MSMEs in Dumai Face a Changing Market
MSMEs play an important role in creating employment, strengthening local economic activity, and supporting entrepreneurship. However, changing consumer behavior, the growth of digital transactions, and increasingly intense competition mean that businesses cannot rely solely on improving production and sales.
Businesses also need models that effectively connect customers, products, marketing, revenue streams, resources, business activities, partners, costs, and other essential components.
This situation is also evident among MSMEs in Dumai City. Challenges include limited capital, technology access, digital literacy, online marketing capabilities, training opportunities, and partnership support. Previous studies cited in the article indicate that social media can contribute to increased MSME income in Dumai, although the use of e-commerce and financial technology has not always produced significant impacts.
For this reason, the researchers used the Business Model Canvas to examine MSME conditions from a more comprehensive perspective.
Business Model Canvas Maps Nine Business Elements
The Business Model Canvas is a visual framework that describes how a business creates, delivers, and captures value. It consists of nine elements: customer segments, value propositions, channels, customer relationships, revenue streams, key resources, key activities, key partnerships, and cost structure.
Aditiya and colleagues employed a qualitative descriptive approach. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 20 MSME owners or managers selected purposively. The participants represented culinary businesses, retail, fashion, handicrafts, and services.
The interview data were categorized according to the nine BMC elements. The researchers conducted data reduction, data presentation, conclusion drawing, and BMC mapping. Microsoft Excel was used to assist with data classification and business model mapping.
Of the 20 participants, eight operated culinary businesses, three were involved in retail, three in fashion, three in handicrafts, and three in services. Eleven businesses used both offline sales and social media, six relied primarily on offline sales, while three used offline channels, social media, and marketplaces.
Product Quality and Customer Relationships Are Key Strengths
One of the most prominent findings was the strength of the value propositions offered by the MSMEs.
Sixteen participants emphasized product quality, taste, durability, or neatness as their primary value propositions. Fourteen participants offered prices considered affordable, while 11 provided flexibility through product variations, customized orders, different sizes or designs, or flexible completion times.
However, these advantages were not always communicated effectively through promotional activities. Only six participants consistently highlighted their product advantages in promotional materials.
Customer relationships were another relatively strong element. Fifteen participants maintained personal relationships with customers through direct communication and WhatsApp. Twelve offered discounts, bonuses, or special services to repeat customers, while eight actively sought customer feedback after transactions.
These personal relationships helped encourage repeat purchases and word-of-mouth promotion. However, customer management remained heavily dependent on the owner's direct interaction because most businesses did not yet have customer databases, transaction histories, or structured loyalty programs.
Digital Marketing Remains Underdeveloped
On the other hand, marketing channels emerged as one of the main weaknesses among the MSMEs studied.
Eighteen participants used WhatsApp for communication and sales, while 14 used Instagram or Facebook. However, only six utilized marketplaces, and only four maintained a regular digital promotion schedule.
Social media was also not fully integrated into a planned marketing strategy. Content was generally created when a new product was launched or when sales began to decline. Evaluation of content reach and customer responses was also limited.
The findings indicate that simply having a social media account does not automatically mean that an MSME has implemented effective digital marketing. Digital literacy, content planning, promotional consistency, and integration between online and offline sales remain essential.
Partnerships and Revenue Streams Need Strengthening
Another weakness was found in key partnerships. Twelve participants had relationships with suppliers, but most of these relationships consisted of routine transactions without long-term agreements.
Only five participants collaborated with resellers or local communities, four had participated in government training programs, and two had received financing support from financial institutions. Partnerships with private companies, major distributors, universities, and business support organizations remained limited.
Revenue streams were also relatively undiversified. Eighteen participants generated their main income from direct sales of products or services. Fourteen MSMEs still depended on a single main product or type of transaction as their primary source of revenue.
This condition makes businesses more vulnerable when demand for their main products declines or raw material costs increase. The researchers identified product diversification, bundled sales, reseller networks, catering, additional services, and sales across wider geographic areas as potential strategies that could be developed according to each business's capacity.
What Should MSMEs and the Government Do?
Overall, the study found an imbalance across the nine BMC elements. Value propositions and customer relationships were relatively strong, while marketing channels, key partnerships, and revenue streams were priority areas for improvement. Sixteen participants needed stronger digital marketing and distribution strategies, 15 needed broader partnership networks, and 14 needed to diversify their revenue sources.
According to the findings of Aditiya, Lastri, Hartutik, Musdiana, and Suprasman, the challenges facing MSMEs in Dumai are not simply a matter of limited access to technology. A more fundamental challenge is integrating technology into the entire business model, from resources and activities to marketing, customer relationships, and revenue generation.
For MSME owners, recommended actions include using social media and marketplaces consistently, expanding distribution channels, developing customer databases, separating personal and business finances, and regularly recording costs and revenues.
For the Dumai City Government and business-support institutions, the findings can serve as a basis for strengthening training in digital marketing, financial management, BMC development, access to financing, and partnerships with suppliers, companies, universities, and business communities.
Authors' Profile
Variza Aditiya is the lead author and corresponding author of the article and is affiliated with Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Administrasi Lancang Kuning. The study was co-authored by Novelma Lastri, Dwi Hartutik, Andi Desy Musdiana, and Suprasman, all of whom are listed with the same institutional affiliation. The article does not provide academic degrees or specific areas of expertise for the individual authors, so such information cannot be added without additional sources.
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