SMEs account for 95pc of all organisations in Dubai
DUBAI, November 18, 2015
A staggering 95 per cent of all business organisations in Dubai are small and medium entreprises, which contribute 40 per cent of the GDP and employ 42 per cent of the workforce, according to figures released by Dubai Statistic Centre last year.
While these are good figures on the macro level, at the organisational level, it poses an enormous issue: How does the organisation build awareness of its products, services, and business operations?
Bahaa Fatairy, managing director, BR Communications, said: “Yet SME’s are cash-strapped and cannot afford awareness building marketing campaigns.
“Being a SME ourselves, we are well aware of the problems in obtaining financing for the development of the organization and as such we know that PR activities are usually low down the priority list. But this strategy could result in lost sales and revenue for the SME.”
A report conducted by Dubai SME, a Dubai government agency of the Department of Economic Development on ‘The State of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Dubai,’ noted that only 23 per cent of SMEs have accessed bank finance, while 56 per cent indicated the need for finance to run their operations.
Further, the report similarly suggested that almost 80 per cent of SMEs were begun using personal finances, and many SMEs drove expansion through the reinvestment of business profits rather than bank finance.
In this context, it is easy to understand why PR services get pushed down the ladder of priorities. However, SMEs can utilise PR services as a strategic tool to secure a competitive advantage over other SME’s with similar products or services.
The advantages of PR are many in addition to providing a link between the general public and the organization, it can also create awareness of the SME’s in the market thereby aiding in the growth of B2B deals. Similarly, PR can introduce the competition to other organizations.
“ROI, which is almost three times more than that of an advertising campaign. With the potential to be picked up by multiple media organizations locally and regionally, organizations get more value for the money spent,” said Fatairy.
“We are focusing on introducing innovative and relevant products to the market while striving to meet budgets,” he said.
At present, BR Communications which has the capacity to develop content in both Arabic and English, and reach local and regional media networks, operates in the oil and gas, retail, biofuel, environmental sustainability, IT services, event management, cleaning, and facilities management sectors. - TradeArabia News Service
