Communications and Technology Industry Research

There are nearly 16.2 million home-based businesses (HBBs) in India and they constitute about 8 percent of the 202.9 million households.

 

Nearly one-eighth of these HBBs are PC penetrated and they are set to spend $8.4 billion on upgrading their info-communications technology (ICT) infrastructure this year, up 19 percent over 2007, according to a recent study by New York-based Access Markets International (AMI) Partners, Inc.

 

AMI-Partners defines HBBs as income-generating entities based in the home, led by individuals who are self-employed; it excludes individuals who work for a larger organization and telecommute, have a formal work-at-home arrangement with their employer or do after-hours work from home.

 

“For every dollar spent by HBBs in India 67 percent goes for telecom services and 22 percent on computing. The high spending on telecom services imply that the HBBs rely on the data and voice services to a large extent to conduct their businesses,” says Dipendra Mitra, analyst at AMI-Partners.

 

Although IT comprises a much lesser proportion of the IT/Telecom spending pie, the former is set to rise at a faster rate within HBBs as they strive to reach a technological superiority level commensurate with their nearest brethren – the Very Small Businesses (VSBs or companies with up to four employees).

 

“In the long run, the ultimate objective of HBBs is transition to the level of VSBs – as expressed by over one third of HBB owners,” says Mitra.

 

The VSBs operating from commercial space and home together constitute a highly-lucrative market for IT vendors since businesses in both these segments are on the growth path and they aim to increase levels of IT adoption at a rapid pace. Moreover, any vendor targeting the VSB space will also find it convenient to tap the HBB market segment since there is a considerable similarity within both these segments in terms of demographic, psychographic and IT adoption profile.

 

According to the study:

 

Based on AMI’s annual surveys of SMBs in India, the studies track a broad spectrum of issues pertaining to budgets, purchase behaviors, decision influencers, channel preferences, outsourcing, service and support. Also covered are detailed firmographics and critically important technology attitudes and strategic planning priorities. This data points to key opportunities and messaging hot buttons for vendors and service providers seeking to match their offerings to SMB market requirements.

 

For more information about this study, AMI-Partners, or our global SMB research, call 212-944-5100, e-mail [email protected], or visit the AMI Web site at www.ami-partners.com.

 

AMI-Partners specializes in IT, Internet, telecommunications and business services strategy, venture capital, and actionable market intelligence – with a strong focus on global SMB enterprises and extending into large enterprises and home-based businesses. The AMI-Partners mission is to empower clients for success with the highest-quality data, business strategy perspectives and “go-to-market” solutions.