Inflation impacts 5 out of 10 SMEs: How to fight it?

Inflation has become one of the most relevant complications of this 2023, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are not oblivious to its difficulties and consequences. A CONTPAQi study mentions that five out of 10 businesses have been in trouble due to this effect.

In the report “New entrepreneurs”, it determined that 76% of SMEsThey don’t have a plan to face this situation, while 58% of those surveyed perceive a negative outlook for the immediate future.

“In this last year, the great challenge they faced was the lack of sales due to inflation, that is, practically more than 50% of those interviewed said that they were hit in sales and, well, a company that did not it sells enough, it can go bankrupt”, commented René Torres Fragoso, general director of CONTPAQi.

The analysis carried out highlights that entrepreneurs do not have an established plan for inflation, the 36% have not considered it and 30% consider that they do not have the necessary knowledge to face it.

“Not being aware, they do not take specific actions against inflation, one of the most popular actions is lower pricesAnother is to change the size of the packages when they are products. Those who have taken the issue of inflation seriously have taken actions against this inflationary process, which affects all of us as consumers,” Torres said.

Lower prices and change packaging, unsustainable solutions

Inflation has caused a reaction within the companies that offer products, and among their practices, there has been a change in their packaging to offer less product for the same price, or a decrease in cost, but offering a smaller quantity in the acquired

“In the long term it is not sustainable, finally people notice that what they can acquire with their same salary, with the same amount, is decreasing month by month. The strategy has to be retain customersthat is, if you sell a commodity that does not add value, the service is one of the great differentiators to build customer loyalty”, indicated Torres.

Marketing and loyalty strategies

Finding an effective strategy to fight inflation is not an easy task; However, there are different factors that can favor the performance of the company, among them, is the digitizationwhich allows us to maintain the pace of sales and increase the customer base.

“Customer retention and loyalty strategies are among the most important. Of these new entrepreneurs, almost 44% said they want to improve communication with your customermarketing and digitization of the process, as well as its sales process and customer loyalty, because today acquiring a consumer has great value and today it is cheaper to maintain it than to acquire it”, he highlighted.

Similarly, the study highlights that new entrepreneurs are increasingly aware of the importance of digitizing their company and implementing marketing strategies appropriate for their products or services to have the impact they are looking for, 68% of those surveyed believe they are completely or moderately prepared for this process; however; They believe that training should be constant.

The effects of carrying out these processes in the company can be very positive, since the study highlights that the 60% thought that it helped them optimize time50% mentioned that they better optimized their resources and 49% found better performance.