Tag: Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (SMBs)

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Technology

Indian SMBs To Get Major Boost As Microsoft India Announces ‘Dynamics 365 Business Central’, a Comprehensive Business Management Solution

Microsoft
Microsoft (Photo Credits: Twitter)

With an aim to encourage small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in India, Microsoft India has announced the general availability of Dynamics 365 Business Central, which is a comprehensive business management solution SMBs. The tech giant has customized this solution for India. The Dynamics 365 Business Central solution comes with inbuilt features that address local regulatory and market requirements for ease of business, including a tax engine comprising over 500 pre-configured use cases and business scenarios for GST, TDS and tax collected at source (TCS).

The Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central solution was announced by Microsoft during ‘Building a Resilient Future’, a virtual summit organised to discuss building resilience among SMBs in the presence of Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is available through Microsoft Cloud Solution Providers (CSPs) in the country, the company said.

Here’s how Dynamics 365 Business Central would benefit the Indian SMBs:

  1. An all-in-one cloud solution, Dynamics 365 Business Central helps companies ensure business continuity by connecting sales, service, finance, and operations teams.
  2. It offers customers affordable and easily manageable tools that simplify and expedite everyday business processes.
  3. “We believe it will help small and medium-sized organisations move to the cloud confidently and be future proof,” said Rajiv Sodhi, Chief Operating Officer, Microsoft India.
  4. The solution can be accessed from any mobile device to conduct business on-the-go

During the launch, Gadkari said digitalisation is of utmost importance in the development of MSMEs, and could make the system more transparent, time-bound, and result-oriented. “In future, this would create efficiencies, create more market, and would be important for the growth of MSMEs in the country,” Gadkari added.

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Technology

SMBs in India Get Major Boost As AWS Launches ‘Amazon Digital Suite’ To Help Businesses Overcome Challenges of Technology Adoption

onlline business

New Delhi, April 19: With an aim to boost the startup ecosystem in India, Amazon Web Services (AWS), the Cloud arm of Amazon has launched a curated set of software solutions aimed at empowering the SMBs in the country. The initiative will help to digitise 10 million Indian small and medium businesses (SMBs) by 2025. Touted as ‘Amazon Digital Suite’, it provides a broad selection of business software focused on SMBs from seven AWS Partner Network (APN) Technology Partners in areas such as accounting, customer support, and human resources.

It must be noted that all Amazon Digital Suite software can be purchased individually with discounts of up to 75 per cent from the suggested retail prices, the AWS said in a statement. As per details by the company, the ‘Amazon Digital Suite’ is now available for purchase on amazon.in. Prices of the products that are part of the Amazon Digital Suite begin at as low as Rs 20.

Here’s how the ‘Amazon Digital Suite’ will help Indian SMBs:

  1. Puneet Chandok, President-Commercial Sales, AISPL, AWS India and South Asia said the Amazon Digital Suite brings the best of what AWS and Amazon offer as an affordable, simple-to-use, and value-driven package
  2. Customers purchasing the Amazon Digital Suite during the ‘Amazon Smbhav 2021′ event from April 15-23 will be eligible for discounts of up to 30 percent in the Amazon Digital Suite store.
  3. With the Amazon Digital Suite, SMBs can overcome the challenges of technology adoption, digitise their operations, innovate in their business, accelerate their growth, and help India prosper.
  4. The Amazon Digital Suite comprises various solutions from Razorpay, Freshworks, greytHR, ClearTax, Zoho, Vinculum and OkCredit.

Vedanarayanan Vedantham, Head – SME Business, Razorpay said that the launch of the Amazon Digital Suite will be a game changer; it will empower millions of SMBs of any size, and make it possible for them to reach new customers around the world.

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Finance

SMBs in India To Benefit As Google Announces Rs 109 Crore for Small and Micro Enterprises in the Country

Google (Photo Credits: Unsplash)

New Delhi, February 18: With an aim to support small and micro enterprises (SMBs) in India amid the COVID-19 pandemic, tech giant Google on Wednesday said it would give $15 million to Indian SMBs. The amount that has been announced by Google for businesses in India is nearly Rs 109 crore. Reports inform that the investment is part of the $75 million commitment from Google to help small businesses outside of the US. “In India, we will invest $15 million to support small and micro enterprises across the country and are in discussions with local partners,” the company said in a statement.

