Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

In a day and age when businesses are facing all kinds of uncertainties due to the ups and downs of the market, Indian <keyword id="44779" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="SMEs">SMEs</keyword> remain hopeful of their near future. Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in India are highly optimistic about domestic economic growth in the next 12 months and are confident about their business performance in 2017, according to the <keyword id="4613360" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="american-express-global-sme-pulse">American Express Global SME Pulse</keyword>2 2017, a new survey commissioned by <keyword id="91294" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="American-Express">American Express</keyword> and carried out by <keyword id="637984" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Oxford-Economics">Oxford Economics</keyword>. The survey was carried out among senior executives and decision-makers across 15 countries, with the purpose of understanding the priorities and aspirations of the SME community. Companies surveyed form part of India’s mid-market organizations having revenues of up to $90mn, including SMEs. According to the survey, Indian SMEs are more positive about the domestic economy over the next 12 months than their Asian counterparts. Indian led with 71% followed by <keyword id="6355311" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Japan">Japan</keyword> at 62%, China at 54%, and <keyword id="6356662" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Singapore">Singapore</keyword> at 26%. Interestingly, the confidence of Asian countries is substantially higher than the global average of 45%. In terms of global economic outlook, SMEs in India have higher optimism at 65% than Asian counterparts with Japan at 58%, China at 47% and Singapore at 20%. 

 

 

 

 <div type="embedgroup"> <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="58951257" title="These Disruptions made by Flipkart over Ten Years Helped it Lead the E-commerce Sector" rank="1.0" kind="RELATED" publishDate="Jun 01, 2017, 11:49 PM" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div></div>








Healthy optimism about profitability SMEs in India are confident about their ability to deliver increased revenues and profitability. According to the survey, 76% of the Indian SMEs surveyed expect revenue growth of at least 4% in 2017. In terms of profitability, Indian SMEs are similarly upbeat with 45% forecasting a profit of 8% per annum by 2020. This is in excess of the global findings which show 27% of SMEs forecasting net profits of 8% over the same period. While SMEs in India are optimistic about the economy and their own business, they cite domestic policies, uncertain laws and regulations as major concerns over the next year. Optimistic about recent political changes for businesses’ prospects SMEs in India see positive light among the government’s recent initiatives and support to boost the sector. 69% of them feel that barriers to entry are coming down and providing business opportunities. As revealed through the survey, 73% of Indian SMEs responded that recent political changes in the country make them optimistic about their businesses’ prospects. 

 

 

 

 <div type="embedgroup"> <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="58839029" title="59% travelers care more about Online Travel Deals Compared to Brands According to This Survey" rank="1.0" kind="RELATED" publishDate="May 25, 2017, 2:48 PM" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div></div>








Aim to smoothen business operations through funding options Amongst various sources of funds, Indian SMEs expressed that existing working capital (at 88%) and bank loans (at 77%) are the most readily available; whereas the funds they actually put to use are bank loans (at 62%) and existing working capital (at 49%). Over the next year, Indian SMEs plan to source funds through public equity markets (at 50%) and bank loans (at 46%). In order to streamline their future business financing options, Indian SMEs ranked flexible lending and repayment options (at 37%) as the most important factor and high interest rates (at 49%) as the biggest pain point when applying for business finance. Focus on expansion and sales growth to drive financial performance Indian SMEs are focusing on growth and expansion strategies to improve their financial performance. The survey revealed that 38% of Indian SMEs feel that expansion into new domestic market segments will be a top priority for their business over the next three years. They are also pushing for sales growth with over 35% looking to grow their current market share.

