The BMPA’s StB meet held today (7 December, 2011) at PrintWeek India’s Pipal conference room discussed the topic on how to raise credit facility up to Rs 1-crore, without collateral security and third party guarantee and avail interest-free, tax-free subsidies under Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme (CLCSS) upto 15-lakh for technology upgradation.
"As a result of the changing economic climate, the humble business plan has gone from being an afterthought to an essential part of every business," said Nishikant Deshpande of Business Savvy, the key speaker at today’s StB Forum meet.
Staggeringly though, according to an PrintWeek India’s all-India sample survey with 127 print CEOs in India, 26.7% felt bad debts was one of the print industry weaknesses. Fragmentation (14.1%) and unhealthy competition (29.1%) were other weaknesses. There is an appalling lack of awareness (1.4%) of what constitutes good printing practices and a mere 12% opt for standard SOPs and audits. All these means that there are not many with a business plan.
With lenders getting fussier about to whom and how much they’re prepared to offer finance, setting out to secure a credit facility or a subsidised loan can be daunting task. "However, it needn’t be provided you do your homework. Attention is to be paid to paper work," said Deshpande.
"The common theme in this is to seek expert advice and plan ahead," Deshpande said, while advising that thinking about your business need for up to two years in advance, in order to give yourself the best chance of availing credit or funds under the CLCSS.
In the second half of the StB Form meet, Iqbal Kherodawala, director of Printline Reproduction and a member of the StB Forum, made a presentation on some innovations he saw on his recent trip to Switzerland and his visit to Rondo, the packaging company located in Basel.
Rondo is a specialist in cardboard printing and processing. "It not what they do, but what they do with the machine, which is important. 70% of their jobs are based on innovation, right from print, handling of dyes, forming to delivery, and that makes them a world leader in packaging," said Kherodawala in his presentation.
"What I learned from the visit to Rondo, was that if we have to survive and grow, we have to realise what our systems are, and what we do with them," concluded Kherodawala.
The Share To Benefit forum is formed by the members of the Bombay Master Printers Association.
If you are a reader or a member of any association, willing to start or understand how to initiate a StB in your region, you may contact stb@bmpa.org
Glimpses from the session