Google said it is working with non-government partners who have a long track record of providing resources to businesses that are generally overlooked by traditional lenders. When the coronavirus pandemic hit in 2020, Google had announced a $200 million investment fund as part of its more than $800 million commitment to support small businesses. In a statement, Google said it has had a special relationship with small businesses around the world – helping them scale, innovate and reach new customers. “With today’s announcement, we’re proud to help them meet a new challenge — accessing capital needed to recover and build resiliency for the future,” the tech giant said.

In July 2020, Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, had announced a ‘Google for India’ digitisation fund through which, the company will invest Rs 75,000 crore or approximately $10 billion over the next five to seven years to help India go digital. During the ‘Google for India’ virtual conference, Pichai had said, “We will do this through a mix of equity investment, partnerships, and an operational infrastructure ecosystem in India. This is a reflection of our confidence in the future of India and its digital economy”.

 

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Technology

‘Nayi Shuruaat’, a Campaign Launched by Facebook to Celebrate the Success of Small Businesses in India Amid Crisis; All You Need to Know

Facebook (Photo Credits: Pexels)

In a bid to spread the success of the small business and their growth in India, social media giant Facebook on Tuesday launched ‘Nayi Shuruaat’. The newly launched campaign celebrates the small businesses of across the country. The campaign will help these businesses crawl back to normalcy and make a new start or a ‘Nayi Shuruaat’ amidst the deepest crisis the world has seen in recent times. The campaign by Facebook celebrates many such real stories of optimism, strength, and economic recovery from across the country. Facebook on Tuesday said that it is committed to help India quickly recover economically and socially in 2021 from the pandemic-hit year, by deepening support for small businesses and test and roll its new features from the country to the rest of the world.

About ‘Nayi Shuruaat’ campaign:

  1. The ‘Nayi Shuruaat’ campaign was launched during Facebook’s ‘Fuel for India’ event. It is an ode to the resilience of small businesses amid crisis.
  2. Nayi Shuruaat celebrates many such real stories of optimism, strength, and economic recovery from across the country
  3. Several such stories were also be unveiled during the upcoming Facebook Fuel for India virtual event on December 15 and December 16.
  4. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg via a virtual address during the event said that India’s building local capabilities and tech capacity to power innovative new business models and provide the citizens access to digital financial inclusion.

Facebook said it will continue to work closely with key partners to build a stronger ecosystem for small business growth in the country by investing in skilling programmes such as Boost with Facebook, entering in key partnerships such as with venture capital funds for the VC Brand Incubator program, and by giving people new ways to support small businesses such as the Instagram Food Stickers.

Zuckerberg on Tuesday said its partnership with Jio Platforms will help support millions of small businesses in India. Zuckerberg made the remark during a conversation with Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries at the first Facebook Fuel for India 2020 event.

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Technology

Facebook Rolls Out ‘SMB Guide’ to Help 9 Million Indian SMBs in Building Digital Presence and Reaching Potential Customers Online

Facebook (Photo Credits: Pexels)

New Delhi, November 4: With an aim to help the micro and small businesses in India to limp back to normalcy, social media giant Facebook on Wednesday rolled out a dedicated offline to online ‘SMB Guide’. In order to help these businesses recover from the pandemic-induced crisis, Facebook has come up with new resources to help make this journey frictionless for them. Reports inform that this offline to online SMB Guide for India is free and publicly available. However, the social networking giant is also proactively reaching out to nine million small businesses across the country to ensure it reaches the businesses who need it the most.

The SMB Guide is available in Hindi as well as in English in order to support a large number of businesses across distinct geographies. Archana Vohra, Director Small and Medium Businesses, Facebook India, said in a statement said that the new resources are geared to helping the smallest of businesses across geographies to move from offline to online with minimum effort. “”While the offline to online SMB Guide is publicly available, we are proactively reaching out to 9 million small businesses across India to ensure timely support”, she said.

The SMB Guide:

According to a report by IANS, the SMB Guide has been designed to provide a step-by-step direction on how the smallest of businesses can build a digital presence quickly, and reach potential customers online. The guide covers Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, and key themes such as building an online presence, mobile storytelling, social media advertising, and creative and performance strategies.

The social networking giant said it is also rolling out the next leg of ‘Boost with Facebook’, a skilling and learning programme for scaling young businesses. The programme went virtual earlier this year, and is now going vernacular, and will be delivered primarily in Hindi through Facebook Live sessions. One of the key themes discussed during Boost with Facebook will be how small businesses can build for Diwali and the festive season beyond it, the company said.

