Will your industry survive?

Surviving in the post Covid-19 world

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives.

It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.  —Charles Darwin

There have been lots of discussions happening around about the post Covid-19 business situation. Lots of experts are giving advice to industry. It is not to criticise anyone, but we need to realize the fact that no one has experience to deal with this situation in the modern world. So, all the advice is based on individual’s intelligence, imagination & expertise in the relevant field. It applies to this article as well!

Who will survive?

As per one of the most important rules of any business, it is the business that can sustain, can survive. This is true in nature too. Many of the great, giant species go wiped out, while many small, even microscopic species survived in the history of earth. These survivors were the ones that were most adaptable to change.

Can it be the MSME sector in India?

It would be important to know that the Indian MSME sector has been facing lots of challenges even in the Pre Covid-19 and has survived every challenge. In Y 2019, the contribution of MSME sector was nearly 50% of India’s exports (Source-Economic Times, PTI, Nov 14, 2019). It was despite the economic slowdown. Yet it is the second largest employer after agriculture in India. It also accounted for 45 % of total industrial production and contributed very significantly to the GDP. MSMEs also contributed to 30.50% of services (Source- msme.gov.in).

How can MSMEs survive and even flourish?

We have been working with many MSME owners & could find some of the important traits in them that can make them winners in the post Covid-19 world.
1) They have learnt to deal with difficulties, as they were already facing challenges of economic slowdown and managing their companies
2) They are entrepreneurs & have the inherent habit of taking challenges
3) They know how to manage in limited resources & yet deliver best results
4) They are united on several forums where they freely interact & learn from each other
5) They are resilient to sudden changes
6) They do not shy away from experimenting
7) They welcome experts as advisors, as they are aware that people who know better than them, will help them grow

How can MSMEs adapt to post Covid-19 world?

There are difficulties, but the opportunities outnumber the difficulties for MSMEs.
1) Indian government has realized that it is MSME sector that will drive the next economic change for the country and not the large corporations
2) Indian government has launched lots of new schemes to boost this sector & is still announcing newer ones
3) While there is a challenge to win back the migrated manpower, there is opportunity for automation, process control, lean manufacturing and digital marketing – all this can substantially bring down employee cost & make the industries lesser dependent on people related issues.
4) MSMEs can now take a fresh look at – What they stand for, what they want to do now, what is giving them more profits, what products or services need to be discontinued & what products or services need to be introduced
5) Time is ripe for MSMEs to focus on exports, as more and more countries want to reduce their dependence on China. But this opportunity comes with a pre-condition – We need to act fast, deliver quality & ensure on time delivery. Else other countries may seize this opportunity, which is ‘Once in a century’ kind of opportunity.

It is a good time to get associated with an advisor who can be part of the top management team to implement this business change process, as we have a very limited time window available for this opportunity !


© Nitin Kirloskar