Strengthening SMEs to fulfill their Ambitions

We all know of a successful restaurant that starts a second restaurant in another location, and then fails. There are others which go on to become a nationwide chain. What is the difference?

Every business starts small. Most are able to grow and some make it to Rs 10 crores. Some become Rs 100 crore businesses and a smaller number cross Rs 1,000 crore. What allows some to grow faster than others? One of the key areas is the ability to scale.

When a business is small most of the important information resides in the CEO's head. As it grows bigger, there is a need for automation, but mostly that is solved by a basic spreadsheet. At the next stage of growth the company invests in financial services software. Unfortunately, for many organisations this is where the journey stops.

This impacts the ability of the organisation to scale and replicate. Today, even a moderate size business can have over 1,000 transactions per day. It is important to be able to capture this information and retain it, in order to be able to learn from it. Are they repeat customers? Can we give them an incentive to return? There is so much of knowledge buried in the transaction data. In the absence of a data-centric strategy, it is likely to remain a buried treasure. Mr J C Jha, VP Manufacturing, National Engineering Industries comments that "In today's age of competition it is impossible for our business to run without SAP."

So, why do enterprises hesitate to make the leap? In the past, in order to have automation or CRM software implied a large investment in hardware. The software also required a fixed outlay. More than the investment, many smaller enterprises, more so those outside the metros, were hampered by the lack of skilled technical resources. All of this conspired to keep businesses from unlocking their true potential.

To quote Mr K L Jain, Secretary General, Rajasthan Chamber of Commerce, "With SAP solutions, Rajasthan state will surely benefit and will also help in further expansion of SMEs."

What's changed? What makes it possible for firms to now cross the IT barrier to grow their revenues 10x? One is that the cost and complexity of hardware has dropped dramatically. The second is the advent of hosted (cloud) solutions. This allows the software to be hosted remotely and also managed easily. These options cut time to go-live and also reduce costs considerably. And added advantage is that cloud solutions are built on a gold-standard process, so just by adopting them you can get a leap ahead in quality of process too.

Of course, accessibility may still be a concern, which is why efforts such as SAP's Innovation Express that is completing a tour of 12 cities across 4 states is a great initiative. To quote Mr Arun Kumar Bagaria, Executive Director of Mayur Unicoaters, "We were extremely amazed to see the bus. It really helps to understand the solutions first hand and in such quick time."

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10 Thing Sales People Need to Know About C-Level Decision Makers

Selling to high-level decision makers is challenging at the best of times. However, it can be easier if you understand a few business principles. 

C-level decision makers are paid to improve their business results. Regardless of how the media portrays these executives, their primary concern is to improve their business. This includes increasing sales, market share, customer loyalty; reducing costs, errors, or employee turnover; improving productivity, employee engagement, customer service, etc. 

How does your product, service or solution address one of these issues? 

C-level decision makers deal with changing priorities. Improving customer engagement may be a top priority today but tomorrow that executive may be faced with cutting $250,000 in expenses. That means they sometimes go cold after expressing initial interest in your solution. 

Do you have a strategy in place to keep your solution current? 

C-level decision makersare extremely busy. The average executive arrives early in the morning and stays late into the evening. They get dozens of calls every day, receive too many emails, and attend too many meetings. This means that you need to maximize every minute you have when you connect with them. This applies to telephone conversations and face-to-face meetings. 

Do you know EXACTLY what to say when you connect with these individuals? 

C-level decision makersrely on others. Contrary to popular belief, these high-ranking big-wigs seldom make decisions on their own. They often defer to other people on their team and ask for feedback from peers and/or subordinates. This means you need to involve these people in your conversations and include them in the decision making process. 

Do you have the ability to finesse this? 

C-level decision makers don�t like to make mistakes. A major mistake can affect an executive�s reputation in their company. This affects the decision-making process which means you need to uncover their risk factor during your conversations. 

How will you reduce your prospect�s risk factor? 

