The current bull run in India's equity markets gives an early indication that the confidence of investors is back after a couple of years of lull. With this I feel businesses will start showing considerable growth in the days to come. And gradually, competition between businesses to get a share of the markets will also get stiffer and stiffer. As such, this is the time to consolidate ourselves; this is the time to ask ourselves one question: Are we prepared well enough to profit and grow when the time comes?

Most companies, particularly those from the SME sector are still not prepared, waiting for support from the government. This will take them nowhere. We are always discussing how SMEs are constrained due to absence of adequate and timely banking finance and lack of support from government agencies on various matters.

However, in a broader perspective, when one looks into the hurdles before Indian SMEs, one would notice that most of these hurdles can be done away with. Progressive SMEs have succeeded even in the most difficult of times and have recorded more growth than their counterparts.

The foremost reason that I can see that's pulling back SMEs  from the growth path is their failure to infuse ITC technologies in their production processes and marketing and management functions to cut cost, gain efficiency and consistency. They fail to understand that ITC tools and technologies can help them to reduce cost of production and also generate new opportunities. It requires no argument nor debate to conclude that SMEs who will incorporate ITC tools in their operations will only be the ones to achieve world class quality and create a global market without having to travel.

For instance, internet led e-commerce is the best thing to have happened to SMEs. But most shy away from using a B2B portal, which can be the most effective tool for them to market and source effectively doing away with all geographical barriers. Most SMEs fail to understand that their success lies in their ability to harness the potential B2B portals offer and their ability to leverage this development process.

B2B portals are not only about networking businesses, but also about introducing collaborative business practices and streamlining business processes to reach the distant areas of the globe. Now it's time for each and every SME to make some changes that can take them to the next big league where they can work shoulder to shoulder with larger enterprises. Can we all agree on this?