 

 

 

 <div type="embedgroup"> <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="58927276" title="77% of Venture Capitalists in IBM “Entrepreneurial India” Study Believe that Indian Startups Lack Innovation" rank="1.0" kind="RELATED" publishDate="May 31, 2017, 5:00 PM" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div></div>








 Increasing exports part of the growth push Exporting is a core pillar of many SMEs’ growth strategies globally and India is no exception. Almost 32% of SMEs surveyed said they recognize expansion into new international markets as a pathway to improved financial performance over the next three years. Indian SMEs are confident they are ready for export growth, with a sizeable 68% strongly believing their company has the right plans to increase export sales. An overwhelming majority (73%) agree it is easier to access new export markets than it was three years ago. Also, 37% of Indian SMEs said they will be looking at increasing operational efficiency as another key priority for driving financial performance. 

 

 

 

 <div type="embedgroup"> <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="58939547" title="This Report Suggests that The Real India Finds Digital Financial Services to be Overly Complex" rank="1.0" kind="RELATED" publishDate="Jun 01, 2017, 1:00 PM" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div></div>








 Technological investment is the most important priority area According to the research, the majority of Indian SMEs understands the growing importance of technology and wants to make investments in the same. 77% of Indian SMEs felt the importance of applying the latest technology in their businesses over the next three years. Another 71% said that they are developing and implementing innovation to business models, products and services and ways of working. About 62% said they are prioritizing on quickly responding to changing business demands. Understanding the need of being on track with technological advancements, 75% of Indian SMEs plan to use more scalable technology, like cloud based solutions in the next three years. Look beyond the short term As part of the research, top executives in Indian SMEs were asked about the long-term goals of the business. While profit margin growth (51%) and revenue growth (44%) are identified as the number one and two objectives, well over a quarter (29%) state that both sustaining the business for future generations and building company reputation (28%) are important long-term goals.

Indian SMEs confident about their growth in 2017, according to this American Express Survey

Payment gateways are easy enough to install on your website. Most often, web hosts will provide gateways as additional services. But what do you do when companies have never encountered the digital route? Bangalore-based startup, <keyword id="1898251" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Instamojo">Instamojo</keyword>, is trying to solve that problem. It targets small and medium enterprises (<keyword id="44779" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="SMEs">SMEs</keyword>) by selling what is primarily a payments platform. But unlike regular payments gateways or platforms, Instamojo doesn't have to explain the specifics of its service to them. All it tells these SMEs is that they'll get a link to share with prospective buyers, and get payments directly in their bank accounts. The platform will take a 2%+₹3 cut from each payment. At its core, there's nothing innovative about Instamojo as far as its technology is concerned. But it's presentation is tailored to the target audience, making it simple enough for the non-tech savvy audience to adopt. Having started operations in 2013, Instamojo now has over 4,00,000 SMEs on board. Interestingly, while its sellers come from Tier I and II cities, the buyers are mostly from Tier I metros in the country. How it works Technically, Instamojo can be used by anyone. You sign up on the company's website, fill in pan card, GST and other details are you're good to go. A dashboard is presented to you, that tracks the money you receive. You can push this out to your bank account at any time. The dashboard also has a "Create payment link" button. This is where you create the link, which can be shared through various channels. If you're doing this from a desktop PC, you can use <keyword id="6354576" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="facebook">Facebook</keyword>, email and Twitter. You can share it via WhatsApp and SMS if you're using the Instamojo app on your phone. Doing business After starting with payments, Instamojo also offers a shop option for sellers now. This, again, is basic. It allows sellers to put photos of products they sell, offer discounts, choose sizes (when relevant) etc. It's not a full-fledged e-commerce solution like <keyword id="1715801" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shopify">Shopify</keyword> but allows just enough for sellers to go digital. This though means that these same sellers may move to more established platforms if Instamojo helps them succeed. And Swain says he recognises that. Yet, he says moving money from <keyword id="58103" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Itanagar">Itanagar</keyword> to <keyword id="6356654" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="bombay">Bombay</keyword> is no easy task. While he agrees that he's partly in competition with every payments platform in the country, including other payments gateways, he feels his primary competition is with cheques and bank transfers. SMEs in Tier II and III cities do not depend on digital modes very often, and they do not want to pay for services without knowing how they'll help. Instamojo asks for payment only when a sale is made through its platform. Sign-ups are free, as is browsing around and sharing links. You pay money when you make money. After introducing the "shop" feature earlier, Swain is moving to lending next. With this, Instamojo will extend loans to businesses, albeit in smallish amounts. Logistics is another service that's soon to start. Essentially, Instamojo now wants to become a full-service e-commerce solution for SMEs. And all this to achieve its target of getting a million SMEs on the platform by end of 2019. Tough ask. Future Yet, Swain is bullish. Like Google, Microsoft, Amazon and pretty much every technology company, he sees the SME space as an untapped market. While bigger companies could just as easily start the service Instamojo offers, Swain says he’s not worried. He says it’s about getting to a place where “you’re the one to beat if others decide to enter this space”. For him, SMEs represent “middle India”, something between the unregistered businesses and big companies. He says the giants aren’t doing payments platforms or e-commerce solutions with these companies in mind. As a result, he sees the space wide open and says competition will only lead to faster growth. In fact, while he agrees that WhatsApp’s recent entry into payments, and the WhatsApp business platform, will probably take away some of his users, he also expects it to raise awareness. As a result, a full-service platform like Instamojo might start making more sense to SMEs. Lastly, Instamojo also sees data as a possible opportunity. While it is not a consumer-facing company, it still has buyer data, which Swain says can be leveraged in future for better services. Similarly, the current customer base of SMEs can be leveraged in future to create a sort of LinkedIn for this industry.