C-level decision makers have big egos. Most executives have a healthy ego which is one of the things that helped them achieve their status in the company. This means that you need to be very confident in your own abilities when selling to these individuals. Don�t back down when you�re challenged. In fact, doing so could cost you the business because C-level execs want to deal with people who believe in what they do. 

Are you confident enough to deal directly with C-level executives? 

C-level decision makers spend the bulk of their day in meetings.The next time you�re in the office, watch an executive. Chances are you will see them dashing from meeting to meeting. Your prospects are in the same position. They aren�t sitting at their desk waiting for you to call them. 

Are you persistent in your efforts to connect with these individuals? 

C-level decision makers have at least 40 hours of work on their desk at any given time. Several executives I know have expressed these sentiment, �I will never get caught up� or �Just when I think I can�t get busier, I do� or �I never call a sales person back because I already have too much on my plate.� you need to give these individual�s an extremely good reason to meet with you or take your call. 

Is your approach effective? 

C-level decision makers receive upwards of 150 emails every day. Many sales people use email as their major form of correspondence and it can be ineffective because most C-level decision makers simply don�t have time to respond to every email. A Managing Director once told me that he prefers telephone correspondence because he simply can�t get to every email, even when he wants to. 

Do you use a variety of strategies to connect with C-level decision makers? 

C-level decision makers think big picture.Stop focusing on your product or your company and start looking at the big picture of your prospect�s business. Most C-level execs don�t get bogged down in the little details of their business�they pay others to take care of the details. I once met with the President of a $125 million company and made the mistake of asking her questions about front-line execution instead of top-level strategic issues. 

Can you see and discuss the big picture? 

Think about your responses to each question and adapt your approach accordingly. 

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Other Ways Entrepreneurs Can Use Crowdfunding

There’s a lot more to the crowdfunding concept than just indiegogo and Kickstarter. While they are a major force in getting cool projects off the ground, there are other outlets and uses for crowdfunding that may surprise you, including platforms that enable you to act like an investor and back other entrepreneur’s projects.

Under the JOBS Act (Jumpstart Our Business Startups) that was put into effect by President Barack Obama, the playing field of investing has opened up to smaller accredited investors. Think you might be interested in participating in a crowdfunded startup or maybe a commercial real estate investment through crowdfunding? Here are three ways entrepreneurs can get in on crowdfunding for investment or as a means for raising capital, not just rewards.

1. Fundable is a nice crossbreed of the two uses for crowdfunding: investment and investing. Co-founded by serial entrepreneur Wil Schroter, Fundable wants to change the way startup founders get access to capital and the investment options of backers.

What’s the main difference if you’re looking to crowdfund your business using Fundable over another platform such as Kickstarter or indiegogo? With Fundable, you choose whether you want to go the rewards route or the share-options route for getting the capital you need. The ability to choose how you get your funding puts more options in your hands for getting the capital you want.

2. Asset Avenue. Get involved in commercial real estate with this crowdfunded property-purchasing powerhouse. Backed by Adam Chapnick, one of the principals of indiegogo, this crowdfunding platform allows you to get involved in commercial real estate by funding property deals as an investor.

Asset Avenue breaks down the complex and high barrier to entry of commercial real estate projects so that you can participate as an accredited investor and help crowdfund projects with confidence in the hard asset of property. It’s also reassuring that it’s a crowfunding platform whose growth is being managed by a crowdfunding expert.

3. Fundrise is another cool investment platform that is founded on the idea that anyone can and should be able to get involved in real estate in their area. Co-founded by Daniel Miller and Benjamin Miller, their combined expertise and experience in finance and real estate led them to realize there was a better way to do real estate deals that involved the “little guy” and tons of transparency about fees and ROI.

Fundrise offers up plenty of low price-point entries (starting at $100) and in localized regions so you can make more informed investment decisions based on the areas you already know. The platform wants you to enjoy the rewards of backing real estate that impacts your community, in ways you can understand and see.

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