Top 5 actions that the SMEs must take to achieve their targets in this FY year

We are five months into the current financial year and I am sure some of us are still not sure of achieving the targeted business revenue or the profits for the FY24.

Mid-year is a good time to go back to the drawing board, sit down with the Board, discuss with the teams and stakeholders and get ready to salvage the rest of the year. H2 (second half of the year) is generally the time, when the business moves upwards. Therefore, it is important for the companies to gear up for opening markets, despite whatever has been achieved till date.

I am sharing the top 5 actions that the SMEs must take to make the most of H2. I hope you find them useful.

1. TRACK YOUR BUSINESS & GEAR UP
First thing to do is to analyse the data of sales till date, identify gaps and prepare an action plan. The data must be prepared by customers, by team, by product category and make sure that a tracking mechanism on weekly basis is available to ensure consistency in performance.
Tracking & Review Mechanism is a sure-shot way to ensure consistency in growth of performance and picking up learning, and taking corrective action, throughout the year.I recommend, plan for the next year also, while relooking at the rest of the year plan.

2. ADOPT AND ACCELERATE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
Begin the process, now; if you haven’t done already! Remember, in the times of AI and machine learning, we will be left behind if we do not digitize. And I am not talking only about accounting software and digital marketing. Every function should be digitized using IT, whether CRM for Sales & Marketing, HRMS for HR function, and order management & Supply-chain management software.

SMEs must deploy IT to their benefit, one by one. Initially, it will be difficult to implement them as they pull us out of our comfort zone. But, the final results of digital transformation, make up for the initial hitch and costs.

3. REVIEW YOUR ONLINE VISIBILITY
In these digital times, our online visibility is one of the most important aspects of marketing. Most of the SMEs, in the cities, are present online, whether for e-commerce or for information and engagement. But we must review our online visibility as we move forward.

If we are not active there already, this is the time to invest on it. Most of the time, SMEs make a website, host it on the net, and then forget to update it on regular basis. Or they make social media pages, but don’t handle them well, there is no regular content posted on the pages and there is no interaction. The main reason for this – the promoter doesn’t have time to manage it or to ‘tell’ the team what to put on the net.

It is strongly recommended, that SMEs review and update their online visibility, at least once in a month and add information & marketing content. There are many digital marketing agencies that offer quality services at value-for-money charges.

4. INVEST IN EMPLOYEE TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT
People are the biggest assets, and their performance is the cause of success. By investing in their people, SMEs remain competitive and use their skills and knowledge to create success. Hiring a new employee is a difficult and costly affair, therefore training and upgrading the existing people is the most effective formula for growth for SMEs. Half yearly meetings are a good time to have people training as the team gets geared up for the ‘better-season’ time.

5. BUILD YOUR PERSONAL NETWORK
This is the big one! The promoter is the face of the SME business, it is therefore imperative that he creates his own personal brand and his personal network. A personal network can be built by becoming a member of trade and industrial associations, if possible, taking a place in their key committee, and participating in seminars and other industry-related events, that allow one to meet other SMEs and professionals.

Building your community from the same fraternity opens the possibility for collaborations, mutual referral business opportunities, and adding to knowledge and exchange of ideas.

I would like to conclude by saying that “This time is NOW” to take charge of what we have lost in last 5 months. Not everything will be in our control, but gearing up for the future is surely that we can do. And we MUST.