MSMEs are highly optimistic about their business growth, finds Khatabook survey
By Parvathy Pillai
Ease of Doing Business for MSMEs: Inflation in India might be at an all-time high but business sentiment from small businesses is steadily improving. The findings are a part of the Mid-Year MSME Business Sentiment Survey by the digital bookkeeping platform Khatabook to gauge the expectations and actual business performance of MSMEs.
The survey reported that 71 per cent of the 7,295 MSMEs respondents are optimistic about business growth in the next six months of 2022 and only 5 per cent expect their business to slow down.
The positive sentiment is on the back of the improved actual business performance in the first two quarters of the current fiscal, the survey noted. More than half, almost 58 per cent, MSME businesses confirmed improvement in the actual business in 2022. The growth is witnessed across industries and sectors from retailers, wholesalers, distributors, and manufacturers. Key MSME ecosystems in the states of Telangana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Gujarat reported the fastest growth.
Even sectors that were struggling during the pandemic in 2021, like industrial services, stationery, home furnishing, pharma, salons, and restaurants have bounced back and are on the way to recovery.
About 66 per cent of MSMEs surveyed said they don’t face any issue related to doing business but the rest found that weak demand, credit availability and working capital crunch, and delayed payments were concerns that remain to be solved.
Commenting on the findings of the survey, Ravish Naresh, CEO and Co-founder, Khatabook said, “The survey also showcases the resilience and positive outlook of the MSME community towards business growth and willingness to adopt new methods that will help with growth momentum while handling the transitions.”
According to a recent study by ASSOCHAM and CRISIL, the MSME sector’s growth in FY22 is likely to be around 15–17 per cent on the back of demand recovery and the pick-up in economic activity. The recovery post-COVID was reported across sectors, with construction, commodities, exports, and consumer services leading the pack.