SME Development and Challenges

This assignment delves into the complexities of Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) development, particularly focusing on the obstacles they encounter. It analyzes both financial and non-financial factors impacting SME growth and performance. The analysis incorporates various perspectives, including the value of non-financial information in risk management, the role of networks in innovation and firm performance, and the challenges faced by social enterprises in scaling up.

SMALL BUSINESS
ENTERPRISE

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................2
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................2
A- Profile description of the Skinnydip.......................................................................................2
B- Comparing the performance of company with same type of business...................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
A- Methods or actions to overcome the weaknesses...................................................................3
B- Ways to maintain and strengthen the existing performance of company...............................4
C- New areas in which the company can expand its business.....................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................6
A- Analysing existing business objectives and plans of company..............................................6
B- Reviewing business plans and suggesting areas where changes can be made.......................7
C- Action plan to implement the changes-..................................................................................7
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................8
A- Impact of proposed changes on business and its personnel...................................................8
B- Plan to manage the changes in business.................................................................................9
C- Improvements of performance of business over past two years...........................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12
1

INTRODUCTION
Small business enterprises are that firms who starts with small amount of capital. These
organisations have fewer number of employees (Bridge and O'Neill, 2012). They work in
direction of providing satisfaction to the customers. Skinnydip is the small business enterprise
which sells fashionable mobile cases, speakers and headphones. Now they have their business in
many countries. This report studies the background, history, strengths and weaknesses of the
company. The cited company is compared with same type of company in the industry.
Suggestions are given to overcome the weaknesses and to strengthened the existing performance.
New areas are suggested to expand the business. Present business objectives and plans are
analysed. Business plan are reviewed and suggestions are given to make the changes in particular
area. Action plan is implemented for the change. Impacts of changes on the business and its
personnel. Plan to manage the changes in the business and improvements in the business
performance over the past 2 years are discussed.
TASK 1
A- Profile description of the Skinnydip.
 Company name- Skinnydip
 Owner- The cited company is owned by the two brothers from London Richard and
James with their friend Lewis Blitz. Three of them had entered the Dragon's Den.
 Background- The business was launched in the year of 2011. This business was started
by the two brothers and their one friend (Longenecker, Petty, Palich and Hoy, 2013). The
business was launched in North London. In the year of 2012 they had entered the
Dragon's Den. The cited business work in the direction of selling fashionable mobile
covers, speakers and headphones to their customers. The business had grown very in the
past years.
 Activities- Skinnydip follows many activities in the business. They produce the
fashionable accessories for mobiles, speakers etc. All the products produced in the
company are in their own brand name (Stokes and Wilson, 2010). They provide all
ranges quirky mobile cases and other accessories to their customers.
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 Location- The company had started its business from North London, United Kingdom.
Now the business has expanded in more than 30 countries. Soho and New York are the
markets where company had recently expanded its business.
 Strengths and weaknesses- The cited company had the strength of its own brand name.
They launch new and innovative products time to time for their customers. They have
skilled and loyal workers in their team (Gronum, Verreynne and Kastelle, 2012). They
reuse their profits in further development of the company. SkinnyDip also have some
weakness in their business operation. Not giving home delivery service is their biggest
weakness. They have many stores but not achievable for many ranges of customers. The
company has very less number of workers. The cited company had also the weakness of
strongly fighting with their competitors in the market.
B- Comparing the performance of company with same type of business.
There are many companies who are producing the accessories for various technologies in
the market. Skinnydip faces strong competition with the products made by the company of
Apple. The product of Apple's iPad mini case had given strong competition to the accessories of
the cited company (Herbane, 2010). Both the companies works in same industry but are
different in their size of business. Skinnydip uses many new and innovative methods to their
customers and strongly faces the competition in the market. Apple company has very strong
brand name and is very much reputed among their customers. The cited firm produces many
innovative and creative new products to attract the customers towards them. They understand all
the perception and needs of their customer and make their products according to them. On the
other hand Apple company doesn't feel any threat with skinnydip because now they had become
very big and had expanded their business in the whole world.
The cited company is very small for in comparison with the Apple. Growth of Apple has
been decreased in the year of 2016 from 8.89%. But the growth of organisation got increased in
year 2017 by 12%. Employees who work in Apple are more in number than the Skinnydip. On
the other hand Skinnydip has been growing continuously from the past two years.
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TASK 2
A- Methods or actions to overcome the weaknesses.
Weaknesses of the company needed to overcome for further growth and to increase their
share in the market. Weaknesses makes the organisation to lose their reputation among their
customers. There are many ways through which Skinnydip can overcome its weaknesses. They
are as follows:
 New services- The company should come out with new services which will attract more
customers towards them (Altman, Sabato and Wilson, 2010). They can introduce home
delivery services in their business operation. Innovative services are needed to be
launched in the market.
