Small and medium businesses (SMB) are the backbone of the Indian economy. Now that the Covid-19 pandemic has pushed these businesses into the digital arena, they are all set to leverage the benefits of new-age technology.
According to a report by Inc42 Plus, India is home to approximately 63 Mn SMBs as per the government’s 2015-16 estimate. Of these, 44 Mn (or 70%) are unregistered, while the remaining businesses are registered companies. Digitalisation has not only made their operations easier and more efficient in terms of payments and order management but has also given the SMBs a chance to utilise the service bouquet offered by financial institutions.
As many services are currently available in the market, SMBs should have a thorough understanding of the tools, technologies, and offerings when they opt for these services. As they have a limited budget, merchants need to analyse and evaluate these services based on their requirements.
As these businesses move towards the digital space, there will be new challenges and new opportunities. In this session of The Dialogue, presented by Inc42 and Microsoft, one can understand the trends and opportunities emerging in this sector, and learn about the analytics tools to decode the SMB market.
The Dialogue: Decoding The Digitalisation Wave Transforming SMBs For India’s Next Billion
Moderated by Shashank Randev, founder VC at 100X. VC, the discussion hosted Sangeeta Bavi, director of Startup Ecosystem at Microsoft India, ShopKirana’s founder and CEO, Tanutejas Saraswat, Klub cofounder and CEO, Anurakt Jain, and Ripplr’s cofounder, Santosh Dabke.
Key highlights from this edition of The Dialogue:
- Understanding the needs of SMBs stepping into the digital era
- Trends and opportunities for catering to the SMB segment in India
- B2B fintech as a largely unexplored territory for the SMB segment
- Products for the hottest SMB micro-segments — retail storefronts, factories, and eateries
- Specific data analytics and machine learning tools to decode the SMB market
