How financial companies are convincing MSMEs to go digital and other top SMB stories of the week
How MSMEs contribute 30% to GDP but lag behind in technology adoption and other top stories of the week.
The micro, small and medium enterprises of India are the growth engines of the economy and its upliftment is necessary for the development of the nation.
While technology and innovation are the driving force for any economy’s development; MSMEs in India still shy away from the same with a major fear of divulging actual business numbers and coming under the tax radar.
MSMEs contribute 30% to India’s GDP. However, despite their significance in the Indian economy and the government’s thrust to ensure innovation in the sector, disorganised and inefficient operations continue to remain huge impediments to the growth of MSMEs.
This week SMBStory spoke to Tide India and other industry experts to bring out how financial companies are convincing MSMEs to go digital. According to them, awareness and mentorship are crucial to handhold business owners and help them along their digital transformation journey.
Other top picks of the week:
MYOP
A simple activity like smelling a scent while walking down the aisle of a grocery store can take you back several years—whisking you away to a time you long to return.
Otherwise referred to as olfactory memory, this process can trigger detailed memories or powerful emotions. This is what inspired Rayhan Abdul Rahiman to establish Make Your Own Perfume (MYOP), a Calicut-based perfume bar brand.
On a business trip to Tehran, as he walked about the city, surrounding perfumeries that welcomed patrons to experience and learn the art of perfume-making caught his eye. “It was pretty normal there. I found it really fascinating and felt there might be a potential business opportunity in it,” Rayhan tells SMBStory.
Soon, he began scouting contacts in the city attempting to learn more about the source of raw materials. He found that large companies from the West supplied these materials to the firms.
When he set out to find similar companies in India, he did not find any company that sold fine fragrances. Eventually, with an initial investment of Rs 8 lakh—in 2017—he set up MYOP.
MYOP has three physical stores, one each in Bengaluru, Kozhikode, and Hyderabad, and 18 kiosks spread throughout malls across Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka, and Kerala. In FY22 and FY23, it clocked a net revenue of Rs 5.7 crore and Rs 14 crore, respectively.
One Minute Saree
As much as a lot of women love to wear a saree, the struggle to drape it to perfection is real.
To help women flawlessly drape a saree, Sasha Revankar began One Minute Saree. As the name describes it, the Mumbai-based brand offers pre-stitched sarees that retain all of the saree's beautiful features, such as the flow, drape, and pleats but remove the hassles of pleating, pinning up and petticoats.
“In easy words, it is a ready-to-wear saree that can be draped in one minute,” Revankar tells SMBStory.
Revankar, who grew up in the US, says she has always been fascinated by the myriad styles of sarees. During her frequent trips to India, she would always carry sarees to wear back home.
One day, the all-too-familiar struggle to drape a saree without any help nudged Revankar to create One Minute Saree.