6 Top Trends That Will Help Shape The Future Of SMEs In India

Whether it is small businesses, medium-sized, or large businesses, after the pandemic, all sorts of businesses have seen a change. It has led to a rapid boost in digital adoption and planning for the future to avoid any mishaps from happening in the future. Many businesses have come up with solutions that will maintain a steady cash flow and revenue stream. 

For small businesses, the future is unpredictable and it is essential for them to adapt to top trends to thrive in a competitive market like India. Let's have a look at 6 Top Trends That Will Help Shape The Future Of SMEs In India: 

Digitization

Digitization is the first trend that will really help Indian SMEs in the future. After the pandemic, we have seen the importance of e-commerce and how its adoption increased in the whole world. A report by Forbes shows that there has been a drastic increase in internet usage, reporting a 50-70% increase.

To maintain their safety, customers now prefer online shopping and digital transactions instead of cash and buying goods in person. Online payments, E-commerce stores, and e-invoices have become a norm and if any business wants to thrive then going digital and adopting digitization will be of so much use. 

Using New Marketing Methods And Tools

Another trend that can help Indian SMEs to strive in the market is using new methods and tools for marketing. Traditional marketing methods have been replaced by new ones with the rapid growth of technology and a lot of this has contributed to the growth and availability of the internet. 

Businesses that are dominating the marketing are doing so because of their online presence. Digital marketing and social marketing are trending nowadays and any SME that wants to make sure that its future is gonna be a good, enchaining online presence by creating an optimized and responsive e-commerce store, creating social pages on the social media platform, WhatsApp for Business, actively interacting with customers, etc. All these things will help an SME to shape its present and future in a better way.

Trying Out New Niches

Trying out new niches that are untapped and not really popular can help a business double, triple its profits in no time. SMEs need to jump into new markets and niches that have a high demand but relatively less competition. There are many niches like this including fintech, education, board games, etc. 

Let’s take the example of board games. You may find that there are no tools or only a few tools for board games available in the market such as Scrabble Word Finder. If you manage to build a unique tool for board games such as Word Unscrambler then it would be a huge turning point for your business. 

Financial Planning

To survive the crucial period and hard times, it is imperative that businesses, especially SMEs do their financial planning. During the COVID pandemic, we saw that many small and medium-sized businesses had to shut down completely because they hadn’t done financial planning. 

Small businesses and startups need to make sure that they have enough savings available in the back pocket for emergencies so that they won’t have to completely shut down.

Doing a financial checkup every quarter or every half of the year and revisiting the strategies and altering them to make up for the shortcomings is a good thing to do. It is also better to have a look at what your competitors are doing and how you can do it in a better way to save a handful of money.

Taking Help From Government Initiatives

Yes, it is true that small businesses might not have a huge impact on the country’s economy but they still cannot be neglected because of the fact that they offer employment opportunities for many. In India, there are different schemes offered by the government for small businesses and startups including Startup India, Make in India, etc. 

Building A Strong Network

This is a very important factor that SMEs need to understand in order to thrive and strive in the market. When it comes to competing with already existing players in the market or making an impact, it is a better connection and a strong network that can help put a good word of mouth for your business.

Having a strong network of people will not only increase brand awareness but will also bring in more customers and if you can provide what the customers are looking for then you are gonna build a good name for your brand in no time. 

If SMEs in India want to make a future for themselves then they need to adapt to the current trends and also future-proof themselves. This involves adopting digital change and doing what’s necessary for the survival of your business in the future.