 Recruitments- Skinnydip should process new recruitments in the company to increase
their business efficiency. More skilled employees are needed to increase the activities and
business operations of organisation. This will also help in enhancing the efficiency of the
company.
 Promotion- The cited company should promote its products in the market to increase
their sales. Promoting products in various fields is needed to attract more customers. It
also helps the company to strongly fight with their competitors in the market (Abor and
Quartey, 2010). Giving advertisements on TV, print media and by using social media can
promote the products.
 Training to existing employees- The company can give training to their existing
employees to increase their skills. More skilled workers in company will give better
performance. This will eventually lead the company to grow further in the market.
These are some ways or actions through which the Skinnydip can overcome all its
weaknesses. This will help them to increase their sales. By this way they can expand their
business in many other countries.
B- Ways to maintain and strengthen the existing performance of company.
There are many ways through which Skinnydip can maintain and strengthen their existing
performance. It necessary to strengthen the present performance of company to further grow in
the market and to increase their market share.
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 Creative mind- The cited company should continue using their creative mind to launch
innovative products in the market. Creativity of the company will attract more customers
toward them. This will also help them to achieve more success among their competitors.
 Performance management- Skinnydip can use approaches of performance management to
analyse the workings of their employees (Teasdale, Lyon and Baldock, 2013). Employees
are the most important part of company so their performance should be effectively
managed.
 Feedback- The company should take feedback from their customers to know about the
effectiveness of their products and services. It is necessary to understand the needs and
perceptions of customers which are changing from time to time. It will help Skinnydip to
fulfil all the needs of their customers which will increase their revenue.
 Training- The cited company can provide training to their employees to increase their
efficiency. This will make them to give effective performance to the firm. Training can
be given to those employees who lacks in some skills which are needed by the company
(Folk and Jomo, 2013).
These are some methods by which the company can maintain and strengthen its existing
performance in the market and further growth of the company. It will also help the cited
company to expand its business.
The strengths which the cited organisation can be maximised with various ways. They
have strong brand name which can be improved by effective promotional activities. On the
others hand there are many skilled employees who are working in the organisation. Skills of
employees can be maximised through the effective training. There are many other techniques too
for making the strengths stronger. Like implementation of effective process, understanding the
situations of environment, researching about strategies of competitors etc.
C- New areas in which the company can expand its business.
There are many new areas in which Skinnydip can expand its business. Expanding
business is necessary for the organisation to strengthen their brand name in the market. This will
increase the revenue of company because of attracting many customers towards them. Areas in
which the firm can expand its business are:
 Home delivery service- The cited company can provide the home delivery services.
Entering this area will many customers towards the company. In today's world there is no
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time for people to go and buy from stores (Devine-Wright and Wiersma, 2013). Home
delivery service will fully satisfy the customers.
 Diversified products- Skinnydip can bring diversification in their product range. They
should make more new products according to the needs and perceptions of the customers.
For this they can take suggestions from employees because they are the person who are
directly related with customers. Employees directly interacts with the customers of
company.
 Global expansion- The company can expand its business globally. It will make them
more reputed in the market and will increase their range of customers. This is needed to
make the brand name more strong (Balta-Ozkan and Baldwin, 2013). By this the
Skinnydip will be recognised worldwide.
 New location- Skinnydip can expand their business to the new location. The cited
company is thinking to expand in markets of US. Company will get new customers and
their consumer range will be increased. Expanding business in new location is good to
attract more customers towards the company.
 Social media- The company can use social media to increase its customers. There are
many social sites which can help the company in their promotions. There are many
people who are active on social sites (Demirgu'g-Kunt and Levine, 2013). More
customers will be attracted toward products of company by using social sites.
These are the areas in which Skinnydip can expand its business. This will maintain the
growth of company in world. It will also increase the reputation of the company.
TASK 3
A- Analysing existing business objectives and plans of company.
Every company has some business objectives and plans to achieve in near future.
Skinnydip also has some present planned business objectives and plans which are as follows:
 Innovative products- Currently the company's main objective is to launch many new and
innovative products. These innovative products will gain attraction of customers. This
helps the company to satisfy all its customers (Sluyterman, 2013).
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 Customer perceptions- Perceptions of customers are very important for company.
Negative perceptions can hinder the growth of the company. That's why company have to
understand the needs of customers.
 Increasing sales- The cited company are planning to increase their sales by various
methods. They provide quality services to their customers which attracts other consumers
towards them. This will eventually increase the sales of the company (Lyon and
Fernandez, 2012).
