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By:

Rashmi Kulkarni

23 March 2025 at 2:58:52 pm

Minimum Viable Digitisation

In MSMEs, digitisation fails when it asks for faith. Start where it offers relief. This is the point where many leaders make the costliest mistake: They treat digitisation like a “big bang”. ERP rollout. Full automation. Everything at once. And then they act surprised when the company rejects it. Let me say it plainly: Most MSMEs don’t fail at digitization because of technology. They fail because of adoption. Which Seat? Inherited seat: you’re under pressure to “make it modern” fast. That...

Minimum Viable Digitisation

In MSMEs, digitisation fails when it asks for faith. Start where it offers relief. This is the point where many leaders make the costliest mistake: They treat digitisation like a “big bang”. ERP rollout. Full automation. Everything at once. And then they act surprised when the company rejects it. Let me say it plainly: Most MSMEs don’t fail at digitization because of technology. They fail because of adoption. Which Seat? Inherited seat: you’re under pressure to “make it modern” fast. That pressure pushes you into big moves. Hired seat: you want to justify your hiring with visible transformation. That pushes you into big moves. Promoted seat: you want to prove you can lead beyond operations. That pushes you into big moves. Different seats. Same trap: overreach. UPI vs core banking Think about how India adopted UPI. Most people didn’t wake up one day and say, “I want to digitize my financial life”. They adopted UPI because it was easier  than what they were doing. It reduced pain: no change needed, no long forms, no bank visits, no waiting, instant confirmation. If you compare that to “core banking software”, you’ll see the difference. Core banking is heavy. UPI is light. Core banking asks for trust and patience. UPI offers relief on day one. That’s your lesson for MSMEs: Digitisation should feel like relief, not religion. Right Target Incoming leaders often say: “We need data.” “We need transparency.” “We need ERP.” All of that may be true. But it’s not the starting point. The starting point is: interfaces. Interfaces are the places where work crosses a boundary and things get messy. In MSMEs, disputes usually begin at interfaces: purchase request → approval → PO production completion → dispatch → delivery invoice → follow-up → collection customer promise → production plan → commitment These are the places where: money moves, blame travels, delays hide, exceptions grow WhatsApp becomes the system. So don’t digitise “everything.” Digitise one interface where money moves and disputes begin. Why Interface-First Two well-known ideas explain adoption clearly. Everett Rogers wrote about how innovations spread: people adopt when they see advantage, low risk, and others like them succeeding. They don’t adopt because you announced it. The Technology Acceptance Model (Davis) is even simpler: adoption happens when people feel the tool is useful and easy. In MSME terms: “Will this make my life easier?” “Will this create trouble for me?” “Will I get blamed if it fails?” “Will it slow me down?” If you can answer these questions well, adoption happens. If you can’t, people will smile and bypass. Viable digitisation Minimum viable digitisation means: small scope, clear benefit, low risk, quick proof, easy rollback. It’s not “small thinking”. It’s smart sequencing. The goal of the first digitization is not perfection. The goal is trust. Once the system sees that digitization reduces pain without creating danger, the next step becomes easier. What to digitise If you want a safe starting point, pick one of these interfaces: PO approvals Why it works: delays, confusion, and “who approved what” disputes are common. A simple approval queue reduces follow-ups fast. Dispatch confirmation Why it works: dispatch is where customers start shouting. A simple dispatch status board reduces panic. Collections follow-up Why it works: cash flow stress is universal. A simple overdue list with follow-up notes reduces chaos. Notice these are not “ERP modules”. They are pain points that people already feel. The one thing you must add: rollback safety This is important: in MSMEs, people avoid new systems because they fear getting trapped. So your pilot must include a rollback rule. Not as a threat. As reassurance. Example: “We will run this for 2 weeks. If it increases cycle time, we will roll back.” “We will keep a backup format for emergencies only.” “We will not punish anyone for mistakes during the pilot.” This reduces fear and increases honest participation. (The author is Co-founder at PPS Consulting and a business operations advisor. She helps businesses across sectors and geographies improve execution through global best practices. She could be reached at rashmi@ppsconsulting.biz)

Granddaughter of Vasantdada Patil joins BJP

Mumbai: Jayashree Patil, the granddaughter-in-law of former Maharashtra Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Vasantdada Patil, joined the BJP in presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at the state BJP headquarters here on Wednesday.


Jayashree Patil is the last member of Vasantdada Patil family to leave Congress. With her joining the BJP, none of the family members of one of the strongest Chief Ministers of the Congress are anymore with the grand old party. Vasantdada is remembered as the leader who was always connected with the grassroots and he played a crucial role in spreading the Congress party across the state and giving it the tight grip over rural politics through Cooperative movement.

 

Mrs Patil, who is Vice Chairperson of the Sangli District Cooperative Bank joined the BJP along with hundreds of her followers. She said, she decided to join the BJP for development of Sangli and that she is joining the party without any conditions and that she has not sought any post from the BJP leadership.

 

“I had rebelled during assembly elections as the Congress party did injustice to us. I’m confident that in the BJP I’ll get the honour that I didn’t get while in Congress,” Mrs Patil said while speaking after joining the BJP.

 

Guardian minister of Sangli Chandrakant Patil played a major role in bringing her to the party fold. “It is very important moment as a person from Vasantdada Patil’s family is joining the BJP,” Chandrakant Patil said. Several other local Congress leaders like former mayor Kishor Saha, Kanchan Kamble, Prashant Patil, Shevanta Waghmare, Uttam Sakhalkar, former chief of standing committee Santosh Patil, former corporators Ajit Suryavanshi, Rohini Patil, Mrinal Patil, Karan Jamdar and president of district labour federation Sunil Jadhav too joined the BJP along with Mrs Patil on the occasion.MLAs Suresh Khade, Sudhir Gadgil, state president of Janasurajya Party Sumit Kadam, Sangli district BJP president Samrat Mahadik and City president Prakash Dhang were present at the occasion.

 

People are fed up with directionless leadership of Congress: FadnavisCM Fadnavis reminded of several of the people-centric decisions made by Vasantdada Patil while he was the Chief Minister and said that Jayashree Patil is carrying that legacy of connect with the people. He also said that though the Congress didn’t take note of her abilities, she won’t have such a disheartening experience in the BJP. The party’s strength shall grow considerably in the district because of her joining the party, he added.

 

“Even when the party was in opposition, the BJP never shun the ideology of national interest and social good. But, after having to sit in the opposition, the Congress has gone rudderless. Its leadership is directionless,” Fadnavis said without naming Rahul Gandhi.

 

Loyalists within the Congress are all frustrated because the leadership is constantly talking against the Indian army. This is leading to demoralization of local leadership of the party and that is the reason why Congress leaders across the state are all willing to join the BJP, Fadnavis said.


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