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SMALL ENTREPRENEUR IN PAKISTAN AND ROLE OF SME IN GLOBAL AND REGIONAL LEVEL

This lecture will introduce the small entrepreneur in Pakistan the activities of SMEs in global and regional level. It will also reveal the role of SMEs in a developing economy.

Salient Features of Small Entrepreneurs in Pakistan

1. Single Owner Entrepreneur
   He works with his own hands, combines the entrepreneur function of initiating the business making investments, taking decisions and performing managerial functions.
2. Age Pattern
   The mean age of entrepreneur was found to be 42 years and of their enterprises 12 years. It is comparable to the Korean age pattern (46).
3. Educational Level
   Differing from industry to industry 60% have school education and 30% have college or better education only 10% have professional or graduation level.
4. Social Background
   Caste played an important role in certain industries and on the other hand heritage is dominant. But overall it is much diversified.
5. Sizes and Investment
   Majority started in a small way with less than 10 workers and 1/2 to 2/3 of the firms started with less than 50,000 investments.
6. Growth
   The growth was fast in case of small firms than in large firms.
7. Profitability
   Rate of profit is higher in case of small industries in comparison with the large industries.



Read more: MGT601 - SME Management - Lecture Handout 05

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PREPARING FOR THE NEW VENTURE LAUNCH: EARLY MANAGEMENT
DECISIONS (Continued….)

RECORD KEEPING

It is necessary to have good records for effective control and for tax purposes. The entrepreneur should be comfortable and able to understand what is going on in the business. With software packages, much of the record keeping can be maintained on a personal computer. The goals of a good record keeping system are to identify key incoming and outgoing revenues that can be effectively controlled.

Sales (Incoming Revenue)

It is useful to have knowledge about sales by customer both in terms of units and dollars. The entrepreneur of a retail store might try to identify the profile of the type of customer that patronizes the store. Retailers also like to have information on specific customers. Credit card purchases can be tracked for information on the type and amount of merchandise purchased. An Internet venture can maintain purchase history data on the types of produces purchased.
Customers’ e-mail addresses can be requested so the customer can be notified of sales. Some Internet firms have established a free membership as a means of following up. In a service venture, records would need to be maintained on when a customer paid their monthly fee. As cash flow problems are the most significant cause of new venture failure, good payment records are necessary. Record keeping of payments can either be handled by a computer software package or a simple card file system. If payments are late beyond a reasonable time, it may be necessary to hire a collection agency, but only as a last resort.

Read more: MGT602 - Entrepreneurship - Lecture Handout 38