SMEs Urged to Assess COVID-19 Impact, Remodel for Growth
Operators of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the country have been urged to assess the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on their operations to enable them to undertake effective remodeling of the business structure and stay afloat.
The Co-Founder of Lead Afrique, Mr Michael Ohene-Effah, who made the call, observed that remodelling would help position MSMEs to transform their operations in order to be resilient and more sustainable in the future.
Rather than staying idle, he said small businesses were required at this period to start assessing their operations and respond accordingly with solutions that could restore them on the path of growth.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic on the sidelines of the Access Bank SME Capacity-Building Workshop last Friday in Accra, Mr Ohene-Effah said assessing and responding effectively would differentiate businesses that would ride through the storm to success and those who would be disintegrated and close down their operations.
The workshop
The workshop, on the theme, “Remodelling for Excellence through Digitalisation”, was to support small and medium enterprises to add value to their businesses and become more competitive.
About 50 small businesses participated in the event.
It was a follow-up to the SME Clinic organised by the bank in partnership with the Graphic Business on March 24, at the Labadi Beach Hotel.
COVID impact
Mr Ohene-Effah, who was the facilitator of the workshop, observed that every company had four major components and 20 different aspects of their operations.
To stay afloat, he said an entrepreneur was required to change one component of the business.
That, he said, called for a change in mindset, behaviour, and business practices.
According to Mr Ohene-Effah, “Anytime there is a major shift in the economy, not necessarily COVID-19, it could be government policy or a major supplier which has decided to withdraw their order.
“When experiences such as this occur, there are two stack choices faced by entrepreneurs; either they dissolve and disintegrate or integrate and accelerate; that is the focus of this workshop,” he said.
SME digitalisation
A Zonal Head of the bank, Mr Jones Darmoe, said the pandemic was impacting small and medium enterprises in unprecedented ways; digitalisation emerged as a knight in shining armour for businesses.
He said digitalisation was no more an option but a necessity for small businesses to survive in the coronavirus era.
Source: GraphicOnline