 Satisfied employees- Skinnydip keeps its employees satisfied. Satisfied workers give
better performance for the company. This also helps in retention of employees.
 Specific customer demands- The company special attention to specific demands of their
customers. This helps to make their customer satisfied. More customers will be attracted
towards them by fulfilling their demands.
These are current existing objectives and plans of Skinnydip. Achievement of these
objectives and plans will lead the company to further growth. This also increase their market
share.
B- Reviewing business plans and suggesting areas where changes can be made.
Reviewing business plan is necessary activity for an organisation. By this it becomes easy
to find out areas where changes can be made. This helps the organisation to set some new
objectives to be achieved. These objectives and new areas for change can be as follows:
 New services- Company can launch some services which will be beneficial for their
customers (Bridge and O'Neill, 2012). These services will attract new customers which
will increase their sales. By providing new services Skinnydip will increase their market
share.
 Expansion- The cited company should work in the direction of expanding their business.
Expansion of business is necessary to strengthen the brand name and increase the
reputation of company.
 New recruitments- The company should recruit or appoint some new and skilled workers
in the company. These will make the performance of company better. This is the area
where the Skinnydip needs change. They should increase the number of their employees.
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 Effective performance- The firm should work on its effective performance. It will make
them achieve their target on time (Longenecker, Petty, Palich and Hoy, 2013). This will
help the company to achieve all its desired ans targeted objectives in effective manner.
These are special targets which are to achieved to make changes in areas where it is
needed. Achievement of these targets will make the company grow.
C- Action plan to implement the changes-
The plan is needed to made which will help in implementing the changes in the
organisation. This plan is called action plan. Action plan to implement the changes in Skinnydip
is as follows:
 Situations- The company should understand the different situations that arises in the
company. There are many techniques through which can help the company to understand
the situations (Stokes and Wilson, 2010). Understanding them is necessary to implement
changes because different situation can affect the changes that are to be made in the
organisation.
 Mission- Mission that are set by the cited company to achieve should be flexible. This
will help the organisation to make some changes that are necessary. Non- flexibility of
mission will make it difficult for company to implement the changes.
 Issues- Different types of issues can become the hindrance in growth of Skinnydip. Issues
can be related employees, business operations etc. (Gronum, Verreynne and Kastelle,
2012). Understanding issues is necessary to motivate workers and effective functioning
of the business operations.
 New strategies- Strategies made will help the cited company to implement the changes in
better way. It is necessary to make new strategies to implement the changes. Not making
strategies at the time of implementation will lead the company face some problems in
making changes.
These are points which are needed to be covered in action plan to implement the changes.
This will help Skinnydip to grow further by implementing changes.
Areas fort further
development
Method to plan the
activities
Expected time to
achieve the target
Actual time of
achievement
Expansion This area can be 1 year 1.5 year
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developed by the
formulation of
effective strategic
plan. It is
responsibility of the
manager.
Issues The issues which are
faced by the company
can be resolved by the
effective training
given to employees. It
is the responsibility of
HR manager.
3 months 3.5 months
Suppliers Communicating with
the suppliers in better
way.
4 weeks 3 weeks
Market research Using appropriate
technique to conduct
the market research
1 month 1.5 months
Strategy Making new strategy
to launch the new
product in market.
2 months 1.5 months
TASK 4
A- Impact of proposed changes on business and its personnel.
Proposed changes will definitely have some impact on business and its personnel. These
impacts should be carefully managed to grow further in the market. Impacts of changes on
business of Skinnydip and its personnel are as follows:
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 Growth- Effective implementation of the changes will lead to further growth of the
company. Growing with time is the necessity of every organisation. Implementing
changes in the needed area will help the Skinnydip to grow in the near future (Herbane,
2010). This will also increase the reputation of the company.
 Market share- Implementing change in the effective manner will increase the efficiency
of the cited company. Increased efficiency will attract more and more customers towards
them. Attraction of customers will lead to increase in sales. This will eventually increase
the market share of the company. It will strengthen the brand name.
 Employee satisfaction- Strategy to implement the change will also include the changes
which are needed in the organisation will also include the satisfaction of employees
(Altman, Sabato and Wilson, 2010). Employees are important part of the company who
should be motivated to work hard at the time of changes. Skinnydip should use some
techniques to motivate the employees because they are the person who are directly
related with the changes.
 Customer attraction- Implementing changes will help the organisation to attract more and
more customers towards them. This will help in increasing the sales of company. The
cited organisation will be able to gain the attention of many customers by effective
implementation of change.
B- Plan to manage the changes in business.
