‘Need to innovate on financials, systems, manpower and invest in human resources’
Though SMEs are considered the growth engines of any economy, including India, the challenges and opportunities the sector faces are far larger than their size — from quality to compliance, manpower to funding, branding to marketing.
“But the biggest challenge for SMEs is growth,” was the unanimous note that speakers struck at a panel discussion on ‘Tapping into Global Trade – Challenges and Opportunities,’ organised by BusinessLine in association with ICICI Bank here last week.
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S Soundararajan, Managing Partner, Falcon Toolings, said emphatically that “growth is crucial for SMEs. For this, we have to find the means; the sector will need to innovate on financials, innovate on systems, quality, manpower and above all invest in human resource personnel.
“All this would be possible only if the owner motivates himself. And that could be the biggest challenge.” However, to grow, the sector needs funds and for this, it depends mainly on banks, which according to Codissia President Ramamurthy, “has never been an easy proposition.
Source: The Hindu BusinessLine