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Finance Sales

Planning to Start a New Business? These Dates Are Auspicious for the Opening of Shop, Office and Factory in November 2020

Hindu Puja (Photo Credits: Pexels)

If you are setting up a new business, you will always consider an auspicious time to start the venture or a firm. It is believed that the ‘auspicious time’ known as ‘mahurat’ followed by Hindus before starting any kind of new business, small or big, can provide many benefits and help the business flourish. Any work, office, shop or factory that is started at a ‘shubh mahurat’ always open up new business opportunities for the entrepreneur. If one starts the business at an ‘shubh’ time, the business will become a great success with rapid growth. Let us see when are these auspicious days in November 2020 according to astronomy.

In November 2020, a new shop, new office or factory can be inaugurated in these auspicious times-

  1. November 8: If you wish to open a new shop, November 8, 2020 is an auspicious day as it is Saptami Tithi and Pushya Nakshatra on that day.
  2. November 12: On 12 November 2020, Dwadashi tithi will be observed which is considered to be auspicious for starting or opening new office as the day falls on Hasta Nakshatra, which is lucky.
  3. November 13: It is a Friday and it is an auspicious time to start trading as Trayodashi and Chitra Nakshatra fall on the same day.
  4. November 15: Sunday, November 15, 2020 is an auspicious day for opening shop due to Amavasya and Anuradha Nakshatra.
  5. November 19: On Thursday, November 19, 2020, Panchami Tithi and Uttarashada Nakshatra are auspicious to start business.
  6. November 20: On Friday, Shashthi Tithi will be auspicious for shop Opening due to Uttarashada Nakshatra.
  7. November 25: Ekadashi falls on November 25, 2020, which is a Wednesday. The date is auspicious and lucky for office opening due to Uttarabhadrapada nakshatra.
  8. November 27: On 27 November 2020, Dwadashi Tithi and Ashwini Nakshatra are beneficial for the beginning of any trading in business.
  9. November 30: Rohini Nakshatra with full moon on Monday is auspicious for starting a new business.

The Auspicious time for shop-factory-office opening as per Sarvarthasiddhi Yoga are: November 12, November 13, November 25, November 27, November 30. The auspicious time for opening of shop or office – November 8, 12, 13. With the onset of the festive season, people are now gearing up to bring their business to normalcy after being severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic. In the new normal, entrepreneurs are now gearing up to look for opportunities to revive their businesses.

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Technology

Microsoft to End Its 20-Year-Old Open License Programme for SMBs From January 1, 2022

Microsoft (Photo Credits: Pixabay)

New Delhi, October 2: In a bid to help small and medium-sized  businesses (SMBs), Microsoft has announced to end its 20-year-old Open License programme from January 1, 2022. The SMBs organisations can continue to renew and purchase new software licenses, software assurance and online services through the Open License programme until December 31, 2021. In an update on Friday, the tech giant said, “As of January 1, 2022, commercial customers won’t be able to buy new or renew software licenses or online services through the Microsoft Open License programme”.

Microsoft added that new license-only purchases should be transacted through partners in the Cloud Solution Provider programme. The Microsoft Open License programme was created over 20 years ago for small and midsized customers to buy multiple perpetual software licenses at a volume price. According to a report by IANS, Microsoft said it is taking a significant step to simplify licensing by introducing perpetual software license purchases through the new commerce experience, as part of its Cloud Solution Provider programme for partners, with a target availability date of January 2021.

“Small and midsize customers will benefit from a simplified approach and greater flexibility in how you purchase software licenses in a way that’s easy to understand, that directly improves licensing asset management, and with predictable costs,” the company said. Some companies may have purchased “tokens” to use Microsoft’s online services. Those tokens will remain “active for five years from the purchase date,” Microsoft said. The firm added that it is committed to support every organisation wherever they are in their digital transformation journey.

Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partners will offer perpetual licenses after the end of the Open License programme. Perpetual licenses are pay-once, non-subscription licenses that don’t expire.

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Technology

Google India to Launch ‘Namaste Digital’ Show on Doordarshan to Empower SMBs by Helping Them to Use Internet to Grow Their Business

Google (Photo Credits: Pexels)

New Delhi, October 1: As a part of its new multi-pronged effort to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), Google India said that it will launch a new show in partnership with Doordarshan called ‘Namaste Digital’ to navigate the challenging economic environment. The ‘Namaste Digital’ show aims to serve as a mass media programme for SMBs to learn about the Internet and help them grow their business. According to a report by IANS, the tech giant’s the new initiative will focus on accelerating the efforts to help businesses build digital presence in partnership with software development company Zoho and payment gateway Instamojo.

