Small and Medium-sized Enterprises1 (SMEs) in India are using their advantages – such as size, agility, and innovation – as one of their top three strategies for fueling revenue growth in 2018 even as they look at embracing responsible business practices as a way to attract more customers, the second edition of the American Express Global SME Pulse2 2018 revealed. The survey further revealed that Indian SMEs, like their global counterparts are going ‘back to basics’ with a focus on growing current market share, increasing operational efficiency and maintaining current company strengths to unlock growth in 2018.
American Express has partnered with Oxford Economics to survey SMEs from around the globe, to understand the threats they face and the business opportunities and strategies they will take advantage of in the year ahead. The research makes for positive reading, showing that Indian SMEs – the backbone of the economy – will focus on core strengths to support confident growth plans in the coming year.
Saru Kaushal, Vice President and General Manager, Global Commercial Services, American Express Banking Corp., India said: “Our research shows that India’s smaller enterprises are primed for success in 2018 by balancing revenue growth with efficiency improvements and leveraging unique attributes of agility, innovation and strong customer relationships. Indian SMEs are now placing equal priority embracing responsible business practices to attract more customers.”
The American Express Global SME Pulse 2018 found that over half (55%) of Indian SMEs point to using size, agility, and innovation as one of their top three strategies for fueling revenue growth in 2018. Respondents (67%) also said that understanding their customers’ changing demands will also help revenue growth.
“The ‘back to basics’ approach comes at a time when India’s SMEs feel confident about the global economy, and predict strong revenue growth. Indian SMEs are focusing on expense management as much as on increasing revenue. American Express’ customised expense management solutions and corporate card programme are designed to help SMEs drive purchase savings and avoid any leakages as all transactions are tracked real time,” Ms Kaushal said.
