MSME & Small Businesses – How Can They Scale-Up Business Online?

At a time when businesses with online presence are thriving, India’s MSME sector has failed to capitalise on this digital boom. The lack of progression has left these industries in a lurch. Insufficient capital is the biggest deterrent to digital transformation for such small-scale businesses.   

Micro, small and medium enterprises often face hurdles when it comes to securing necessary financial backing. If you own such a business, it is likely you have faced similar challenges when it comes to raising the required working capital. Fortunately, with services like invoice discounting from companies like KredX, businesses can avail working capital within 24-72 hours*. 

MSMEs can leverage their account receivables, more specifically, the unpaid invoices to meet their immediate cash flow needs.

How Will The MSME Sector Benefit From Digitisation?

Generally, businesses with an online presence tend to rake in substantial revenue. Such a change can offer a much-needed boost to your business, and to all other such small-scale enterprises operating in the country. 

Here is how it helps – 

• Impressive Customer Service – With features such as chatbots, artificial intelligence and more, companies with an online presence can easily extend high-quality customer service to their clients. Over time, this can help streamline your company’s services.

• Reduce Production Costs – With machine learning and predictive business analysis, an online platform can help reduce expenses in the production process. As a business owner, cost reduction should be music to your ears!

• Increased Profit Generation – Scaling small businesses online is difficult. However, if you manage to do it, significant dividends will wait for you and your company. Usage of advanced technologies results in upgraded products, which, in turn, can drive your profitability to new heights. 

• Improved Data Collection – Knowing what customers want and how they perceive products and services, is a benefit primarily available to online companies. Moreover, you can collect data from your competitors, improve your sales, and provide helpful insights into the marketing and production departments of your company.
• Limits The Risk Of Errors – With the technological advancement of MSMEs, human errors can be minimised, thereby limiting mistakes. Automation and online integration are the keys to achieving an efficient business model, with almost no room for errors.

Nevertheless, the initial cost of setting up an online model often discourages small business owners from making such a choice. Although the benefits far outweigh the expenses, small-scale enterprises simply lack the capital backing necessary to implement a transformation from the physical to the virtual model. 

With KredX’s funding solutions, you can avail the necessary monetary assistance against unpaid invoices. Our funding option reduces the hassle for business owners since they do not need to collateralise assets against the credit.

Steps To Take Your MSMS/Small Business Online

When lack of funds is no longer an issue, you can plan each step of transforming your business into an online enterprise. The following can help you in the process – 

• Acquire A Domain Name and Create A Website

Your website and domain are the two most important things when initiating an online business model. Plan every detail regarding the name of your domain and also the specifics of the website. Always remember that this is the first point of contact between your business and the customers. 

An impressive and well-planned website can help generate online traffic, thereby encouraging interest in your products or services. 

• Create Meaningful Content And Optimise The Company Website

Create website pages that inform clients regarding the type of services you offer. You can also educate them on various aspects of your company. However, drawing a sufficient amount of traffic to a page can still be difficult, if your SEO is lacking. 

Fortunately, you can hire external agencies to work on this digital optimisation process, ensuring better rankings in Google search results.

• Maintain Social Media Accounts For Your Company

Operating Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, etc. accounts for a business is essential if you are looking to find success online. Apart from posting regular updates regarding discounts, offers and other information, such social media handles can also allow MSMEs to communicate directly with clients. 

As you can see, at each of these steps, you would need to have access to a substantial pool of capital. This can be especially difficult for small and micro enterprises, which operate on extremely limited funds. Invoice discounting and other such unique capital solutions can be perfect for these businesses to meet such liabilities effectively. 

Bottom Line

If you want to take your small business online, be ready to invest a substantial corpus in implementing such a change. Following a few simple steps can also ease the process significantly and benefit your business in the long run.