Online Business vs Offline Business - Perks and challenges made known

With the digital technology having become an integral part of our lives, going online is no longer a luxury for businesses, it is now a necessity, writes Vineet Toshniwal

- Vineet Toshniwal

India has always had a vast and vibrant small and medium business (SMB) ecosystem. Even before the advent of international retail chain stores and big-wig service aggregators, small merchants and service providers across the country have had an offline network of customers they could connect with directly and their businesses grew organically by word of mouth. However, with the digital technology having become an integral part of our lives, going online is no longer a luxury for businesses, it is now a necessity. This is especially true for small and medium entrepreneurs across India's small cities and towns who might often limit their digital strategy to just WhatsApp messaging. However, SMB entrepreneurs have to understand that such platforms are only tools to disseminate messages and aren't considered as full-fledged digitisation or taking a business online.

Below are some of the most important reasons why small and medium entrepreneurs need to move their businesses online.

Zero-Cost Migration