SMEs Free Lunch!
Recently I have had the pleasure of charing a SME summit in Muscat. While the mention of SME summits, symposia and conferences does receive grumbles about the repetition and redundancy, I believe they are useful fora for interactions. True these events do bring up the usual complaints and challenges that SMEs face on a regular basis. Regulation, access to funding and skills are the usual suspects. However, many SME owners fail to see the brighter side of the these events, networking!
Having attended a number of these symposia and events it is clear to me, and many others, that the main challenge for many SME owners is themselves. First, many SMEs assume that they have made the right choice of business. We often hear how business owners should be passionate about their ideas and projects. However, passion might not be enough if you don't make the right choices. For starters, the choice of business is critical for its survival. Building on one's strength and skills is important. Thus a business owner can't complain about not being funded or permitted to hire labor if they haven't developed their business idea and model appropriately.
Second, many business are challenged by the lack of skills and knowledge that enables them to better run their businesses. This does not mean they are incapable of running the business, in fact they need assistance to address their challenges. To overcome these challenges they need to be able to assess their own strengths and weakness and come to terms with what is required to build on the former and remedy the latter.
It is in this context that SMEs should seek to engage various stakeholders in the ecosystem. Since SMEs often don't have the time or resources to chase after all possible opportunities, and thus cannot afford to do so. SME events, especially those that are well organised, provide a unique opportunity for such business owners to develop their business by networking. I've had the pleasure of meeting numerous small business owners who shared their invaluable experiences. Learning from each other is a very useful opportunity that can't be replicated often elsewhere without great effort and time.
My advise to small business owners, take advantage of these events, selectively, to develop your business and create new opportunities not just funders, trainers and coaches, but with other SMEs and larger enterprises. While economist often say there is no such thing as a free lunch, I would argue in this instance best not waste that lunch.
The Greensboro Police Department, Kotis Properties, Alston Realty Group and City of Greensboro Officials Go On Campaigns Against Tenants And Have For Years
9 年Might I recommend a Folk Festival.
Chief Commercial Officer at Mamun
9 年*excuse the typos; was rushing to make a sale hehehe
Chief Commercial Officer at Mamun
9 年Well said. Though it might seem obvious for SMEs to collaborate often enough it's lip service. Yes Networking is king. None the less very little attention is paid in such events on the importance of Sales, Sales Stratgey or Sale Managment and this by far is the most important function of a Entrepeuner. Anyone who had to hustle knows this. Yet often such events are filled with sme advisory firms riding on the generic SME themes in Oman. Some of these firms are in themselfs Start-ups. Perhaps "Selling" works well in such events for advisory firms but often on the expeness of discussing real issus be them regulatory or pertaining important SME functions such as "Sales", and I would like to remind many Sales is NOT marketing the are two different things that "sometimes" are interchangeable. The event was great. Thank to it's hosts, speakers, and organisers. But most importantly the Hustle-peuners who attended it.