Tags: Internet, Technology Industry, Telecommunications
By Anna Valmero
MAKATI CITY, METRO MANILA— Availability of funding and knowledge on financial management are the two primary factors that will determine the success of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), not broadband connectivity alone, according to business executives.
“Having connectivity is not enough to make SMEs successful in streamlining business operational efficiencies because there are three barriers to this: funding, lack of financial management skills and lack of opportunities or exposure,” says Edwin Domingo, division head of marketing and business development at Eastern Communications.
“First, SMEs need capital to implement their business, what happens right now is they have no knowledge on how to access finances,” he says. “Second, they need to have the skills and tools for financial management and business analysis. Third, most SMEs lack information on their markets and the opportunity to contact their markets so this needs to be addressed.”
SMEs form the backbone of the country’s economy comprising 99 percent of all registered businesses and employing 70 percent of the national labor force, according to the Department of Trade and Industry.
There are 811,000 registered SMEs in the country, 24 percent of which are in Metro Manila. Excluding unregistered micro businesses, SMEs account for 30 percent of national sales and business revenues.
Efforts to assist the SMEs in the country are underway, according to Tomas Gomez IV, SME Committee chairman at Financial Executives Institute of the Philippine (Finex).
Gomez said the Magna Carta for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, or Republic Act 6977 as amended by RA 8289, was passed in 2008 requiring banks to allot 12 percent of their business loans for SMEs. Banks who exceed the 12 percent quota can sell their “excess SME credits” to underperforming banks.
However, the assistance from lending rural and commercial banks are still not fully realized because SMEs do not know of it and the stringent requirements of financial institutions discourage SMEs to apply for bank loans.
This is reflected on the low lending rates of SMEs in ASEAN countries, says Isidro Sobrecarey, deputy secretary general of Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (Adfiap).
To address these issues, Eastern Communications partnered with Finex, Adfiap and technology solutions provider E Storm Technologies to give tools, skills training and network partners to make SMEs successful.
By adopting SME tools, SMEs would be able to “systemize” and standardize processes, improve business management and increase credibility ratings with banks, according to Domingo.
The SuccessSME CRM (customer relationship management) tool by Eastern Communications and EStorms allows SMEs to operate and access the solution through their Web browser to automate overall business processes such as marketing, inventory, and business analysis, says Scott Sproule, director of E Storm Technologies.
Asked if slow Internet connection would be issue among SMEs in accessing the tool, Domingo says target areas in Calabrzon and Cebu industrial parks have a good network coverage. For Calabarzon, Eastern laid out a 240-kilometer fiber-optic network to service the high concentration of SMEs located at the economic zones in Tagaytay, Cavite, Laguna and Batangas.
Says Sproule: “This solution has been adopted in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Without the need to maintain a server or subscribe to licenses, we are able to offer SMEs a 24/7 CRM tool with relevance, security and redundancy.”
The use of open source software to develop the program tools paved the way for a 70 percent reduction in subscription per seat at P500 compared to the cheapest tools of other vendors worth P7,000 per seat, he says.
The group is tapping Adfiap and Finex executives to offer training sessions on good financial management for SMEs on July 21.
Advertising Agribusiness Agriculture Airline Industry Aquaculture Automobiles Banking Car Accessories consumer elec Consumer Electronics Consumer Goods and Concerns Cooperatives Cottage Industries Death Entrepreneurship Filipinos Abroad Food Establishments Groceries and Shopping Centers Handicraft Handicrafts hardware Hardware Solutions Horticulture Internet Livelihood Programs Malls Mass Media and Communications Mobile Phone Industry OFWs Outsourcing Real Estate Software Solutions technology Technology Industry teleco Telecommunications Tourism Transportation Vermiculture Wholesale and Retail
WP Cumulus Flash tag cloud by Roy Tanck and Luke Morton requires Flash Player 9 or better.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Goodday,
Are you looking for a business loan, personal loan etc.You are in the right
place foryour loan solutions!Contatact us (georgelucasloanfirm@live.com )
Full Name:………
Country:……
State:……
City:…….
Sex:……..
Age:……
Occupation:…………
Amount needed as loan:………
phone Number:………..
Monthly Income:………….
Loan duration……………….
Purpose For the Loan:…….