SMEs are small and medium enterprises/business. They are very passionate about their work and the company they own. Source<> http://blog.bizbilla.com/smes-msmes/user/show/7762/how-to-ease-the-growth-path-of-smes

1. How to ease the growth path of
SMEs?
Before learning the way to ease growth path of
SMEs, it is neccessary to know about the path of
SMEs. A founder, catalyst and master coach Azaad
Saini who is involved in leadership & future building
coaching for CEOs, Directors & Vps has said clearly
about SMEs and their growth path which is easier
to understand:-

2. Who are SMEs?
SMEs are small and medium enterprises/business.
They are very passionate about their work and the
company they own. They will have a full fledged
history and story with lots of twist and turns about
their journey till now. They have been there, seen
there and this makes everything personal.
Being an SME is not easy:-
Taking the first step, the initiative, building the
company brick by brick, being self motivated,
bringing lots of passion to the work, getting people,
building their skills and making them a part of the
family is not easy. Slowly and patiently building the
client base is not easy. Even if the business is
handed over by the family then too maintaining it
is not easy. Making one’s personal reputation and
goodwill is a hard task.

3. Owner driven:-
Usually in SMEs, the owners are the front of the
organization. Everything has to pass through their
eyes and they are the micro and macro manager.
They themselves are the MD, the CEO, the head and
also plays various supporting roles throughout the
day and week. They are the purchase manager,
finance manager handling the accountant, talking
to their CAs, meeting the bank manager, etc.
Predictable working method:-
SMEs will be part of some club and definitely a
current or former president of some association.
They will be part of some special social cause
projects and they will also be politically well
connected. Their close circle will be their partner or
brother who knows they are in control of
everything. Their manager, who is extremely loyal
and hardworking, knows in and out their company
and gives all the information about the staff. Their

4. confidential partner is their CAs, who knows their
statistics and the context of their financial figures,
always guiding them, making them to take a
calculative risk and decisions.
Safe game:-
For a SME owner, play safe means don’t grow fast.
Be cautious means don’t divert. They have a setup
and a set of loyal customers and they keep on
catering to them. There is no place for a business
leap, new professionals to join and display their
talents and skills. There is no organization it is only
an individual thought. There will be a plant head or
GM but they are only the front. Everything is
managed on personal one to one basis. SMEs
knows their customers who can directly approach
them. They bypass everybody in between be it the
GM or their successor.

5. The Business setback:-
The blind spot is when the owners are the only
window for business growth then they also
becomes the bottleneck. Their passion which has
worked for them didn’t allow them to see from a
different perspective. Their way has become the
right way which blinds them to see anything other
than their way. What has worked yesterday will not
work today. The same loyal and trusted people who
were a stepping stone have become a bottle neck.
The same one to one personal relationship doesn’t
allow professionals to work with them or give them
a fair and unbiased opinion or feedback.
Successor planning is must:-
The SMEs thinks they are immortal. They are 55 to
65 years old but still everything goes through their
hawk eyes. Their sons have joined him, but they has
to be the extension of their fathers. They cannot
substantially add or subtract anything of their own.

6. Majority of the SME children are not interested to
take forward the work of the father as there is
nothing interesting or challenging for them. Even if
the father handover the authority the system and
the people left behind don’t allow any change.
Switching the role:-
Behind this entire facade one thing gets missed out.
For example:- Consider a SME sitting on a gold
mine. If he can actually play one role powerfully
then the organization can accelerate and be in 10x
mode. From the role of the maintenance guy, if he
switches to the role of an accelerator and driver of
his organization then there is a whole new future
available. He can get disengaged from all the
unwanted activities and conversations. From a
personal organization, it will shift to be a
professional organization. There will be a place for
many professionals to contribute.

7. First requiremnt of SMEs:-
Now this is the first requirement of an SME owners.
They must play ‘out of box’ role in the organisation.
One such role is the need of a coach who can think
with them for their organisation, people and for the
way forward. Large and multinational companies
are looking at the vendor as an organization and
not as an individual. So the owner driven SME has
no choice but to make their company as a
professional driven organization. The sooner they
does the better it will be.
Hope you have got clear idea about easing the
growth path of SMEs with the inofmation given by
Mr. Azaad Saini. To see a perfect growth, SMEs have
to make their organization professional and also
must play different roles moving out of the box.