This Indian startup wants to give small and medium sized businesses all the e-commerce tools they need

<keyword id="6697611" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="sap-india">SAP India</keyword>, one of the sought-after companies for job seekers, is looking to train 15 lakh consultants over the next three years. <keyword id="6358384" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="sap">SAP</keyword> India will skill, reskill and upskill 15 lakh consultants and grow and enhance its operations in India. Presently, more than 75% of SAP's 8,600 clients in India are small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs). "We are known as a company which helps large enterprises. But the 51 million SMEs is the potential marketplace we want to address," said <keyword id="4873727" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="scott-russell">Scott Russell</keyword>, president at SAP for Asia Pacific and Japan. SAP wants to help these SMEs who have less knowledge about tech and how to use it in their businesses. Russell told ET if India wants to truly become a digital economy then all companies --big or small --need to participate. It plans to provide MSMEs with access to technology from SAP to help them streamline and integrate key processes like financials, sales and inventory with a single business software.

SAP will skill, reskill, upskill 15 lakh consultants in India. Here’s what it plans

The Indian <keyword id="44309" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="High-Commissioner">High Commissioner</keyword> has asked the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in <keyword id="6356662" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Singapore">Singapore</keyword> to make investment in sectors such as automobiles, pharma, chemicals and textiles to boost <keyword id="6395867" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="manufacturing-sector">manufacturing sector</keyword> and create more job opportunities in India under the ‘<keyword id="6354869" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="make-in-India">Make in India</keyword>’ programme, according to a PTI report. Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword>'s ‘Make in India’ initiative is designed to strengthen the manufacturing sectors in the country through 25 sectors, said Indian High Commissioner to Singapore <keyword id="1699369" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Vijay-Thakur-Singh">Vijay Thakur Singh</keyword>. Speaking at the opening of the ‘Make in India’ <keyword id="135771" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="global-business">Global Business</keyword> Summit 2015, Singh said, "As Singapore companies internationalise to build scale, access new markets and customers, India can be the new location for manufacturing for Singapore companies," Singh said at the opening of the ‘Make in India’ Global Business Summit 2015. 

	Singapore companies would find Indian SMEs cooperative and good partners. “In fact time is right for the quantum jump in our economic relationship,” the High Commissioner said. 
 

	Elaborating on the strength of the Indian SMEs, Singh pointed out that the sector has generated growth of 10% per annum in recent years. 
 

