Single biggest impact on growth of Indian MSMBs is waiting to be leveraged

This will also be the biggest factor to help MSMBs realize their full potential in post-COVID world.

The Micro, Small and Medium Businesses (MSMB) in India form a key pillar of the nation’s economy. The MSMB sector, comprising over 50 million businesses, generates millions of jobs and contributes significantly to the national GDP. The sector is also a major export engine. With the number of MSMBs projected to grow further, the government expects this sector to lead India’s post-COVID recovery and play a pivotal role in making India a USD 5 trillion economy.

However, a closer look will reveal that MSMBs in India are fraught with challenges. To begin with, close to 96 percent of them do not have a formal source of finance. Poor financial management is the biggest challenge plaguing this sector, causing a number of businesses to shut down. Poor skill base is another area of concern – over 95 percent of the MSMB workforce has not undergone any skill training. And while the sector contributes significantly to national exports, only 3 percent of the MSMBs are export-oriented businesses.

If India aspires to become an economic superpower and a truly Aatmanirbhar nation, it is important that the millions of MSMBs dotting its landscape thrive and flourish. And, the one solution that can solve a lion’s share of their problems and enable them to unlock their full potential is radical digitisation.

Studies have shown that digitally-enabled businesses have twice the revenue growth as compared to their offline counterparts. By leveraging the power of digitisation, businesses can improve productivity, streamline operations, manage human resources efficiently and ultimately deliver greater products and services to customers. But this is easier said than done; for an MSMB entrepreneur in India, finding a suitable and affordable digital solution is anything but simple!

The problem lies in the very nature of the MSMB sector. An overwhelming number of MSMB businesses in India have a turnover of less than `5 crore, of which only a fraction is spent on digital solutions.

In addition to this, the businesses are spread over a wide geography, unlike big businesses which are located in tightly knit industrial clusters or business districts.

In many cases, MSMB entrepreneurs lack the technical know-how to negotiate, purchase or manage digital utilities and services.

The combination of these factors makes the MSMB sector an unattractive and unviable proposition for leading Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solution providers in the market.

Jio has identified this as a big gap in the market and has been working relentlessly to address it with smart and economical enterprise-grade integrated digital solutions tailormade to the requirements of MSMBs. It recognizes that the MSMBs have unique digital needs to concur with their distinct business models and has therefore designed digital solutions that can be adopted and used by anyone, anywhere without expert intervention.

Jio is committed to serving the MSMB segment and is continuously looking at creating easy-to-use and highly affordable integrated digital services. The ultimate objective is to enable entrepreneurs across India run their businesses with unprecedented efficiency and compete with larger enterprises. Digital services and digitization will be one of the most important factors enabling MSMBs achieve high growth.

This is just the beginning. Jio is committed to democratizing digital tech availability in India by providing a slew of solutions designed to enable MSMBs thrive, flourish and be key contributors to the national economy in the post-COVID world.