'SMEs must take advantage of Social Media'

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) must mount the Social Media platform to expand their business frontiers and reap juicy financial harvests across the world, Harrison Enene of Bart Innovation Lab has recommended.

“Take advantage of the systems that have already been established”, Enene told a group of SME operators at a workshop in Ho.

“Be part of the automated economy in order to grow and expand out of your shells”, Enene recommended.

He was speaking on the topic, “Using Social Media and Technology to drive business growth”.

He said there are over one billion potential customers on the face-book, half of whom interact with friends daily to be reached by SMEs

“People do not buy from big businesses but from people”, he asserted, explaining that people because of what they were told by other people about a product.

Enene said SME operators needed to be smart and make people emotionally attracted to their services and products.

“Don’t worry about the quality your customers will tell you how to improve your products” he said.

Enene suggested that seamstresses and tailors for instance could use the social media to showcase their styles and designs for their customers.

Hottor Batholomew, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bart Innovation Lab, said SMEs make up about 85 per cent of the Ghanaian economy and provide about 92 per cent of job avenues.

Much of that sector however, lacked requisite skills such as marketing, networking and book-keeping and access to capital.

He said Bart Innovation Lab therefore seeks to impart such vital skills and critical thinking to sharpen the competitive edge of the SMEs and get them to be forward looking and ambitious.