73 per cent of India’s SMEs hopeful of recovery

India’s small and medium businesses, arguably among the most-hit by the Covid pandemic, are banking on digital transformation to bounce back, says a recent HP Asia SMB Report 2020. The survey said that 73 per cent of India’s small and medium businesses (SMB) are confident of bouncing back after the pandemic as compared to just 60 per cent in the Asian region.

Reformulation of business strategies in the longer term is being considered by two-thirds of the respondents (64%) as an opportunity being offered by pandemic, the survey added. A total of 1,600 SMBs in markets like Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.were surveyed between May 26, 2020 and June 7, 2020. Businesses are also embarking on the digital transformation process to become crisis resilient and address market needs in a post-pandemic environment.

The report said that three-quarters (75 per cent) of the surveyed businesses believe that digital adoption is essential or very important to their success. The four key aspects identified in helping SMBs weather the Covid storm were using online tools (34 per cent) , flexible work options (33 per cent), advice on strategy(32 per cent) and innovation at work (28 per cent).

“The ongoing pandemic has impacted SMBs as much as any other segment. But the agility and flexibility in their operations, coupled with the adaptability to changing business environment and customer needs means they can bounce back far more quickly,” Ketan Patel, MD, HP India said.