Feature


Published: 15 Jun 2021

The Financial Services Authority noted that the distribution of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) loans continued to grow towards the end of 2020. This condition is expected to continue in line with the high demand for new capital in 2021. Currently there are more than 65 million MSMEs spread throughout Indonesia. It is predicted that the number will continue to increase. (data.tempo.co).

Although the size of their business is still relatively small, together they support the Indonesian economy. In the last five years, we have seen together how technology startups try to help MSMEs grow and develop quickly. This potential continues, even entering the next round. At the beginning of the explosion of digital technology implementation, many startups offered a series of solutions to help MSME businesses grow. Bulakapak, Tokopedia, and Gojek are three of the many startups with this passion.

Capital is an important part of a business. Not only to start a business, capital is also needed to carry out further innovations. Expansion, for example. The birth of many startups that help MSMEs access capital is important to solve one of the classic problems of MSMEs digitally. Names like KoinWorks, Investree, Modalku, Akseleran, Amartha are some of them. They offer access to productive loans. The trend of developing capital services has also entered the area of ??livestock and agriculture. All through digital channels (dailysocial.id).

Not stopping at capital, there are still many startups that appear to be able to provide solutions for MSME businesses to develop. Not only UMKM Go Online, but related to management and management. WarungPintar, Wahyoo, Mitra Bukalapak, Mitra Tokopedia, and GrabKios were born in this phase.

Responding to the number of startup players who offer products for MSME players, it can cause confusion. But in general, there are three things for MSME to consider in choosing a technology solution, namely:

1. Ease of accessing services. MSME actors need to ensure access to the services offered, whether internet-based or not. This is important and affects whether companies need to invest in IT teams or not.

2. Reliability of customer service. Many MSME players are confused when they first adopt new services, so the presence of customer service that can respond quickly will really help them.

3. Expenses incurred. This will determine the company's operating costs. Some applications have a commission-per-transaction system, while others apply a subscription system.

The existence of startups that give birth to technology-based solutions for MSMEs is indeed a positive thing for business actors. However, there are still some remaining unresolved issues. Not only about technology adoption, another problem that MSME actors often complain about is the interest on fintech lending, which is still quite burdensome. In addition, the impolite way of billing when it is due is also often experienced by MSME actors (id.techinasia.com). (Ruhmaya Nida Wathoni. Illustration: allstartupthings.com).