Advertising is a powerful tool for every business. Google, a search company whose revenue is primarily earned through advertising, has used its dominance in this space to help many small and medium enterprises (SME) display ads to their target audience.
Vivek Prabhakar and his wife Shubhra would travel around the world and buy fridge magnets, among the most popular cheap souvenirs in many countries. Localised fridge magnets were not easily available in India and they felt that these would appeal to tourists and Indians. Prabhakar, who had worked for 12 years in brand management, quit his job and sold his flat in Bangalore to start Chumbak, a company that sold fridge magnets, in 2009.
?Google helped us find bobblehead and magnet suppliers. We made a catalogue and sent it to stores. The process took a lot of time and we decided to go online (chumbak.com) in April 2010. Within six months we began making profits,? Prabhakar said.
Google says most SMEs that failed did so because they ran out of funds. Using Google AdWords, most of these firms have been able to lower their marketing expenses and as a result, have had more time and money to generate revenue, a Google representative said.
The company held an event ? Helping Small Businesses Think Big ? here on Wednesday, where 20 SMEs from the Asia-Pacific region shared their success stories. Of these, three are from India ? Chumbak, GetMyMeal, and Bharat Plaza.
According to a report by McKinsey Global Institute, SME account for over 80 per cent of businesses in India and contribute to 25 per cent of the country?s GDP.
?Any business can get online for virtually no cost and that?s why Google advertising appeals the most to small and medium enterprises,? said Karim Temsamani, president, Google Asia Pacific.
(The correspondent was in Singapore at the invitation of Google India.)
