SMEStreet League of Mentors Expanded, MSME Ministry’s Piyush Srivastava & NSIC’s P Udayakumar To Support the League with their Knowledge

With a strong belief of fighting back the COVID-19 Pandemic, SMEStreet’s commitment is getting strengthened day by day and the initiatives are getting greater response and interest from the MSME segment. SMEStreet League of Mentors was recently announced and has taken up a great level of acceptance among MSMEs. 

The initiative has successfully gained momentum. Additional Development Commissioner MSME, Ministry of MSME, Mr. Piyush Srivastava has also extended his support for this SMEStreet League of Mentors from the perspective of educating the MSMEs with respect to MSME Schemes. 

PIYUSH SRIVASTAVA, Additional DC-MSME, Govt. of India, MSME MINISTRY

“The Ministry of MSME under a dynamic leadership is committed to making meaningful contributions in bringing MSMEs’ on the growth track. Schemes and Programs are designed proactively to make sure that a pro-business ecosystem for MSMEs can be formed. Having said this, there is a great need for ensuring a strong connect with the MSMEs. MSME Champions is already a great step towards this front. But, since the MSME sector is so huge and diversified, it is very much welcome to see the SMEStreet Foundation's initiative of bringing the expertise of experienced professionals of various fields together under the SMEStreet League of Mentors,” says Mr Piyush Srivastava Additional DC-MSME said.    

In another important update, Director for Planning and Marketing at National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) Mr P Udayakumar will also be supporting SMEStreet League of Mentors as an honorary mentor. He will be able to guide the MSMEs on various NSIC Schemes that are designed for the promotion of the MSME sector. 

P Udayakumar, Director- Planning & Marketing NSIC

Commenting on this MSME centric forum of SMEStreet League of Mentors, Mr Udayakumar mentioned, “MSMEs in India are determined and full of potential. In these times, the Government is standing with this sector and ensuring every aspect to be taken care of. That is why we have observed great action around the MSME sector at a high level of policymaking. Several schemes are designed for MSMEs and executed through NSIC. For example Bank Credit Facilitation Scheme, Marketing Assistance Scheme and many others have great potential to extend a support mechanism for MSMEs. All this can be explored and MSMEs must learn about them to avail them. I appreciate the initiative of SMEStreet League of Mentors which is designed solely to support the MSMEs with the kind of information that is needed. I look forward to whatever guidance and support we can deliver for MSMEs in terms of right knowledge spread.”  SMEStreet League of Mentors is a nationwide activity of SMEStreet Foundation planned for educating and motivating the MSMEs from the perspective of giving the best possible knowledge & guidance to reach to the best possible level.   

The Ministry of MSME is proactively following the COVID-19 pandemic situation and is trying every opportunity to get closer to the MSMEs in facilitating a positive ecosystem for business for the MSME segment. The Ministry of MSME’s DI-MSME office is responsible for ensuring the MSME Schemes to reach to the level of ultimate beneficiaries and on these lines, Mr Karun Kumar, Asst. Director at DI-MSME will be supporting the initiative of SMEStreet League of Mentor towards extending his time and efforts for guiding and educating MSMEs who wish to know more about the Ministry of MSME’s schemes. 

 At the global level, this initiative is gaining momentum from international thought leadership community and global philanthropists. In a motivating development, United Nations’ South-South Cooperation Organization have acknowledged and recognized SMEStreet’s initiatives for 2020. 

On the official website of United Nations Office South-South Cooperation, SMEStreet activities are listed as SMEStreet in 2020: Year of Fighting Back .

Commenting on the latest developments at SMEStreet Foundation, Faiz Askari, Founder of SMEStreet Foundation and Founding Editor of SMEStreet.in stated, “This is undoubtedly a tough and challenging time. But believing on some wise men sayings, that the challenging time also has an end. I firmly believe in my interactions and conversations with MSME entrepreneurs, that this phase will go leaving behind a stronger and sharper Indian MSME lot. With these tough times, MSMEs are developing a great level of fighting spirit.  Today’s survival instinct will become tomorrow’s drivers for new age success stories. Having said this, I am thankful to the honorary mentors who are supporting this initiative which is designed only to support the MSME sector concerning rightful knowledge spread.”

The mentoring for MSMEs requires a holistic approach as the business has many critical aspects of running the show. Apart from Govt Policies and schemes, funding, finance management, marketing and technology etc are some important areas for MSMEs. All these areas of business might require handholding or knowledge support. In our bid to offer comprehensive coverage of business-critical subjects, we also have the pleasure of having knowledge support from subject matter experts.

Deepak Maheshwari, Founder Jindigi Live Consulting

On the funding front, a seasoned investment banker, an Angel Investor, Mr Deepak Maheshwari Co-Founder of Jindagi Live Consulting also came forward in support of this nationwide initiative as a mentor to help those MSME entrepreneurs who wish to get clarity and guidance on alternate finance opportunities around them. 

“This initiative is going to bring great value for MSMEs since the correct set of information is the most crucial asset for any entrepreneur. Today COVID-19  Pandemic has made a massive dent on the entire economy and society as a whole. Role of MSMEs is well acknowledged at the policymaking level in the process of economic revival. This is why I feel that initiatives like this are very important. I congratulate SMEStreet Foundation for foraying into this direction,” commented Mr Maheshwari. 

The SMEStreet League of Mentors was earlier joined by distinguished professionals who have over 35 plus years of great professional experience individually in dealing with MSMEs. 