	"This new wave of SMEs would…be creating an ecosystem that would be gear to delivery of right products, right quality, the right solutions and the right service at competitive prices for both in the domestic and international markets," she added. 
 

	Emphasising on bilateral relations between Singapore and India, she said Singapore is an important destination for Indian businesses, trade as well as Indian students and tourists. 
 

	Referring to the five decades of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Singh said, "The 50 year milestone is an opportunity to celebrate and to build on the already strong base of our relationship to yet a further level." 
 The summit was organised by the Singapore-based <keyword id="2896987" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Prospur-Events-Pte-Ltd-">Prospur Events Pte Ltd.</keyword> It was attended by about 200 businessmen with India represented by a delegation led by the <keyword id="889977" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="National-Small-Industries-Corporation-Ltd">National Small Industries Corporation Ltd</keyword>, headed by chairman and managing director <keyword id="198631" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Ravindra-Nath">Ravindra Nath</keyword>. 
	(Image: Reuters)

India encourages Singapore to boost ‘Make in India’

Search giant <keyword id="693389" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword> is keen to promote the Indian SME segment and plans to get online some 50,000 <keyword id="6375845" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Small-and-medium-enterprises">small and medium enterprises</keyword> in <keyword id="6354766" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Gujarat">Gujarat</keyword>, by the end of 2014. As part of <keyword id="45395" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Google-India">Google India</keyword>’s national campaign called India, Get Your Business Online, this initiative will offer free websites and hosting services to Gujarat-based <keyword id="44779" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="SMEs">SMEs</keyword>, in a bid to bridge the connectivity divide that hinders small businesses from accessing the global market. 
 Google India and HostGator are also involved in a special project in which the partners explored traditional industries like textile, jewellery and artefacts, located in the popular markets of Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot. In addition to developing websites for 5,000 small businesses under this project, Google India also created <keyword id="97416" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Google-maps">Google Maps</keyword> listings and Google+ business pages for these firms. They can also make use of 24x7 customer support to manage their websites and get free online advertising credit that can be used on Google search to promote their businesses online. 
 Commenting on the project, <keyword id="249393" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Rajan-Anandan">Rajan Anandan</keyword>, vice-president and managing director of Google India, said, “The initiative aims to boost the SME ecosystem by giving them a simple, effective and free platform to get their business online. We aim to get 50,000 SMEs online, which will dramatically change the business landscape and opportunities for SMEs in Gujarat. 
 
“Our research has shown that SMEs, who use the Internet, see revenue growth of 51% and raise in profits by 49%. Gujarat already represents 10% of the total Internet population in the country and houses many export-oriented businesses. By being present on the Internet, they can make the world their market and continue to boost the economy of the country,” he added.

Google India
Aims To Get 50,000 Gujarat SMEs Online

<ul><li><keyword id="5029493" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Digit-Insurance">Digit Insurance</keyword> has partnered with <keyword id="156251" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Karur-Vysya-Bank">Karur Vysya Bank</keyword> for bancassurance. </li><li>The <keyword id="3345735" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="InsurTech">insurtech</keyword> <keyword id="138263" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="startup">startup</keyword> is backed by Canadian billionaire <keyword id="6385037" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="prem-watsa">Prem Watsa</keyword>’s <keyword id="1880146" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Fairfax-Group">Fairfax group</keyword>. </li><li>The startup was also listed in the global Fintech 250 list by CB Insights, being the only Indian company to do so. </li></ul>Karur Vysya Bank (KVB) will sell insurance products from Digit Insurance, a company backed by Fairfax Holdings owned by the Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa. “Together, we are looking forward to delivering innovative products like the ones aimed for catering insurance needs of SMEs. We are sure that our customers will get the best attention from Digit in terms of pricing and settlements,” said P R Seshadri, MD &amp; CEO, Karur Vysya Bank. Many Indian banks have been venturing into bancassurance including the likes of State Bank of India and Axis Bank, diversifying their offerings to include insurance. Through this partnership, Digit Insurance and KVB will target the SMEs of India. KVB has 750 branches with a large presence in South India. “KVB has a strong customer base of Small &amp; Medium Enterprise (SME) customers and that is one segment which is hugely underinsured in India. Therefore, this tie-up will help us reach out to the SMEs in India with our innovative solutions that can also help such SMEs to cover for business interruption &amp; loss with a fixed benefit, beyond the regular coverage available in the market,” Kamesh Goyal, Chairman of Digit Insurance said. Digit Insurance, was founded by Goyal in 2016 and is backed by Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa’s Fairfax group. Watsa had pumped in $140 million into the insurtech startup. In May 2019, it was reported that Fairfax might invest more into the startup. The startup was also listed in the global Fintech 250 list by CB Insights, being the only Indian company to do so.

Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa backed firm ties up with Karur Vysya Bank for bancassurance

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play an instrumental role in supporting the economic growth of India. SMEs employ about 60 million of the working population and contribute to approximately 38% of the GDP of the country. In an emerging country like India, SMEs have the potential to transform the economic landscape, if they are nurtured in the right manner. But, despite the good intention of successive governments SMEs have been facing an uphill task to grow their businesses. Some of these challenges are self-inflicted while others are courtesy of excessive government regulation or apathy. 
 
Indian laws are known to be complex and confusing. To add to the confusion there are multiple State and Central laws that indulge in duplicitous over regulation. In order to comply with these various legislations, comprehensive forms and registers need to be maintained which are subject to scrutiny at the discretion of government officers. These end up becoming tools for harassment and extortion by officials. 
 
Suggestions for Reforms 
 The situation faced by <keyword id="18173" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="SME">SME</keyword>s can be alleviated by the Government through some simple and effective measures. While the Government works towards revamping the regulatory environment for all businesses, SMEs could be granted certain relaxations which can assist them significantly in scaling their businesses. Some useful steps which the Government could consider are in the avenue of SME classification, tax and regulatory compliance. 
 The first step would be to raise the threshold limits below which companies are classified as SMEs. It is understood that proposals are underway to increase the existing limits. A novel step would be to benchmark eligibility to turnover or net profit as opposed to investment in plant and machinery. An ideal limit would be companies having turnover below 75-100 crore or net profit less than 10 crores. Globally the benchmark for determining SME status is a combination of turnover, employee strength and balance sheet strength. India could also consider adopting these benchmarks at a reasonably higher threshold to provide benefits to significant number of <keyword id="390673" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="small-businesses">small businesses</keyword>. 
 
Some of the other changes could be a complete exemption from the onerous compliances under the company law regime for SMEs incorporated as a private company. Company law compliance should be simplified for these entities with one annual accounts filing and one annual return. There should be no other restriction on private companies with less than 50 members in terms of taking business or corporate decisions. Such companies should be allowed to maintain board minutes and records of shareholders meetings in electronic form and the same can be accessed by regulators in case of any enquiry. The shareholders should be free to determine the methods and processes for management, conduct of their meetings, quorum etc. They could provide the list of directors and shareholders to be updated regularly with the ROC. Another important step would be to allow for a simple process for winding up of such businesses provided creditors and shareholders have given consent 
 
Another area of reform could be labour legislation that is out of sync with present day needs. All companies that have less than 100 (or such higher number) employees should be exempted from complicated labour compliances. They can be subjected to certain self-certification compliances which could include; payment of minimum wages (single slab for each state), maternity benefits for female employees and certain basic safety requirements restricted only to hazardous industries. These companies should be allowed to retrench labour by paying 1 month wage for each year of service as severance pay. The concerned companies can report details of employees to the concerned labour authority and it should be the responsibility of the government to formulate schemes for insurance (life, accident etc) and provident fund for the employees. The employer can pay a percentage to the government schemes for employee benefit. All of these compliances should be on a self-certification basis with one annual declaration of compliance with broad details to be submitted. 
 