Building on its effort to help consumers discover small businesses on Google search and maps and keeping the needs of different businesses in mind, Google has also partnered with delivery services providers Dunzo and Swiggy to fast track the on-boarding process. Both partners have committed to provide additional support to small businesses to start accepting orders online and enable delivery logistics. Under the new initiative, small businesses will be able to create business websites using Zoho inventory and sell online through Zoho Commerce for free till March 31, 2021. Instamojo on the other hand is offering a six-month free subscription to its “Premium Online Store Solution.”

SMBs can also avail Dunzo’s 24×7 merchant support for free with zero sign-up fees and instant registration and can make use of Swiggy’s seven days “Fast track Onboarding”. All these will be available for SMBs on “Grow with Google Small Business” hub in India which was launched in July this year.

Shalini Girish, Customer Solutions Director at Google India, said in a statement that today, the need to go digital is a necessity and SMBs are hard-pressed to digitise fast. “We need to do everything we can to handhold millions of small businesses in their digital-transformation journey and support business recovery during the current crisis”, she added. Adding further, she said that the needs of small businesses differ across the country and we are partnering with the industry leaders to offer more support to help small businesses go digital.

The ‘Namaste Digital’ Initiative:

  1. The new initiative builds on the “Grow with Google Small Business hub” effort. It is in direct response to the feedback received from small medium businesses captured in the Google-Kantar small business tracker research conducted in July.
  2. According to the report, customer related challenges tops the list for small businesses, with 92 per cent businesses facing customer related challenges, revenue loss due to low demand and payment of fixed costs are the other most severe challenges among businesses.
  3. The report also highlights that businesses are seeing the benefits of going digital, and today 5 out of 10 businesses are using digital channels to engage their customers compared to just 4 in 10 in April.
  4. In addition to providing support to go digital, Google India is also investing in efforts to scale its outreach to help small businesses learn to use digital tools in local Indian languages.

As part of this effort, Google has worked closely with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) to drive an industry wide skilling program which has already trained 1.2 million individuals.

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Technology

Lenovo Launches ThinkBook Plus Notebook to Enhance Productivity of Modern Workforce, Targets Indian SMBs and Enterprises

Businesses in India (Photo Credits: Pexels)

With an aim to target Indian Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (SMBs)and enterprises, Lenovo on Tuesday launched ThinkBook Plus. The newly launched ThinkBook Plus is a dual screen notebook built for enhancing productivity for the modern workforce, in India. It is priced at a starting price of Rs 99,990. The new gadget roll out by Lenovo, the leading laptop and PC leader, comes as it slowly transitions into an end-to-end services and solutions provider for SMBs and enterprises in India. The design innovation around ThinkBook Plus was based on customer insights and data relating to multitasking work practices.

The SMB industry in India is an extremely agile and dynamic marketplace where the IT requirements for them are ever evolving. The ThinkBook is available in an Iron Grey colour and can now be purchased at Lenovo.com and Amazon.in. It comes with an integrated Precision Pen for enhanced functionality and productivity.

All you need to know about the Lenovo ThinkBook:

  1. Featuring a 13.3-inch FHD (full high definition) main display and a 10.8-inch e-Ink display on the cover, users can sketch and take notes with the integrated Precision Pen and receive essential notifications when the lid is closed, allowing them to stay focused during meetings.
  2. The e-Ink display is made from Corning Gorilla Glass NBT, a glass solution for touch-enabled notebooks that provides enhanced scratch resistance, and reduced scratch visibility.
  3. The latest ThinkBook Plus features an innovative e-Ink cover display designed to help users become more productive when multitasking by improving focus, collaboration and creativity.
  4. This service is device and toolset agnostic, meaning whatever devices the organisation uses, Lenovo can help optimise their IT management.
  5. Similarly, the Lenovo ThinkShield is a custom solution that secures the most critical data and business technologies with comprehensive end-to-end protection, making it an ideal secure service for SMBs.

Lenovo thinks that the launch of its ThinkBook Plus notebook will further boost its growth in the Indian market. According to an International Data Corporation (IDC) report, Lenovo replaced Dell in the second position with 27.5 per cent share in the India PC market in the second quarter of this year. The company had a very good quarter mainly supported by growth in the SMB, enterprise, and consumer segments.

Ashish Sikka, Director – SMB, Lenovo India, told IANS in an interview, said, “We are very gung-ho about the India market. We have got the momentum on our side and we are very ambitious and we would like to continue building products and solutions which cater to Indian SMBs and Indian enterprises and consumers”.