The league already has thought leaders and financial gurus of the country like Mr S Ravi Former Chairman of BSE and Founder of Ravi Rajan & Co. 

S Ravi, Founder of Ravi Rajan & Co & Ex- Chairman BSE

In his message, Mr S Ravi congratulated the SMEStreet team for this initiative and said, “While there are several steps taken by the Central Government, MSME Ministry and Finance Ministry, various State Governments and various Government agencies all unanimously aimed at ensuring the survival of the MSME sector. As the biggest need of the hour, MSMEs must be served with the right knowledge and information for the supporting mechanism around them. This is indeed a greatly required need for MSMEs as knowledge-driven experts to come forward in support of MSMEs.” Mr S Ravi has joined SMEStreet's initiative SMEStreet League of Mentors as an honorary mentor for SMEStreet Foundation.

Please check out the Media Announcement on World MSME Day of SMEStreet League of Mentors: Read Here 

Knowledge Support for MSMEs from The United States 

Danny Gaekwad

Florida-US, based Mr Danny Gaekwad who is a prominent name in American Hotel and Hospitality industry Mr Danny have also joined this cause in the name of MSME development with his knowledge and experience. “It is very critical to motivate entrepreneurs from India and the US to come forward and collaborate. As the two world-leading economies have the potential to shape the entire world’s economic future it is very important to create an environment of collaboration for Indian MSMEs/ Small Businesses with US-based businesses. I wish SMEStreet league of Mentors great success ahead in the area of making the life of entrepreneurs easy by sharing or connecting with the right expertise at their ease,” says Danny Gaekwad on joining the SMEStreet League of Mentors. 

New Jersey-based entrepreneur and philanthropist Dr Hari Eppanapally - Chairman Lead India Foundation have also expressed his best wishes to the SMEStreet Foundation for coming forward with such a vision to support the MSME entrepreneurs. Dr Eppanapally said, “This is much needed intuitive and I believe that MSMEs of India will get a great boost from it. Information and knowledge will pave their way forward and such a forum from SMEStreet will be going to bring that value to MSMEs.”  

Mr. Bhagi Nanda Sandilya, CEO – MissionSmartRide & BH Ventures

US and India business and trade hold great prospects for SMEs and MSMEs of both sides. Considering this as an area of focus, Mr Bhagi Nanda Sandilya, CEO - MissionSmartRide & BH Ventures and a sports entrepreneur has also joined SMEStreet as an advisor. Mr Nanda commented, “The next one decade will be very crucial for the global economy. India & the United States holds great potential to contribute to the global economy and healthy and friendly relations between the two nations will certainly drive the future of international business and trade. Through this initiative by SMEStreet, we aim to highlight opportunities for Indian MSMEs in the United States and vice versa.” 

On the other hand, the league also has subject matter experts and veterans from the field of Financial Management and author of various books covering the topic of finance, Mr Chaitanya Shah Founder of Chaitanya Shah & Co. Experts like Pawan Gupta of Connect2Inida is also on boarded with a perspective of explaining any Export-Import related queries. 

Mr. Divesh Mishra founder of Ursa Minor Consulting is also part of the distinguished panel of mentors who are ready to guide MSMEs on subjects like Skill Development and Banking in particular. 

Last few months have completely disrupted the economic activity and Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are among the top lot of being affected with the impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic. 2020 is indeed the year of COVID-19 Pandemic, as an MSME focused media community, we at SMEStreet believe that this is the year for MSMEs’ Fight Back. And in this fight, Knowledge will act as the lethal weapon for MSMEs. On the lines of supporting MSMEs, SMEStreet announces the launch of SMEStreet League of Mentors we are there to do our best in supporting this battle of Indian MSMEs.

Well, the Government of India have been proactive and agile towards the situation and came out with several new initiatives and schemes that are designed to help MSMEs in coping up from the Pandemic and from Atmanirbhar Bharat to Subvention scheme to Revised MSME definition there are several steps been taken by the policymakers.

Work from Home Preparedness Survey Among MSMEs 

In addition to SMEStreet league of Mentors, SMEStreet has also kickstarted a nationwide survey to study and understand MSMEs’ Work from Home Preparedness.

Faiz Askari, Founder of SMEStreet Foundation & Founder Editor of SMEStreet.in

“Since the lockdown conditions have made the industry go all around and we have witnessed a huge amount of unplanned adoption of technology at the MSME level. SMEStreet being a proactive ecosystem for MSMEs & startups, we realised the need to understand the aspect of MSMEs’ preparedness & readiness for a long term sustainable planning for Work from Home or managing remote operations. For this, we have started this nationwide digital survey which will be promoted through various social media and digital media platforms. I am sure that this activity will highlight a great amount of understanding the status of technology adoption for a sustainable work-from-home strategy among MSMEs,” informed Faiz Askari. 

This survey is expected to cover over 60 thousand MSMEs over the next few months for this initiative.

Participate in the survey by filling up this small form

SMEStreet Nationwide Survey on MSMEs’ Preparedness of Work from Home Operations 

SMEStreet.in was established in 2014, since then this platform has been working as an unbiased ecosystem for the MSME sector. Gradually it became India's top platform for MSMEs & Startups.

Having connected with over 600,000 (6 Lakh)MSMEs across India and across verticals, since inception, SMEStreet is aimed to deliver valued content for MSMEs and become an anchor of the next-level growth engine for the growth engine of the Economy that is MSME Segment.