Small businesses flexibly change themselves to survive crisis
22-10-2012 12:58:40+07:00
Small businesses flexibly change themselves to survive crisis
Analysts believe that the biggest advantage of small businesses is the small operation scale which allows them to change flexibly to get adapted to the new circumstances.
In the past, Saigon Palm exported 5-6 containers of fine arts and handicrafts made of water hyacinth a month to Europe and the US. Meanwhile, it now can export 2-3 containers only. In order to boost exports, the company has been regularly attending international trade fairs to advertise its products.
However, Thinh said the company has been trying to popularize its images and seek foreign clients via Internet, while the company is not financially capable enough to attend domestic and foreign trade fairs.
When everything went smoothly, Saigon Palm was choosy about clients and only accepted the orders which could bring high profits. However, it nowadays takes on all the orders, including the ones which can bring the modest profit of several million dong for every container.
In many cases, the company also accepts the orders with low values or low quantities and high requirements.
“We welcome all clients, including the ones who order only one set of products,” he said.
Saigon Palm has also been doing the outsourcing for other enterprises at low prices, which allows getting enough jobs for workers. It has also offered the 5-7 percent discount rates, though the official sale prices remain unchanged.
Nhat Nam, the company that specializes in making wooden furniture products, has been trying to conquer the domestic market, once the export markets have been narrowed. Phan Thi Thanh Truc, Deputy General Director of Nhat Nam, hopes that it can increase the domestic market share to 40 percent from 20 percent now.
Nhat Nam has found out that it would be very difficult to sell luxurious wooden furniture products in the current difficult period. Therefore, it has decided to use the wood left after making products for export to make other products at the reasonable prices affordable to domestic clients.
Anh Tan Cuong Company also felt into big difficulties when the Europe, its main export market, cut down the orders. It recently has focused on making the products with smaller designs and s which fit the taste of South Korean and Japanese customers. It has also been pushing up the e-commerce in seeking new markets to save money.
Analysts believe that the biggest advantage of small businesses is the small operation scale which allows them to change flexibly to get adapted to the new circumstances. Meanwhile, this proves to be a difficult work for big corporations with complicated management procedures and big production scale which cannot be adjusted overnight
Truc from Nhat Nam also said that her company has been trying to pay attention to the design work in an effort to create new product series which can differentiate its products and rivals’ products.
Nguyen Hoang Tan, Director of Anh Tan Cuong Company, believes that diversifying clients is the most important thing for businesses to survive the current difficulties.
Tan said he does not focus on some big clients or some loyal markets, while he has been trying to seek new clients – small and medium enterprises – from different countries.
vietnamnet
