A publication of

Small to midsized businesses are the future of growth

INTRO

Because big companies are scaling down due to the global economic downturn and changing environment.

INTRO

There are Retrenchments all over the world

Retrenchments all over the world : the figures

Retrenchments all over the world : the figures

Retrenchments all over the world : the figures

Retrenchments all over the world : the figures

Over 700 firms closed & at least 3,400 laid off - Zimbabwe

What has changed?

The world has moved

From the industrial age

To the information age

Information age means physical resources or presence no longer offer competitive advantage

Knowledge is now the raw material of production and value

Shoes from Italy

Hair from Japan

Handbag from Uganda

Pants from Morocco

Necklace from

Bangladesh

Globalization and the Information Age

Watch from China

Blouse from South Africa

Proudly Zimbabw

ean

Globalization and intense competition means slow moving large companies cannot adapt fast enough to consumers’ changing demands

Innovation is the application of better solutions that meet new requirements, unarticulated needs, or existing market needs

SMEs are better placed for innovation because they:a)Are more agile and flexible and can change faster than big companiesb)Have less investment to lose if a product or business model fails as they can experiment on a lean budgetc)Are closer to customers and can “feel” their needsd)Can start again quickly if they faile)Owners more open minded, not rigid as in bureaucracy filled large organizations

How to be innovative:a)Listen to customers’ needs and adjust your offering to satisfy themb)Find unfulfilled needs in the market and provide solutionsc)Constantly adapt your products and services to the growing needs of usersd)Look at how you can be a game changer in your industrye)Continuously change your business model

Apple CEO Tim Cook presents a new iPod Nano recently

Example of Radical InnovationApple, a computer company, did not take on Sony in computers. Rather they challenged it in music.

Apple changed the way people buy music

From purchasing CDs

To downloading songs online on iTunes

Beyonce’ s latest album, simply entitled “Beyonce”, was released exclusively on iTunes in December 2013

90% of SME businesses will fail in the next ten years, unless they start being

innovative. Will yours be one of them?Sources: US Small Business Agency (www.sba.gov) & www.businesscasestudies.co.uk

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