I have exciting news to share: You can now read So, What's the Big News ? in the new Substack app for iPhone.
With the app, you’ll have a dedicated Inbox for my Substack and any others you subscribe to. New posts will never get lost in your email filters, or stuck in spam. . Comments and rich media will all work seamlessly. Overall, it’s a big upgrade to the reading experience. The Substack app is currently available for iOS. If you don’t have an Apple device, you can join the Android waitlist here.
DTW
During the Week, all of us came together to spread love and respect for women’s contribution to our lives. In an opinion piece on IWD2022 by Naomi Moriyama and William Doyle in CNN titled “This is what a nation run by women looks like“, the authors discuss the Finnish society and document the progress they have made over last 100 years. They point to the Finnish Prime Minister Marin’s assertion that women's full and equal participation in society has made Finland's development possible but also acknowledge that they are a work in progress.
Perhaps this campaign by Zomato captures the spirits of the times and highlights the theme of this year's International Women's Day - "#BreakTheBias".
Last week, we discussed how neighbourhood commerce is a three Legged Stool- Discovery, Payment and Logistics- and platforms have played an important role in its growth over last few years especially during demonetisation and covid19 pandemic.
This is even more true for Indian Micro-Small-Medium Enterprises (MSME). In fact, digital platforms can help MSME overcome four major challenges related to Finance- access and payments; Supply Chain- Inbound and Outbound; Marketing- Branding and Distribution; and even Human Resource Management- Recruitment and Training.
Finance- Access and Payments is a major pain point for MSMEs as they are not fully integrated into the formal financial ecosystem. FinTech platforms like Crediwatch (an information intelligence platform) and ML-based digital lender Happy Loans provide data insights to lenders to offer loan products to MSME which may not have pass the regular financial viability measurements. Similarly, PaymentTech platforms like Mswipe and RazorpayX provide payment acceptance and POS enablement thus revolutionising the digital payment space for merchants across the country
Supply Chain- Inbound and Outbound is very important for MSME where margins are thin and any inventory carrying cost or even stock out can cause major burden on cash flows. Automobile spare parts e-commerce players like AutoZilla can help the garages or even fleet owners to ensure spare part availability across major cities of the country. This is great value for them as they get access to genuine spare parts with minimum price variations across the entire country. Similarly, platforms like Locus have a free tool ‘QuickStart,’ for startups and small and medium enterprises to improve their supply chain efficiency.
Marketing- Branding and Distribution related platforms can create tremendous opportunities for the MSMEs as they lack the financial muscle to create sustained customer interest in both B2C and B2B sectors. Platforms like Meesho have enabled small businesses and even individuals to start their online stores via social channels such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, etc thereby lowering the barriers to gain distribution. Tradeindia and IndiaMart foster an online B2B marketplace, connecting buyers and suppliers thus helping SMEs go digital.
Human Resource Management- Recruitment and Training can become a major barrier for MSME’s growth and scale up ambitions. This is even more important considering the fact that MSME segment is seen as a major job creator and also the fact that the quality and conditions of the jobs created are often doubtful. Multiple digital platforms are helping MSME’s solve their problems related to low quality human capital.
Platforms like NicheBrains.ai are connecting millions of small and medium enterprises with curated global digital transformation experts thus making it easier for SMEs to adopt digital transformation (YouTube Video Link).
Interns at Centre of Excellence for Digital Transformation (CeDT) at the IFHE were also part of three-day event for the aspiring women MSME entrepreneurs of today’s world- The Business Women Expo 2022
… an event to support and empower women at any stage of their professional journey, connect attendees with potential business opportunities, and to help them carve a new chapter in their life and move towards growth and progress.
OTW
Over the Weekend, I was part of two interesting events- both of them at CIE @ IIIT-H thanks to my dear friend Anubhav Tiwari- Head- Deeptech & Medtech (Ojas) Incubator.
After a long gap (obviously), I participated in the StartUp Saturday in-person event and what a relief/presence! The organisers did an awesome job of getting two senior mentors Jasminder Singh Gulati and Sreedhar Peddineni along with two young entrepreneurs Madhavan Malolan and Manas Kumar Verma. It was really insightful hearing from their range of experiences and industries. More power to all of them.
On Sunday evening, I was also glad to be part of Boots and Crampons’ Trekkers’ Community Outreach Program at Hyderabad. B&C run by a very dear friend- Lt Col Romil Barthwal.
It was an introductory session for enthusiasts looking for over 6000 Mts mountaineering expeditions including Mt Everest. One of the highlight of the event was young mountaineers sharing their experiences which included both summiting and failing to summit the mountains. It was gratifying to see them take both results in their strides and move on. Interacting with Romil and other guests reminded me about the similarities between endurance sports including mountaineering and starting up. Both of them are driven by passion and ability to stomach risk. Both of them have their own share of failures and missteps. Start Ups and Climbing is all about YOU.
It is not the mountain we conquer,
but ourselves!
Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to summit Mt. Everest
And perhaps we should heed famed British explorer George Mallory who when asked why would he want to attempt a third ascent of Mt. Everest after failing twice previously, he famously quipped, “Because it’s there.”
Go Ahead and Do It.
I Love You
Shailendra
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OTM
Opportunities through MountainSpeak are available at TuniWash , an innovative social entrepreneurship venture based out of Hyderabad. Please get in touch if you would like to explore New Product Development and Promotion.
At Centre of Excellence for Digital Transformation (CeDT) at the IFHE , we would like to document and share inspirational stories from street and street facing vendors. Do let me know if you would like to collaborate for bringing smiles to our friendly neighbourhood.
https://forms.gle/7hJC1BCHxEWy52zn9
Watch out for more by following #MillionVendorStories #MillionVendorSmiles