Business Continuity In The Era Of Viruses

Time never stops, and similar is the case with business. If the business takes a break or goes in a lockdown mode, it will have a significant impact on the top and bottom line. We all agree with this, but how do we manage our business and establishments, especially in the MSME category?

This is a common question MSMEs are having with the rapid spread of COVID – 19 across the globe. Now lockdown is announced in many parts of the world by stopping the issue of visas or suspending visas already issued. There are restrictions on inbound travel into the country and limits on domestic trips as well.

Most MSMEs have scaled-down or shut their operations due to the lack of availability of raw materials and human resources. Handling this is one challenge, and other difficulties are following up with customers for payments and managing the inventory optimally for better cash flows. That being said, the question arises on how to do it?

One possible resolve is migrating from the on-premise solutions to cloud solutions. The generation next is adopting digitalization, and as part of that, they can choose the applications which are hosted on the cloud.

A collective myth people have is that ‘my data is not secure on the cloud, and my competitor can access my data’. The reality is that data on the cloud is very secure as the cloud service providers maintain the high integrity of data and have deployed various services from time to time to make it stable and safe.

The significant benefit of having a cloud-based application is that they can be accessed from any location and any device, unlike the on-premise applications which need to be accessed from specific desktops or laptop. Any time access and device compatibility provide the benefit of accessing the data in real-time and making decisions accordingly. Cloud-based applications provide data on the go, and dependency on the team is minimized. It also helps in monitoring tasks more effectively.

Let's take a small business case, say A. A is a small manufacturer and his accounts are maintained on a desktop-based accounting software called “S,” with the local travel restrictions and lockdown mode the owner cannot access his outstanding data as the application is at his factory and currently he and his team are working from home. If he had deployed a cloud-based application, he could have easily accessed the data or given access to his team for follow-ups on customer outstandings.

The global experience, as per the Salesforce survey, says that 94% of businesses have claimed that there is an improvement in security after migrating to cloud-based applications. Also, 91% has asserted that it has become easier for them to meet compliance requirements online. In this context, GSTN India has recommended 8 vendors for the MSMEs for free accounting, and GST compliant solutions and out of that, four are providing cloud-based services like (Vyapari, Ubooks, etc.)

Maintaining books of accounts and billing using cloud-based applications provides the owner with reduced dependency on the accounting staff and also gives visibility on transactions. Inventory levels can be monitored, resulting in better negotiations with suppliers. Having information readily available online, they can know the status of their compliances, along with the dashboards which provide the top line and bottom line information on the fly. Softwares provided by the GSTN is free for taxpayers having turnover below Rs 1.50 Crores up to 31st March 2021. Digitalization also helps in saving paper and becoming partners of the environment, along with being a successful entrepreneur. Apart from the accounting and billing solutions, there are many applications that can be deployed by the MSMEs for monitoring their sales using CRM applications or Payroll processing or managing distribution networks more effectively. Distribution management applications help the next generation of companies. Deployment of cloud-based applications by the MSMEs can genuinely make the statement a reality - today's MSMEs are tomorrow's MNCs.