As more and more small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from India aim to enter international markets, logistics is becoming as important as the product itself. Despite technology making global supply chains more accessible, many small companies face difficulties related to customs clearance, fragmented logistics networks, and regulatory compliance.
At the MSME Sparks 2026 event, held on June 26th at ITC Gardenia in Bengaluru, Dibyanshu Tripathi, CEO and co-founder of Hexalog, participated in a session with Shivani Mutanna, Senior Director of Content Partnerships at YourStory. The discussion focused on the topic 'Logistics Advantage: Scaling SMEs Beyond Borders' and examined how technology and more streamlined supply chains can help SMEs compete globally amid growing trade uncertainty.
Indian SMEs account for nearly 45% of the country's exports, but many encounter structural problems when entering international markets. According to Tripathi, creating a quality product is only part of the success. He emphasized that the first order depends on the company's capabilities, while the fiftieth order depends on the reliability of the supply chain. Long-term success, in his opinion, is determined by the ability to deliver goods stably and without obstacles. He noted that a German buyer does not look at the factory's ISO certification, but if every third shipment is delayed due to customs complexity, it negatively affects reliability.
Traditionally, logistics has been viewed as a supporting function. However, as businesses increasingly sell goods across borders, it has become a central element of customer experience and repeat sales. Tripathi argued that the main problem today is not digitalization. Although freight companies, warehouses, and customs brokers have automated many of their processes, exporters still have to coordinate the work of multiple stakeholders through messengers, email, and phone calls.
Instead of implementing more digital tools, the industry needs systems that connect these various players, simplify compliance, and help businesses make more informed logistical decisions. He cited the example of a small exporter from Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, who supplies products to 28 countries but lacks the trade expertise available to large companies. The entrepreneur needed assistance with HSN classifications, duties, export incentives, and shipping solutions.
Tripathi explained that this is precisely the problem Hexalog is trying to solve by aggregating freight volumes among SMEs, simplifying compliance, and providing small businesses access to corporate-level logistics capabilities without the corresponding costs.
Technology, according to Tripathi, can also help businesses use existing operational data more effectively. Shipment records, invoices, customs documents, and delivery times allow for identifying patterns that help exporters forecast delays, optimize routes, and improve planning.
India is home to 59.3 million micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which contribute to 30% of the country's GDP, account for 45% of exports, and create jobs for over 25 million people. These enterprises act as the unsung engines of India's growth.
Recognizing the significance of MSMEs, the organization YourStory launched the MSME Sparks 2026 event. The five-day virtual event took place from June 22 to 25 and concluded with a grand finale on June 26 at ITC Gardenia, Bengaluru. The initiative was built around the concept of 'Bharat feeds the world' and gathered founders, policymakers, and ecosystem participants to highlight the sustainability and ambition driving the Indian business economy.
The event covered six key themes: digital transformation, access to capital, sustainable development, global market entry, policy and compliance, and the future of artificial intelligence and data-driven innovation. During the first day of the virtual format, a key session titled 'Borrow the speed, keep the discipline: A startup playbook for MSMEs' took place. In it, Gautam Varma, Global Head of Zoho for Startups, explored how MSMEs can adopt startup agility while maintaining the financial discipline that has sustained their operations for decades.
Varma refuted the common myth about startup success. He cited data from Startup Genome and Carta, according to which 74% of fast-growing startups attribute their failure to premature scaling. He noted that in 2024, one startup closed after a year of operation, and this number increased to seven by 2025.
The central message was that MSMEs do not have to completely copy the startup model. They should borrow the 'engine' of startups while retaining their own foundation. According to Varma, it is necessary to take the 'engine,' make data-driven decisions, conduct rapid experiments, scale using technology, and utilize a very fast feedback loop, and then supplement this with AI to ensure speed, while maintaining the core structure that includes financial discipline, profitability, long-term thinking, and deep customer trust.
Varma argued that much of this tension manifests within family businesses, where friction between old and new ways of working often arises not in boardrooms, but at the dinner table. He presented data showing that 40% of next-generation members entering family businesses feel frustrated when trying to implement digitalization, while nearly 45% of current owners do not expect their children to simply continue running the business in the same way. The solution, in his view, lies in finding common ground around objective metrics, as margins and pricing are facts that both generations already agree upon.
In Varma's view, the role of technology is to organize and present shared data so that decisions can be made faster and with less friction. To illustrate this point, Varma recounted the journey of Tulsiway Solutions, a 70-year-old company based in Kolkata. This company serves over 6,200 clients in 15 countries without ever seeking external funding. In 2022, the business migrated to the Zoho One platform, unifying CRM, finance, HR, and collaboration tools into a single ecosystem.
Despite improved control across individual teams, the founder still lacked a unified overview of the entire business. The next step was connecting this consolidated data to an AI layer, which allowed the founder to ask simple questions in natural language—such as about renewal rates by region or conversion rates of recent leads—and receive instant contextual answers across the entire business.
Concluding the session, Varma offered three practical steps for MSMEs: transform one intuitive decision into a data-driven one; run a small experiment based on it; and allow AI to work with existing business data while adhering to proper constraints. He left the audience with a powerful phrase: 'Speed without discipline is just a faster way to spend money.' He added that the true strength of MSMEs lies not in size or adaptability, but in longevity itself. 'It's not about being small and agile. It's about still being here.'
