MSME Week: How long will SMBs take to recover from the COVID-19 crisis?
Dr Arun Singh, Chief Economist at Dun & Bradstreet India, discusses some pain points of MSMEs and steps that can be taken to ensure their speedy recovery.
The COVID-19 crisis has crippled the MSME sector, which contributes 30 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Till February 2020, India was making plans to reach the goal of becoming a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25. Moreover, MSMEs were seen as an important catalyst to help India achieve this grand and illustrious target.
The pandemic, which led to a nationwide lockdown in the middle of March and went on till the middle of May, tossed the financial health of the economy.
How long will SMBs take to recover from COVID-19 crisis is a big question.
To bring these SMBs into the spotlight, discuss their revival and make their voices heard, YourStory is celebrating the MSME Week from June 20 to June 27. During this virtual, week-long celebration, YourStory will be showcasing stories of some of India’s most loved, home-grown businesses.
Powered by CIBIL, India’s first credit information company, the Day 2 of the MSME Week saw Dr Arun Singh, Chief Economist at Dun & Bradstreet India, discuss the pain points of MSMEs and what steps can be taken to ensure the speedy recovery of the Indian SMBs in a virtual one-on-one interaction.
Some steps that can ensure the revival of Indian SMBs, according to him are:
- Embracing technology and digitisation.
- Changing mindset and focussing on business innovation.
- Monitoring labour productivity on a daily basis.
- Thinking of strategies that can revive revenues of the business within a short span of time. Launching an ecommerce vertical is a good example.
- Businesses need to become more agile and come up with a crisis management strategy.
- Focussing on three factors -- managing short-term disruption, catering to medium-term needs, and planning for long-term changes.
- Building a resilient and local supply chain.
- Digitising supply chain completely.
- Divesting unprofitable verticals of the business.
- Sticking to core and focussing on strengthening it.
Watch the full interview below:
Edited by Javed Gaihlot