5 Risk Trends Affecting SMMEs

Understanding the trends that are reshaping the world should inform the decisions that SMEs are making today about their future.

- Clayton Ellary

The Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMME) sector has faced more than its fair share of obstacles amidst a contracting economy and lockdown measures that reduced income streams to a trickle.

This sector, employing around 80% of the African continent’s workforce, is also the sector that has been hardest hit by the pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns, making it crucial for SMMEs to identify the trends impacting their businesses and finding ways to leverage new opportunities.

A on South Africa, risk advisors, and insurance brokers delves into the top five trends affecting the SMME sector:

1.Changing consumer buyer behaviour

The key factor in demographics is not just how the world’s population will grow, but how consumer buyer behaviour is changing amidst an upended world. Failure to innovate and meet customer needs was one of the top ten risks, rated at number nine in Aon’s 2019 Global Risk Management survey. The pandemic shifted the importance of this risk into top gear. Many companies had to scramble to reimagine their product delivery and consumer purchasing journey in a pronounced shift into a digital world that is likely to remain long after COVID-19 has abated. In fact, 86% of respondents in a PWC Global Consumer Insights Survey 2020 said they are likely to continue to shop online when social distancing measures are removed.