With the onset of COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown, MSMEs in India were faced with a variety of challenges - from cash flow, liquidity, unprecedented uncertainty in policy and markets, plummeting demand for goods and services to manpower shortages, idle and deteriorating machinery and inventories, and disrupted supply chains.
In response, UNIDO, with inputs from UN India Business Forum (UNIBF), India Small and Medium Entrepreneurs Forum (ISF) and Empretec India Foundation (EIF), created and launched an online knowledge portal to assist MSMEs to restart, recover and revitalize their businesses - Building Back Business from Crisis (B3CMSME) – www.b3cmsme.org. B3CMSME provides a five-step roadmap for business recovery and resilience. Moreover, it identifies seven areas in which businesses can systematically improve their own operations, functions and capabilities during recovery and rebuilding: entrepreneurship, financing, customers, supply chain, operations, manpower, and health and safety. The portal contains tutorials, guidance notes, checklists and reference materials for each module, and is currently available in English, Hindi and Bengali.