remotely thought about this unnatural calamity. So much of politics has already been done and now it is the time of calculation, calculation of losses, physically, mentally, monetarily and economically. Even though the end of this pandemic is unforeseen and probably, we shall have to survive with it and vaccines and medicine for the COVID-19 is yet to be isolated, it is clearly impacting our economy. Two months of straight lock-down, which was a good step for the population like us, have created job losses, businesses shut-down and salary cuts in many MNCs too. But, its impact on MSMEs is going to haunt them at least for one-two years.

A recent study is done by Zinnov and Cisco jointly, titled ‘Indian SMBs: On the Road to Recovery from COVID-19’ has shown that how Government, Technology and Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) will have to work together to boost the economy as early as possible. It needs to mention here that even though all the SMBs have impacted from the wrath of COVID-19, yet its repercussions are not even for all SMBs.  Let’s have a glance at the report, what it says:-

India has a massive base of 75 million SMBs, contributing around 30 percent to the country’s GDP and employing nearly 130 million people. COVID-19 has pushed the majority of these SMBs into survival mode. While the government’s newly announced measures including the stimulus packages aimed at SMBs offer a much-needed boost to them to restart their operations, SMBs also need to be agile to embrace the new normal, which includes a strong digital foundation,” stated Praveen Bhadada, managing partner, Emerging Tech & Private Equity, Zinnov.

So, from the above context, it is pretty clear that though the government has given indeed a good stimulus to SMBs, yet it is not enough. SMBs need the paradigm-shifting from its earlier working pattern to the new normal which is ‘Digitalization.’ These two months of the span, only digital technology saved us. Work from home, online payments, video conferencing/ meetings are just a few known examples. According to the Zinnov-Cisco study: they say that,       

Indian SMBs contribute 30 percent to the country’s GDP and employ more than 130 million people and Digitization is a key for Indian SMBs to chart a course to recovery.

How to make SMBs more adaptive and disaster-proof:

The government has announced its equity support for SMBs/ MSMEs. Now, it is pretty clear that SMBs are going to invest in inventory, which is obvious. What, they need to do, is to become more adaptive towards Technology. They need to invest in Technology and attain the Digital footprint for revival and growth as well. Now, how it is going to help MSMEs and micro-MSMEs, we could take it point-vise:

• As Government is stressing more on local, our manufacturing SMBs should start looking for a local supply chain rather than depending on foreign supplies for raw materials and use technology to overcome the supply-chain issues.
• For Retail SMBs, they could use technology via accepting orders online and door to door delivery to tap the local market and boost up their growth. Since, we are still in COVID-19 lock downstage; tapping these markets with digitalization is very helpful for micro-MSMEs. The major part of this mobile technology is accepting money online which is helpful for customers and shopkeepers equally. Let’s see what does Zinnov-Cisco report says about this:

With the new stay-at-home economy emerging, digitally-enabled SMBs will be better placed to service customers. Pervasive broadband connectivity and uptake of digital technologies will fuel this new economy. Technology will play an important role in helping small businesses acquire customers, enhance service, experience, and efficiency, optimize supply chains, and grow beyond local boundaries to state, national, and international markets,” noted Sameer Garde, President, Cisco India, and SAARC.

How is technology going to help?

Digital technology is all about facilitation. It smoothens the working system for big MNCs and similarly, it will help SMBs as well. SMBs must adopt digital technology for their vertical market. Technologies like Cloud, automation Internet of things (IoT), etc. for a growth-driven business environment and which is also future – proof from any shock like COVID -19.

It is the high time that all businesses must go for their digital presence. Businesses must leverages themselves with these technology boosters like Automation, Cloud systems for online payments, customers’ queries and updates, Finance & Accounting, Payrolls, feedbacks, etc. According to the Zinnov-Cisco study:

“They need to be more customer-focused and should leverage digital technology solutions such as Online Appointment Scheduler, CRM, Collaboration Applications, Accounting/Billing Applications, accept Digital Payments, and automate repeatable tasks. Overall, the concerted efforts by the government, technology providers, and SMBs can help SMBs combat and lessen the impact of COVID-19,” added Bhadada.

COVID-19 has affected the manufacturing sector badly. All the manufacturing units were shut in this period and still not open properly.  It will take time to attain normalcy, and recovery of the economy is little far- fetched yet we need to be hopeful and need to do whatever is good for our businesses as early as possible. Only a positive outlook, perseverance and determination will help businesses to overcome from the pandemic. And, do not forget, “ Be Vocal for Local.”