• Survey

India’s small businesses are beginning to make their mark in the global business landscape, despite being fraught with problems. Here is a quick look at the business scenario, based on a spot survey of over 200 small businesses undertaken by Entrepreneur.

1. Government Policies
40 percent think it is average
55 percent think it is good
5 percent think it is excellent

2. Credit Availability
5 percent think it is excellent
20 percent think it is bad
45 percent think it is average
40 percent think it is good

Of the 100 surveyed, 60 were of the view that credit availability can be much better. The economic downturn did mean a credit squeeze for them to a certain extent.

3. Business Environment
65 percent think it is average
35 percent think it is good

4. Competition from China
65 percent think it is average
35 percent think it is good

5. Loan Rates and Preferential
100 percent companies think that small businesses should get lower loan rates

6. Pain Points
45 percent feel it is the high cost of financing
35 percent feel it is the rising cost of raw materials and demand
20 percent feel it is infrastructure

7. Demands from the  Government
Faster processing of loan applications
Support from government for technical upgradation
Skilled manpower for the sector

8. Growth Path
30 percent feel that small businesses are struggling to find their footing, and that this will last for the next two years
45 percent expect the small industry to graduate to the medium industry within 5 years
25 respondents said they could not forecast on the growth of their company

9. Biggest Hurdles to Growth
Availability of finance
Red tapes
Infrastructure
Duty structure

10. Labor Laws
65 percent see it as the major problem
35 percent think it is manageable

11. Lack of Credit Rating Facility
50 percent see this as the biggest hurdle to easy credit
30 percent see this as an issue
20 percent see this as a manageable issue

©Entrepreneur October 2009

Tags:
Business Environment, Competition from China, Credit Availability, credit rating, demands, Government Policies, growth path, hurdles, labor laws, Loan Rates and Preferential, Pain Points, Survey