IndiaMART.com organises SME Conclave '13 with TiE Delhi NCR

- IndiaMART.com organises SME Conclave 2013 with TiE Delhi NCR

- Over 200 SMEs participate in engaging panel discussions on preparing SMEs for future

- Vineet Nayar, VC, HCL Technologies & Dinesh Agarwal, Founder & CEO, IndiaMART.com give keynote address

"Majority of SMEs would come online and use self serve models for business in next two-three years" was the key takeaway from the SME Conclave 2013 organised by IndiaMART.com in association with TiE Delhi NCR at India Habitat Centre, here recently. Mr. Vineet Nayar, Vice Chairman, HCL Technologies gave a perfect start to the Conclave with his keynote address full of anecdotes that inspired the SME audience to have the wherewithal to take risks and move up the chain. Speaking from experience of working closely with SMEs, Mr. Dinesh Agarwal, Founder & CEO, IndiaMART.com opened the keynote address by bringing the spotlight on the challenges SMEs face and the need to empower them to make them future ready. The Conclave had over 200 SMEs in the audience.

Echoing the sentiments of SMEs, panel discussions were held at the Conclave. Some of these interactive sessions were on technology as an enabler, elements for scaling up – funding, people & outsourcing, and building access to SMEs.

The discussions at the Conclave suggested that embracing technology was the need of the hour for SMEs to drive business growth and internal efficiencies It was important that SMEs used internet and online marketplaces like IndiaMART.com to access markets and easily identify buyers, suppliers & channel partners for their businesses. The online marketplace serves as a complete ecosystem that SMEs need and catalyzes business opportunities for them. Social media also emerged as another internet tool that SMEs can adopt to build awareness among their target audiences and also drive engagement. Moving to cloud was also highlighted as a cost-effective medium for them.

On scaling up, three key elements – funding, people and outsourcing - were discussed. The key takeaways included: need to build a robust business model and a good team before going in for funding; creating a balance in delegation and keeping a control, and understanding own process well first before outsourcing them.

IndiaMART.com's SME Conclave 2013 gained importance in the context of globalization, liberalisation and technological advancements that SMEs should take advantage of in order to stay ahead of global counterparts.

About IndiaMART.com

IndiaMART.com is India's largest online B2B marketplace for Small & Medium Size Businesses, connecting global buyers with suppliers. The company offers a platform & tools to over 1.2 million suppliers to generate business leads from over 6.5 million buyers, who use the platform to find reliable & competitive suppliers. The company has over 2800 employees located across 60+ offices in the country. Its existing investors include Intel Capital and Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.

Products & Services

IndiaMART.com offers products that enable small & medium size businesses generate business leads (online catalogs/store-fronts), establish their credibility (third party verified trust profile) and use business information (finance, news, trade shows, tenders) for their business promotion.