SMECorp-of-Future: enabling and empowering the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) relevant and sustainable in the digital era

This paper intends to present a business case for the strategic transformation SMECorp-of-Today (SMEoT) into SMECorp-of-Future (SMEoF). The business objectives of SMEoT are to meet the diverse needs and demands of various customer segments (CS) such as the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise owners and entrepreneurs (MSMEs); Government; Company; and Zakat centres in seizing opportunities and to remain relevant in the digital economy. This paper adapts the Design Thinking (DT) methodology, encompassing conducting literature review (LR), benchmarking, and interviews to understand and define problems of these CS. For example, MSMEs extreme pain is having difficulty in getting loans or grants and the essential gain is to access to loans and grants according to their needs. Based on the literature review and benchmarking conducted, the initial business model prototype was developed using Business Model Canvas (BMC), Value Proposition Canvas (VPC), and Environmental Map (EM). Then the initial business model was validated with the customer segment and a Strategy Canvas (CS) was also developed to compare and validate SMEoF business model against the current model SMEoT. The key finding of this paper is the conceptual SMEoF business model, to facilitate digital transformation from SMEoT to SMEoF, financial inclusion, specific reskilling–upskilling programs, as well as access to global markets. The main contribution of this paper is to validated BM of SMEoF with current BM, inclusive and future-ready framework that places SME Corp Malaysia at the forefront of SME development. Future works include developing a Digital/ IT Strategic Plan (DISP) to guide SMEoT holistic digital transformation by aligning strategies to the national policies like MyDigital, NEP 2030, National 4IR Policy and SME Corps Malaysia Business Strategic Plan 2022-2030 in the future work.