Strengthening Digital Literacy for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises through Community-Based Training
Enhancing Business Sustainability, Financial Management, and Digital Marketing Competencies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65310/9gae9m25Keywords:
Community-Based Training; Digital Literacy; Digital Marketing Competence; Financial Management; MSME Sustainability.Abstract
Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) continue to face significant challenges in adapting to the rapidly evolving digital economy due to limited digital literacy, inadequate financial management capabilities, and insufficient strategic competencies to sustain long-term business growth. These constraints reduce their competitiveness and limit their ability to capitalize on emerging digital market opportunities. This study aimed to strengthen digital literacy among MSMEs through a community-based training program designed to enhance digital marketing competencies, financial management capabilities, and business sustainability. The program employed a participatory action-based community service approach using a mixed-method evaluation design that integrated quantitative pre-test and post-test assessments with qualitative observations of participant engagement, learning processes, and practical implementation. Forty-five MSME owners from the culinary, fashion, handicraft, and household product sectors participated in a structured six-week intervention consisting of digital literacy education, digital marketing practice, financial management training, business sustainability workshops, mentoring, and evaluation. The findings demonstrate that the intervention substantially improved participants' competencies across all measured dimensions, with digital marketing competence increasing by 73.4%, financial management competence by 58.2%, and business sustainability competence by 54.2%, resulting in an overall competency improvement of 61.1%. Participants also reported a high level of satisfaction with the training (overall mean score = 4.67), while the majority expressed strong commitment to continuing digital marketing activities, implementing digital financial recording systems, and participating in peer-learning networks after program completion. These findings indicate that community-based digital literacy training provides an effective and sustainable model for strengthening entrepreneurial capacity by integrating technological competencies with managerial and strategic capabilities. The study contributes to the literature by proposing an integrated community empowerment framework that links digital literacy, financial governance, and business sustainability as interconnected drivers of MSME resilience and inclusive economic development.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Azka Syifaul Maula, Nur Vita Ristiana, Assmaa Guerra, Deo Renaldi Saputra, Elinda Novita Dewi, Sahal Hanafi (Author)
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