Special HR challenges in SMEs
Contributed by Sonam Saigal, Knowledge Buddy
Interview with Mr. Vikram Hoon , Subject Matter Expert , Milagrow
Contributed by Nidhi Sehgal, Knowledge Buddy
KB - What are the major HR challenges which the MSMEs face ?
Alternative Sources of Funding for SMEs in India
Contributed by Nishant Pathak, Knowledge Buddy
There are over 13 million SMEs in India, providing employment to 42 million people. From these figures an outside observer can easily state the fact that we are in fact an SME driven nation. Yet we can clearly see that in India almost everyone is obsessed with large businesses and Multi National Corporations. India has always been in denial when it comes to dealing with its SMEs. Even then SME’s in the last decade have shown a growth higher than the national growth rate.
In a study conducted by Milagrow Business and Knowledge Solutions, it was found that 74% of the sick SMEs in India attribute their sickness to the fact of low availability of funds. Which is not surprising, as the same study also showed that 92% of all SMEs interviewed are dependent on personal or family savings.
In this light let us explore a few areas of external funding that SMEs can explore.
Bank Loans
Interview with Mr.Sukhbir Singh Sahni, Subject Matter Expert at Milagrow
Q1 Sir, how do you feel the SMEs have fared in the last year with reference to the economic recession?
They have faced severe challenges as the growth has slowed down. Even now they face challenges. The growth of the stock market indices cannot be used for measuring the challenges faced by SMEs. Most of the SMEs have down sized their operations; however, some SMEs who had committed large Capital Budgets are in losses. One can say that they are not yet out of the woods.
Q2. In light of the commendable growth rate of 6.1% at the end of the first quarter of the current financial year and other industry indicators also showing an upswing, what steps can the government or allied agencies take to speed up the recovery of the SME sector?
Interview - Mr.Ankur Prakash, Managing Director, NUN
Contributed by Harshit Thakkar, Knowledge Buddy
NUN – a fashionable start up, for the women of tomorrow, is a lifestyle for every girl who believes in herself. At NUN, true to the season, be it a sunny summer or vacation time, from vibrant dresses to edgy bags, from innovative lamps to unconventional candles. NUN has something for every girl for her every mood for her every demand. Merchandise so close to her different phases of life, the NUN store isn't simply a place where a girl feels at home, it's a space that she wants to call her own.
How NUN started
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Managing your vendors effectively
Contributed by Charu Gupta, Knowledge Buddy
All retailers, whether big or small, have to manage their vendor base efficiently. Larger the number of brands, bigger is the vendor base. Retailers know that to stay ahead in race they have to obtain right merchandise at right quantity and at right prices and make it available to the customers on time.
Vendor Management is a process that allows the retailers to take advantage of ideas, innovation, best practices and cost benefits which the industry offers. A retailer needs to do excessive amount of detailing and documention of each and every process associated with each vendor. He has to define clear guidelines pertaining to shipments, quality controls, pricing, markdowns, logos and promotions, etc. along with the vendors. Proper Service Level Agreements (SLAs) have to be signed with each vendor to keep a record of written agreement with them .
Big is Better
Contributed by Mr.Vikram Hoon, Knowledge Mentor
Big is better --- and safer. Conventional wisdom tells us so. It follows that building a career in a big setup is better --- and safer. Therefore, we saw the initial rush of job seekers towards the government and its agencies and undertakings. The limitations there diverted them towards the large enterprises in the private sector. The only alternative to these were petty businesses --- largely shops and trading, with some petty assembly and intermediate processing thrown in.
Small scale industry was given some space in the overall scheme for industrialization and economic development. But the fetters placed upon it ensured that it never grew in scale, size or technology or in adopting modern management principles and processes. Consequently, employment in this sector remained unattractive, both qualitatively and quantitatively.
Interview with Mr. Vijayant Chhabra, Executive Director, Archies
Contributed by Anku Sharma, Knowledge Buddy
Mr. Vijayant Chhabra had joined the Archies Limited in 1993. He has been responsible for the successful set up of strong 400 franchise network of Archies throughout India and abroad. The company entered into retail by opening company owned stores where he has played a crucial role for the growth of the format. Archies has 130 company stores as of now with a growth rate of 50 stores per year at present.
Mr. Vijayant Chhabra shares his opinion on gifts and retailing industry
The World of Books and Gifts
Books and gifts retailing is predominantly present in urban cities. It contributes 0.84%to the retail pie the market of worth $2610 million. Of the total $115 million organized retail contributes to just $15 million. Organized retailers like Om book shop, Cross word, Book café and Oxford book store have given basket of never seen before choices the Indian customer.
The India book market is worth Rs. 3,000 crores out of which text books of have a share of 80-85%. General books including fiction, non fiction, management and self improvement book s contribute to 500 crores. This is the battle field for the organized books retailers.
Barcode – The Challenges in the Indian Retail Market
Contributed by Anku Sharma
June, 1974 Marsh’s supermarket in Troy, Ohio made a history in retail. It scanned the barcode for the first time on a Wrigley’s gum. Since then barcodes, the tiny little strip of black and white bars has revolutionized the supply chain of many businesses. The codes identify a product and help in distinguishing between one kg of Dawat basmati rice from a 35 gram Cadbury chocolate. When a bar code is scanned, the information in the store's database lets the retailer assign a price and track sales and inventory. It integrates all stakeholders of the supply chain- the manufacturer, distributor, transporters and the customers. It ushered a new era of increased productivity for the retailers. In India, it was 10 years ago that the IT task force made the barcode compulsory advocating adherence to international conventions.
