Published by Financial Resilience Institute in October 2025, our market-leading Business Financial Health and Resilience of SMEs and Women-Owned SMEs Report builds on the Institute’s leadership in small business financial health and resilience.

The report was made possible with the support of the Institute’s client, Standard Chartered Bank, a WE-Finance Code Global Signatory. It closely aligns with the work of the bank, other financial institutions and financial health leaders to advance gender equality and empowerment, as well as financial health and inclusion for Small and Medium Businesses (SMEs).

The report and the Institute’s Business Financial Health and Resilience Framework were featured in the bank’s Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) Reporting and Self-Assessment for 2024 (October 2025), highlighting their relevance to advancing responsible banking and positive impact, building on the bank’s strengths and programs such as SC-Win to support Women-Led SMEs globally.

The first report of its kind in the world, it shines a light on the business financial health and resilience of SMEs, and particularly the opportunities for financial institutions and other organizations to better support Women-Led SMEs.

More information is available in the press release (October 2025)

The Business Financial Health and Resilience Framework

The report marks the first time publishing the Institute's Small Business Financial Health and Resilience Framework. More information on the framework is here.

The India SME Report provides valuable data, insights and opportunities, and is complemented by our non-profit’s Canada SME Business Financial Health and Resilience Report, published in 2026. These reports and the Business Financial Health and Resilience Studies have applications in other countries.

The Institute has also levered the data from both studies to develop a world-leading SME Business Financial Health and Resilience Index. For more information, contact us.

Definitions of SMEs and Women-Owned SMEs

There are different definitions of Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) in different countries and markets, with no one single definition. For the purposes of this study, SMEs are defined as businesses with annual revenues between $US 100,000 US and $US 2 million operating in India, excluding start-ups that have been in business for less than one year. All SME survey respondents are primary or joint financial decision-makers for their business.

Women-Owned or Women-Led SMEs are defined as businesses where a women owns a majority stake in the business of greater than 51% with this informed by the OECD and WE-Finance Code Guidance.

^Disclaimer:

^{The report and indicators within build on non-profit Financial Resilience Institute’s Business Financial Health and Resilience Framework and gender-disaggregated data collected in India. The report is not designed to be a comprehensive report on the business financial health and resilience of SMEs in India or potential opportunities or implications for Financial Institutions and the ecosystem. Instead, it aims to share widely some example small business financial health and resilience indicators; key data based on the India Study with 409 SMEs in May and June 2025 and some example potential opportunities or implications for Financial Institutions wanting to serve SMEs and Women-Owned SMEs in India or other markets.}