Last, but not the least certain tax concessions would go a long way to boost investments into this space. A blanket exemption from long term capital gains for investments made into an SME could be a booster shot for this sector. The exemption should be only for long term gains determined at the time of exit by the investor. The holding tenure can be increased to 3-5 years in order to ensure genuine capital investment by these companies. The long term capital gain exemption should be available to the investor even if at the time of exit the company is no longer an SME, so long as they invested while the company was an SME. It would provide SMEs the much required capital necessary for assets and job creation. It would also channel a large part of the domestic / foreign investor capital into this sector, which can have a multiplier effect on job creation in different parts of the country. 
 
The Government has to consider various political compulsions at every stage prior to enacting any major reforms. But, it could take small steps in liberating this class of businesses, which would greatly enhance the living conditions of many people across India. Provided with the right regulatory environment SMEs can prove to be a political match winner by sprucing up economic growth. 
 
About the author: Ajay Joseph is Corporate lawyer &amp; Partner at Lakshmikumaran &amp; Shridharan Law Firm 
 
<a href="http://ouryear.ikea.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Working2.jpg">Image source</a>

Unlocking Capital for Small Businesses – boosting economic growth

India is undergoing a demographic transition and gaining economically from the changing age pattern. India’s youth population (15-32 years), comprising nearly 40% of the urban population, is fast becoming a new set of consumers for whom marketers are working their way up to please and delight. 
 
With their inexhaustible and ever-increasing demand for the very best, and their disposable income literally soaring, these young people now aspire as much or even more than the ‘more established’ older generation. This is putting a compelling pressure on new-age marketers to give them nothing less than the ‘best.’ 
 <keyword id="6354553" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="real-estate">Real Estate</keyword> in India has been one of the fastest growing sectors but an unregulated one, at best. Till date, <keyword id="6354185" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="80" keywordseo="IT">it</keyword> has been plagued by critical issues such as absence of standardisation, lack of adequate knowledge-sharing and more. That’s why the sector has mostly witnessed a not-so-healthy and disorderly growth. 
 
So how could Big Data help in this context? Understanding Big Data fundamentals has now become all the more important for organisations that are aiming to automate their business processes and are capturing all client interactions. Of late, India has seen a huge surge in ERP adoption across industries and that too, in the SME segments. A Gartner report published in August 2013 states that SaaS-based ERP is going to grow by 28% CAGR in India for the next five years. 
 
India’s real estate sector has specifically adopted and will continue to adopt the SaaS ERP route to manage end-to-end business processes, client interactions and ever-growing data. The key consultants and developers in the Indian realty space fully comprehend the requirement for ERP/CRM solutions. 
 
Realising the large gap in this sector, organisations are bringing in a fresh wave of change by launching IT solutions for real estate consultants. Today, most of these professionals are catering to the affluent young buyers and they require organised and systematic processes to come up with the best possible offers. In a bid to introduce a professional approach in their everyday workings, innovative IT solutions providers are now helping new-age consultants in changing and resetting their business ground rules. 
 With the availability of ERP systems, comes the need to connect with business partners. But that could be easily taken care of as social media has already made inroads into the country in a big way. In <keyword id="45145" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="2014">2014</keyword>, business solutions built around social interactions will reach the SMEs without any hassle. Also, private social networking for business will become a major channel to close business deals among SMEs. Solutions likes Closemydeal.in, which caters to a specific group of SMEs (in this case, real estate consultants), will become even more prevalent. 
 Combining ERP/CRM and social media, social features will be embedded in internal CRM/ERP solutions as well and will become a part of any digital communication with clients/employees. E-mail communication will slowly take a backseat in favour of social media tools, which can reach out to a wider audience in an organised manner. Thus, chances of closing a deal at the earliest may soon become a <keyword id="6371213" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="reality">reality</keyword>. The year 2014 will be the year of ‘social revolution’ in the real estate space where consultants will close more deals by reaching to their professional peers and the new breed of consumers – the youth of today who aspire to be upwardly mobile and social, with ready disposable incomes. 
 
