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As the digital revolution transformed micro- and small enterprises (MSEs) around the world, it also changed how small business support can and should be delivered. MSEs are essential agents of inclusive growth, and the digital revolution has fundamentally affected them.
This report identifies new digital-first players and channels supporting small business that have emerged and makes suggestions for how new and established actors can work together more effectively. To assess which changes digital transformation has brought about, it traces the lineage of MSE support from traditional to contemporary, digitally enabled methods. Findings highlight that traditional MSE support has not ceased to matter. Instead, these ways have often been transformed, and the range of support actors has broadened. For this expanded ecosystem to have impact, greater mutual awareness and new partnerships are required.
Using case studies, the report proposes five archetypal forms of digital MSE support:
- Digital market access
- Digitalizing operations
- Digital credit
- Digital skill building
- Online engagement
Findings show that the most transformational supporters are those with an offering that fits into how MSEs use (or don’t use) digital technologies in their day-to-day work. The average MSE engages with digital support only if it offers an immediate and easily accessed benefit. Supporters that make the most of digital transformation’s potential understand that MSEs use digital technologies in diverse ways and that they start from different capability levels.
As digital transformation continues to expand the global support ecosystem, the challenge will be for all its members to work together more effectively, combining purpose and depth with cost-effectiveness and scale. New initiatives—both within and beyond Mastercard Strive’s immediate network—have the potential tdeepen and widen the transformative impacts of digital small business support.
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