SME Help

Ever wonder why so many people are complaining about being caught in the rat race and no time to do what they would love to do.

For Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) owners, the pressures and stresses are even greater.

They are always struggling to achieve a balance among many priorities,  their work, family, relationship, health, etc goals &  grinds in life, without ease and grace.

In Singapore, with increasing business and manpower costs, 42% of 2708 SMEs surveyed indicated they are in fire fighting mode and no mood to talk about gain in productivity and business growth.

(Recent survey by DP Information Group)

Various Reasons given are:-

  • You can upgrade in capacity, but if if you don’t have the manpower to service the market flow
  • Raise in productivity do not justify the cost or the need for it
  • 90% of the respondents said they face obstacles in improving productivity, such as lack of knowledge on how to implement productivity improvement activities and lack of (in-house) resources

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DP Info managing director  Chen Yew Nah advises SMEs to strive to “get their mojo back” or risk decling fortunes.

“SMEs need to understand that the riskiest thing to do is to stand still. After a period of stagnant growth, the balance sheets of SMEs  have weakened and more SMEs are now considered to be high credit risks.”

The Singapore Government’s holy grail is for higher productivity in Companies, especially SMEs.

Ms Choy Sauw Kook. assistant chief executive of Spring Singapore, said her agency is “now intensifying efforts to educate them on the “how-tos” of implementing productivity measures.”

 

Initiatives by Spring

SPRING Singapore offers several initiatives to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs):

  • Free self-help toolkits on areas such as financial management, human resources, customer service, marketing, and productivity, which are available on the agency’s website. SPRING Must_Know_Schemes_for_your_business
  • Businesses can offset productivity upgrades using the Innovation and Capability Vouchers, valued at $5,000. These vouchers can also be used for consultancy services from participating providers, to help plan and budget finances, manage cash flow and working capital, and assess growth potential.

 

  • SMEs embarking on large financial management projects can use the Capability Development Grant to defray up to 70 per cent of project costs. These projects can include developing a financial frame work, business expansion strategies, and implementing corporate financial systems and mergers and acquisitions.
  • SMEs that need general business help and advice on government assistance schemes can speak to advisers at SME Centres located across Singapore.

http://www.edc-asme.sg/ Association of Small & Medium Enterprise (ASME)

http://www.smecentre-smf.sg/  Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF)

 http://www.smecentre-sicci.sg/  Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI)

http://www.smecentre-smcci.sg/  Singapore Malay Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SMCCI)

http://www.smecentre-sccci.sg/  Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI)

The centres provide one-to-one business diagnosis, advice on government schemes, guidance on grant applications and in-depth advice in areas such as productivity, buman resources, overseas expansion and financial management.