For any business to grow and expand procurement of raw materials, components, etc becomes an integral part of the production, supply chain and distribution model. Similarly, without marketing efforts reaching the target audiences becomes hard and no business can survive without some sort of marketing activity. For the MSME sector, small business entrepreneurs need to have the awareness and education about these important business activities to increase their revenues and profits and create a brand for their enterprises. With the help of various schemes and dedicated government sanctioned institutions MSMEs can learn and develop these skills and techniques to streamline their business operations and increase their business profitability.
Procurement refers to stages of business operations that include, collecting business requirements, making payments to vendors, collecting payments, sourcing raw materials from suppliers and negotiating terms. But for some of the business owners it comprises fewer functions, such as collecting payments, making payments, etc. There are 4 general types of procurement for business – direct, indirect, services and goods procurement.
It plays a vital role in the growth of the business. It is very important to keep a close eye on the procurement process, as it makes it easier for small business entrepreneurs to improve the process and fill in the loop holes.
Procurement is a key step for understanding the concept of supply chain, because it helps to get trustworthy suppliers at competitive prices for purchase of goods and services in accordance with entrepreneurs’ needs. For example, if someone needs some goods for a long period of time, an MSME entrepreneur can research and get good deals on the product purchase. Procurement process for such stock assessment plays a vital role, where people can easily manage and think about getting the best deals.
In layman terms, marketing simply means communicating, offering and strengthening brand/business through different channels either online or offline or using a feet on the street model to increase the reach, sales, brand awareness for an MSME business. It drastically helps in creating awareness and visibility regarding the product or service portfolio for any businesses. For example, if someone does online marketing through social media channels, they would see a lot of opportunities to grow, to make the customer aware of the brand and selling becomes easier. With the increase in the number of smartphone users marketing through digital medium and reach is becoming faster for MSME business entrepreneurs. Or for offline marketing use of pamphlets or hoarding are the best medium to reach maximum number of customers for any shops or businesses.
These types of activities do help MSMEs to grow their business, increase the number of customers, and expand their branding and customer retention activities.
The Procurement and Marketing Support Scheme (P&MS) was launched to create awareness, educate and increase accessibility to vendors, which are critical for the growth and survival of MSMEs. Lack of information, resources and unorganised way of selling and marketing, led to the introduction of the P&MS scheme and this will help in enhancing the marketability of the goods and services offered by MSMEs. The main objective of this scheme is to promote new market access like trade fairs, exhibitions, or to create awareness and teach MSME business owners about the importance and process of procurement and marketing techniques or to create awareness about trade fairs, digital advertising, Government e-Marketplace (GeM) and other related topics. MSMEs which are registered under Udyog Aadhar Memorandum (UAM) portal are eligible for these schemes and take opportunities to grow their business through procurement and marketing their products or business.
Procurement and marketing practices are crucial for MSMEs to expand and grow their businesses and get business loans to meet expenses. The impact of these practices has a significant impact on the economy and contribute to efficient business operations for an MSME. With the help of business loans, these practices can be maintained and in turn result in increased profitability for the business.
To implement procurement and marketing best practices, funds are important and to bridge the gap in MSME lending, NFBCs play a pivotal role. With increased competition in the lending sector and the high cost of borrowing, every lending institution must be as flexible as possible in their practices. When it comes to credit services, modern borrowers are tech-savvy and have high-tech demands. Therefore, a more customer-friendly approach with technical integrations and improvements can offer a lending company an advantage over the competition. Kinara Capital, an RBI registered Systemically Important NBFC in India, providing collateral-free business loans to MSME entrepreneurs. These flexible loans with 24-hour disbursement are bridging the credit gap between small businesses who aren’t able to borrow from traditional lending institutions. With Kinara’s digital first solution, the myKinara app enables MSMEs to check their eligibility in 1 min and choose from 7 different languages to complete their loan application. Also, we have a dedicated customer support team available between Monday – Friday (9.30 AM – 6.00 PM) at our toll free number 1800-103-2683 for any questions or assistance. This ensures that entrepreneurs can get the help they need throughout the loan process.