With the telecom revolution happening fast in India, SMEs will have better access to world class data centres while Indian organisations, leveraging their local market knowledge, will be providing more innovative ERP/CRM solutions. 
 
In a nutshell, IT will make more impact for the SMEs, mainly in the real estate space, which will attract more skilled professionals in this sector. This will further propel the delivery of services in the real estate sector. 
 
About the author: Anupam Saha is co-founder and business head of RealtoExpress, an IT solutions provider firm catering to the real estate industry. He is an IITian with 25 years of industry exposure in India and the US.

IT
Trends To Watch Out For In Real Estate Sector In 2014

The electronic and digital segments of the <keyword id="60655" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="financial-markets">financial markets</keyword> have the potential to grow and expand in India, especially the cash-management system via <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=ATM-debit+card+">ATM-debit card</a> usage. 
 The potential of <keyword id="3086675" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="ATM-debit-card">ATM-debit card</keyword> transactions is big in the cash-driven <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Indian+economy+">Indian economy</a> comprising of some 58 million <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=small+and+medium+enterprises+">small and medium enterprises</a> (<keyword id="44779" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="SMEs">SMEs</keyword>), merchants and traders, said Ari Sarker, co-president for Asia Pacific at <keyword id="6368201" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="MasterCard">MasterCard</keyword>. 
 
He estimated that more than 520 million debit card users have been withdrawing an average of $370 billion cash from a 190,000 ATM network in one year. 
 
Moreover, the fact that India is 95% cash driven economy is a good sign and could boost more competition in the digital sector of the financial market, Sarker said regarding the current cash-based dealings among most of the SMEs, merchants and traders, who are members of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT). 
 
Moreover, a competitive environment would produce innovative products and services, especially in line with the government's initiatives which aggressively promote mobile banking among others. 
 
Presently, the Rupay Card of the National Payments Corp of India (NPCI) dominates the debit card market. But Sarker is of the view that the Indian market is ready for more players. 
 
"The greatest service the country can do is to encourage many players to play in this industry, because the more people you allow to play, the better are the products, services and level of competition," he said. 
 
The ATM volume makes up 87% of the entire market flow with the rest 13% done through <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=e-commerce+">e-commerce</a> and point of sale. 
 
Going forward, SMEs, traders and merchants would have to increase the use of electronic banking transactions which would eventually support credit worthiness of their business among financial institutions. 
 
Looking forward to an open competition, Sarker reaffirmed MasterCard's presence in India with expansion plans. 
 
In May this year, MasterCard and CAIT launched a joint initiative to promote the digitization of payments among Indian traders, through knowledge sharing and training sessions across the country, in line with the government's ‘<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Digital+India">Digital India’</a> vision. 
 
(Image: Indiatimes)

You Searched For "SMEs India" and got 9 results

Indian SMEs confident about their growth in 2017, according to this American Express Survey

Tanya Dubey

This Indian startup wants to give small and medium sized businesses all the e-commerce tools they need

Prasid Banerjee

SAP will skill, reskill, upskill 15 lakh consultants in India. Here’s what it plans

BI India Bureau

India encourages Singapore to boost ‘Make in India’

BI India Bureau

Google India Aims To Get 50,000 Gujarat SMEs Online

Sanghamitra Mandal

Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa backed firm ties up with Karur Vysya Bank for bancassurance

Sanchita Dash

Unlocking Capital for Small Businesses – boosting economic growth

Guest Author

IT Trends To Watch Out For In Real Estate Sector In 2014

Anupam Saha

A huge revolution is waiting to happen in the Indian financial market!

BI India Bureau

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides