MSME Day 2019: SMBStory MSME Week concludes with its first-ever pop-up bazaar
MSME Day was recognised by YourStory through the pop-up bazaar and panel discussion in celebration of India's home-grown brands.
SMBStory's MSME Week celebrations concluded on MSME Day, June 27th, with a colourful pop-up bazaar and panel discussion at the YourStory office in Indiranagar, Bengaluru.
MSME Day, being a globally-recognised celebration of small businesses, was recognised by YourStory through the pop-up bazaar and panel discussion in celebration of India's home-grown brands.
The pop-up bazaar held at the YourStory office
Held between 12 and 8 pm, the popup bazaar saw over a dozen stalls by MSMEs and small businesses selling unique items such as handwoven clothes, scented candles, bioactive beverages, suncatchers, instant foods, bodycare products, cosmetics, and more.
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Some of the products displayed at the bazaar
The MSMEs and small businesses at the bazaar were largely based in Bengaluru, but their products were curated from various regions in north Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, and other states. Some of the small businesses present at the bazaar were Merhaki Foods, Cannanore, Rustic Art, Zwende, BattiGul, Tengin, Summer Scent, Disguise Cosmetics, and more.
Batti Gul's scented candle range displayed at the popup bazaar
For more information on some of these businesses, please follow this link.
Following the bazaar was a panel discussion that featured MSMEs and small business stakeholders, including Shalini Bannerjee, Marketing Head for MSME Business, Google; Sheta Mittal, Co-founder, Merhaki Foods; Vinamra Pandiya, Founder and CEO, Qtrove.com; and Rishi Das, Co-founder and Chairman, IndiQube.
The panel spoke to a packed house about the opportunities and challenges for Indian brands and SMBs in the current digital age.
During the panel, Shalini explained that Google is helping small businesses and MSMEs come online and reach more customers through the company's Digital Unlocked and Google My Business app initiatives.
She explained: "Initially, we started off with Google Maps to help customers find or locate the businesses easily. We kept in mind what these customers really wanted when they performed searches. The Google My Business app allows users to have their Business Profile appear when people are searching for their business or similar businesses on Google Search or Maps."
Rishi then talked about IndiQube's app MiQube, which allows clients to order food from IndiQube cafeterias, avail offers that are exclusive for IndiQube clients, book partnered spaces and refreshments, book gym slots, hire transport, and more.
The panel discussion held during the pop-up bazaar
Sheta from Merhaki Foods then went on describe that the brand, being relatively new, was focussing on creating a new product category through its bioactive lifestyle beverages.
Finally, Vinamra from Qtrove explained the brand's 'anti-commerce' model which uses the traditional ecommerce technology but focusses on a customer-centric approach rather than a transaction-centric one.
The panel discussion and pop-up bazaar concluded the SMBStory's first-ever MSME Week, which was presented by Google Digital Unlocked and powered by Dell Small Business, with merchandise partner White Owl Warehouse. During the week, stories of entrepreneurs with grit, perseverance, and the determination to succeed against all odds were brought into focus.
The week saw SMBStory curate in-depth interviews with MSME founders, Facebook Live interviews, Q&A sessions, panel discussions, and more.