There are many models from which the Skinnydip can manage the changes. Management
of the changes in the company are needed to have effective performance after the
implementation (Abor and Quartey, 2010). Managing change will help the cited company to
further grow in the market. The model which can be used by the company to manage the change
is as follows:
Kotter's change model-
This model includes 8 stages to manage the change.
 Create urgency- The cited organisation firstly have to understand the importance of
change. They have make their employees understand the need to have change in the
organisation. Employees can feel insecure at the time of change so it is responsibility of
company's management to make them understand the need to implement the change.
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 From a powerful coalition- Skinnydip will have some members in the company who have
to understood the need of change (Teasdale, Lyon and Baldock, 2013). It is responsibility
of manager or leader to make them understand the importance of implementing the
change.
 Creating vision for change- Vision should be created which will be informed to all the
employees of the cited company. This vision is to be kept on mind while implementing
the change.
 Communicating the vision- Vision which is set in the organisation should be
communicated to all the people (Folk and Jomo, 2013). This will help the company to
achieve their target.
 Empower action- Now the company should implement the changes. It means making the
plan into action.
 Create quick wins- Skinnydip should monitor the implementation of changes and see
where the change has started showing results.
 Build on the stage- The problems raised after the implementation of change should be
taken care of by the management.
 Results of change- Results of whole change process should be monitored. This progress
of change should be informed to all the members of the company.
C- Improvements of performance of business over past two years.
Improvements can be assessed effectively with the help of Gantt chart. It is a chart which
shows about various lines that states the work done and the time. By this the company gets able
to check the performance in better way. Skinnydip had improved very much in past two years
which is very good for the growth of the company in the market. This is shown by below image.
Gantt Chart for 10 weeks
Activities/Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Interaction with suppliers
Collection of reliable data
or facts
Analysing market
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situations
Fund pool
Strategy implementation
Using new assets
Starting new projects
Launching new products
Training to workers
Checking results
Solving issues
Expansion
CONCLUSION
This report concludes about the profile about Skinnydip which have all the information
about the organisation. It is compared with the company having same type of business. Ways and
methods are described by which weaknesses of company can overcome. There are many ways by
which the existing performance of company can be maintained and strengthened. New areas are
suggested in which business can expand like, new services, innovative products, globalization
etc. existing business plans and objectives are analysed. Business plan is reviewed to understand
the areas which needed change. An action plan is made to implement the changes. This report
discusses the impact of proposed changes on business and its personnel. Model is used manage
the changes in the company. Image is shown to understand the performance of company in past
two years. By this report it is concluded that there are many factors that are to be considered by
the company while implementing some changes in the business operations or in the areas where
it is needed.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Abor, J. and Quartey, P., 2010. Issues in SME development in Ghana and South Africa.
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Altman, E.I., Sabato, G. and Wilson, N., 2010. The value of non-financial information in small
and medium-sized enterprise risk management. The Journal of Credit Risk. 6(2). pp.1-33
Balta-Ozkan, N. and Baldwin, E., 2013. Spatial development of hydrogen economy in a low-
carbon UK energy system. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. 38(3). pp.1209-
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Bridge, S. and O'Neill, K., 2012. Understanding enterprise: entrepreneurship and small
business. Palgrave Macmillan.
Demirgu'g-Kunt, A. and Levine, R., 2013. The financial system and public enterprise reform.
Financial development and economic growth: Theory and experiences from developing
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Devine-Wright, P. and Wiersma, B., 2013. Opening up the “local” to analysis: exploring the
spatiality of UK urban decentralised energy initiatives. Local Environment. 18(10).
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Folk, B. C. and Jomo, K. S., 2013. Ethnic Business: Chinese Capitalism in Southeast Asia.
Routledge.
Gronum, S., Verreynne, M.L. and Kastelle, T., 2012. The Role of Networks in Small and
Medium‐Sized Enterprise Innovation and Firm Performance. Journal of Small Business
Management. 50(2). pp.257-282.
Herbane, B., 2010. Small business research: Time for a crisis-based view. International Small
Business Journal. 28(1). pp.43-64.
Longenecker, J., Petty, J., Palich, L. and Hoy, F., 2013. Small business management. Cengage
Learning.
Lyon, F. and Fernandez, H., 2012. Strategies for scaling up social enterprise: lessons from early
years providers. Social Enterprise Journal. 8(1). pp.63-77.
Sluyterman, K. E., 2013. Dutch Enterprise in the 20th Century: Business Strategies in Small
Open Country. Routledge.
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Stokes, D. and Wilson, N., 2010. Small business management and entrepreneurship. Cengage
Learning EMEA.
Teasdale, S., Lyon, F. and Baldock, R., 2013. Playing with numbers: a methodological critique
of the social enterprise growth myth. Journal of social entrepreneurship. 4(2). pp.113-131.
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