All large corporations grew out of an SME
Currently, the majority of recently graduated professionals, elderly professionals and even those who meet the conditions demanded by the labor market are fighting for a job in a corporation or firm established in the national market. Unemployment is huge because there is not enough job offer to cover the large number of these professionals. Job opportunities are few, however if there are no job opportunities it is essential to create them.
The current legal, technological and labor conditions that govern our national market do not offer tangible growth in our economy. That is why we admire and send economies from other countries, among the most admired Latin American countries are the economies of Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Mexico.
Despite everything, our economy will be able to grow, with full security, through Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). For ambitious but short-sighted professionals, an SME is insignificant as a job option, however, SMEs are opportunities to reduce unemployment levels, since their constitution does not necessarily require certain experience or age requirements.
How can SMEs lift our economy?
The success of SMEs does not lie in the unique characteristics of each small or medium-sized company, it lies in the number of SMEs in the markets. SMEs as a whole contribute to the growth of the Gross Domestic Product of many industrialized countries with a contribution greater than that registered by corporations or large companies.
A single SME will not be able to compete against a corporation, much less change a meager economy, however the picture is different if there are numerous SMEs. SMEs can topple a traditional monopoly. Although they come to lack high technological conditions and broad market coverage, SMEs are more flexible than corporations.
Why do SMEs fail in a market like ours?
a) Many SMEs have failed long before entering the market, mainly due to the shortsightedness of their founders. An SME should not be oriented to survive in the market, it is destined to grow within it. Those in charge of an SME should not be content with a certain level of sales, an SME cannot afford the "luxury" of being stagnant. Unlike a corporation, an SME requires frequent investments in short-term periods, just as a child requires frequent rations of more nutritious food to grow. As a result of frequent investments, internal growth in an SME must be accelerated, this indicates the normality of its operation. An SME has to grow more agile than any other corporation;in nature everything small is more agile than large and the nature of our market is no exception.
b) The lack of knowledge about the sciences related to the social function of the SME, is in the long run a way to the closure of the organization. In order to organize an SME, it is not a prerequisite that its founders are university or technological graduates (although they are the ones called to accept this challenge), it is more those who decide to start an SME are mostly empirical professionals. Complementarily, decision-making in innumerable organizations (not only SMEs) has as a fundamental basis: the intuition of the main character in the strategic field of such organizations. In the current circumstances that rapidly transform regional markets into globalized and hyper-competitive,Experiments or "tincazos" cannot be admitted because such markets demand effective solutions to consumers' requirements. Those responsible for the strategic management of an SME have to be in constant improvement, because the development of the company cannot be achieved if its executives do not develop themselves.
c) Countless SMEs fail because they only introduce improvements to the products already on the market in the market; This is because in a market like ours where there is no absolute respect for patents, a corporation will be able to appropriate such improvements as its own. Let's not forget that the reach of an SME in the market is small compared to a corporation. An SME will only be preferred in the market if it offers novelty and above all quality in products or services, that is, new products and / or new services.
What new products can be produced?
In a market like ours, what most exists are needs. A new product and / or service must satisfy one of these needs. In more developed markets, products that more than satisfy needs provide comforts are very widespread. To create a new product, the divine spark or scientific ingenuity is not necessary, only the starting point must be an analysis of the current market needs.
Difficulties for the establishment of SMEs in our market
* The start-up cost to start SMEs is too high for our economy. Undoubtedly, despite the facilities granted by the existing financial institutions. The interests become very high for the pocket of any unemployed person because they become guarantees, due to the high level of delinquency in our economy. This is unobjectionable, the banking and financial system has to take its own precautions. However, if financing is expensive, it does not mean giving up the project of introducing a new company.
The only solution to the problem is to make the most of the investment, not reducing expenses for the simple fact of reducing but optimizing costs, that is to say, acquiring everything that is essential (supplies, infrastructure, accessories, furniture and office supplies) to produce goods or non-existent services in the market with all quality. An organization, whatever it may be, cannot sell promises, the product or service provided must meet the conditions to be sold by its mere presence.
* The short scope in the distribution of new products and / or services represents a great disadvantage in the market because an SME does not have the distribution channels that corporations have. To respond to that problem, the company must seize a segment of the market. By selling novelty and not just improvements, by offering quality and not mere promises, you will be able to discover and conquer a "market niche." With the constant investment and growth of the company it will be possible to achieve not only technological development but also the opening of new distribution channels.
* A new product and / or service absolutely requires to inform potential buyers about the use of it, the needs it satisfies and the additional benefits obtained from the purchase of the product. There are many entrepreneurs who are obsessed with the use of advertising, particularly television advertising. Advertising by itself does not raise the status of the good or service offered, nor does it represent an adventure. High-cost advertising spends those resources that could well be used to improve what is offered. Advertising, as well as personal sales and sales promotion, must be planned according to the conditions of the chosen market segment so that they become an investment instead of an expense.The information on the use of the new products, the satisfied needs and the additional benefits, should initially be directed to the market segment we want to conquer. A good product or service, in the long run, will be known by the comments of the applicants in the markets.
The destiny of SMEs is to become a corporation with great experience
All corporations originated from an SME that was the pioneer organization. Although there are companies that arise with high organizational costs due to having a reliable financial support, such support was surely the result of an effort translated into a small company. Every business group had its origin in an SME. The gigantic fortress of computing: Microsoft Corp. arose from an SME between two partners, Paul Allen and William Gates III, the latter being the greatest millionaire in history.
