Financial consultant, Charles Mensah, has entreated government to widely promote local content, in order to enable small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to survive the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

As governments seeks to understand the economic toll the coronavirus is taking on their countries and citizens, the need to gauge the impact on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to ensure that policy measures are appropriately designed to meet their needs, has been emphasised lately.

In response to this, the government has made available a stimulus package of a minimum of ¢1 billion to households and businesses, particularly SMEs.

This was announced by President Nana Akufo-Addo in one of his address to the nation two weeks ago.

Speaking on the business edition of PM Express on JoyNews Charles Mensah pointed out that, “Government by now ought to be identifying businesses to find out what they need and not resort to sending out applications from the offices asking businesses about what they need. That can be irritating.”

He also advised SME’s to quickly look at diversifying their dealings and business models to help deal with the unexpected shocks of the coronavirus pandemic.

He added that this could be one of the surest ways to help them manage the pressure that most of them are currently going through.

Impact of coronavirus on small businesses

Sharing their experiences as business owners, CEO of Horseman shoes, Tonyi Senayah, who was also on the programme, indicated that the three-week lockdown imposed on some parts of the country as a measure to control the spread of the Covid-19, resulted in a significant drop in their sales.

The development, he noted, led to them negotiating with their workers to adjust salaries while asking them to stay at home for about during the period.

Founder of Ameyaw Debrah Media, Ameyaw Debrah also said he had seen a significant drop in revenue from the content production aspect of his business, as well as events coverage and paid advertisements.

Hisham Seidu who is the CEO of Seidag Limited, added that the closure of borders and lockdown impacted negatively on his operations.

Founder and Creative Director at Chocolate Clothing, Kweku Bediako Oduro, said the biggest challenge facing his outfit currently, is how to deal with some fixed and standard costs, even though they are not working.

Changing business model
All the entrepreneurs on the show, however, indicated that they were reviewing their business models to ensure that they survive future disruptions of such nature.

Chief Executive of the Horseman Shoes, specifically noted that he was now looking at going heavy on e-commerce, which he believes would be the best strategy going forward.

Founder and Creative Director at Chocolate Clothing, Kweku Badiako Oduro advised other SMEs that the most prudent thing to do now is to also change the business model and diversify into other areas.