SMEAS I – Event Write Up: SME Accelerator Series: Piloting Practical Solutions for SMEs
SME Accelerator Series is an annual business event where we provide a platform and channel for SMEs to source for practical solutions to their day to day business issues.
SMEs play a vital role in driving the economy forward and as we’re propelling through these challenging times, business owners had nowhere to ask regarding their ups and downs of the industry. On October 25th 2016, a fellow concerned entrepreneur, Founder and Managing Consultant of iCFO Solutions Sdn Bhd, Mr. Gan Teck Hooi, organizes a sharing session hopeful to provide insights and solutions to the concerning business owners. He called upon the best of the best of the business key players, and together they shared their views resolving the issues that grey-clouding business owners in the pilot episode of SME Accelerator Series.
Held at Blackwood Cafe, Ara Damansara, the event witnessed a full-house crowd of curious people who came from various backgrounds and nature of businesses. Gan brought together 4 experts as the panelists, Mr. Low Fang Kai (MD of VRH), Mr. Steven Chua (MD of E-Bumi), Mr. Ong Yih Ching (Partner of HML & Co), and Mr. Andy Lim (Consultant from Excelentte) joining in to answer questions from the crowd.
Unlike hundreds of business sharing sessions out there, Gan had the crowds emailed him their questions before the event itself.
“I went to a lot of panel discussions, and oftentimes the Q&A session wasn’t wholesome, and impromptu answers do not cover the topic well and left the crowd with more questions than solutions” said Gan.
Highlighting the pressuring issues and problems faced by business owners day-to-day is a good angle to tackle since Gan himself is managing his consultant firm and he is determined to give back to his fellow business owners out there especially the SMEs.
He wished that they should not only thrives in folding revenues at the end of the month but to sustain their business and eventually grow stronger each coming fruitful years as well.
SME Accelerator Series covers hard-hitting topics in under 35 to 40 minutes per subject to optimize the day. Topics such as improving sales, IT infrastructure that can aid the growth of the business, how to manage cash flows and credits, tax incentives for SMEs and how to work with Gen-Y are amongst the discussed issues. These topics were reviewed and deliberated beforehand amongst the panelist to efficiently counter the problem and share upon the crowd of the day.
The event proceeded with a panel discussion or issues processing with all 5 speakers on deck taking turns answering questions sent to the organizer earlier on.
Gan took over the closing remarks at 1 pm before all crowds joined in for light lunch and networking session amongst them.
The event proceeded with a panel discussion or issues processing with all 5 speakers on deck taking turns answering questions sent to the organizer earlier on. Gan took over the closing remarks at 1 pm before all crowds joined in for light lunch and networking session amongst them.
“To cover all issues in one seating is absurd, that will take for at least 2 to 3 full days of seminars or sharing sessions. As a pilot series, we’re looking forward to the feedback from the crowds, and who knows maybe we’ll be holding this annually.” Gan added. He believes that all the topics covered in this event are fundamental and critical to the survivorship of SMEs to stay afloat, not only surviving but striving for the best in this ever-challenging industry.