Entrepreneurial Marketing: Challenges and Strategies for Small Businesses

This report explores the distinguishing features of business marketing environment for small businesses, key marketing operational issues faced by small businesses, and strategies to enhance their position. It also compares standard marketing theory with current practice of small businesses.

Entrepreneurial marketing.

Table of Content
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Distinguishing Features of Business Marketing Environment....................................................1
Key Marketing Operational Issues Faced By Small Businesses.................................................2
Comparison Between Standard marketing Theory and Current Practice of Small Business .....4
Autonomous learning skills ........................................................................................................5
Core ideas and concepts analyzed along with conclusion...........................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Entrepreneurial marketing refers to development of business structure where
establishment of new company operational structure focusses on building dynamic business plan
to position itself in high competitive business world. This report explains how marketing
operations of SME differs from medium or large sized business and how entrepreneurial theory
impacts the managerial functions. It also analyses the marketing operations issues faced by small
businesses and strategies companies can develop to enhance its position. The report also explains
comparison between Standard marketing Theory and current practise of small business through
various business models explanation which elaborates how company can implement its business
strategies with efficiency.
Distinguishing Features of Business Marketing Environment
Marketing environment is the integration of different internal and external environment
factors of business organization which impact the marketing activities in the market. It is very
essential marketing analysis to determine all market factors to formulate effective marketing
strategies and increasing its potential effectively (Qureshi, Aziz and Mian, 2017). As small
businesses are majorly distributed in the market. Small businesses has to identify market factors
due to lack of proper resources to achieve objectives. There are various features which small
business has to take into account while planning marketing strategies to increase their sales ad
profitability in market.
Issues and challenges for SME
Attracting new customers: It becomes challenge for SME to attract new customers towards
business products and services, as the market reach is limited only to regional sales and less
public
Maintaining profitability: It becomes difficult for small businesses to maintain profitability
margins and also focus on marketing, promotional activities for reaching the market expansion
levels. For example-a restaurant cannot maintain balance between sales figure of revenue and
investment needed for business promotional activities.
Retaining valuable employees: It becomes difficult for small business and new entrepreneurs to
maintain valuable employees who are skilled, as training opportunistic growth is lacking due to
less capital funds. For example- A new highly talented employee after certain period working in
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company demands promotion or an increase in pay. Extrinsic motivation is important for
retaining of valuable employees.
Securing finance: SME or new enterprises face difficulties in managing their finance funds as
the managerial operations lack technology to keep control on securing finance for longer periods.
For example- Accounting functions and computers technology need high investment by the new
enterprise which needs strong capital funds (Grimsdottir,Edvardsson and Durst, 2019).
Increasing revenue: Enterprises faces risk of less revenue due to competition among new
companies and high preferences of customers as the market demands are highly competitive. For
example- Small enterprises face difficulty for long term revenue and profitability level as
company functions and operations are highly vast.
Embracing technology: Small enterprises and new companies face difficulty in embracing
technology due to less skilled employees, and less advanced methods for improving the work
performance. For example- it becomes hard for employees to adjust to new technology
implementation and high
Social media: SMEs face challenge of social media usage and internet services promotion which
is important for business expansion decisions. For example- Being present on social media for
advertisement activities becomes difficult for company management due to less capital funds.
General Forces
Small business has to identify these forces as they have indirect impact on business
activities. Customers are the specific forces of the business which impact directly which change
in behaviours and decision-making (Yang and Gabrielsson, 2017). General forces are social
factors, technological factors, economic factors, legal, political factors which has the potential of
impact small businesses and reduce their efficiency in the market.
Complexity
It is very complex marketing environment for small business due to high competition
which impact the growth in market effectively. This is very essential for small business to
understand the complexity of the market in order to formulate effective marketing plan and
ensure the effective success to increase sales and survive with high profit margins.
Vibrancy
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This feature helps Pure Planet to understand different market factors which can be
controlled in order to again higher market stability and increase growth of the business. There are
various factors which are vibrant in marketing environment which can impact small businesses
negatively and reduces their potential to grow. It is the changing nature of marketing
environment by which marketers can gain higher profits. Pure Planet is using sustainable energy
due to changes in customer behaviour and government policies.
Uncertainty
This feature helps to Pure Planet to identify the factors of marketing environment which
are unpredictable in nature and also have the potential to reduce the efficiency of business. It is
very difficult to determine these factors due to their hidden nature and it impacts the business
gradually. For example, change in tastes and preferences of customers are uncertain and it can
also impact the sales of Pure Planet in selling sustainable energies in market. Business has to
consider this feature while formulating marketing strategy and increasing the potential
effectively.
Relativity
This marketing environment feature helps Pure Planet to understand demand of
sustainable energy in different markets to determine the growth opportunities (Toghraee and
et.al., 2017). Pure planet analyses that the demand of sustainable and solar energy in UK is
emerging which can also increase the size of business. The demand of the products are also
increasing in different countries which can provide opportunities to Pure Planet Entrepreneurial
firm to expand its activities in new market effectively.
Big firms do not face such challenges due to high branding efforts, example- the
advertisements and promotional costs need capital funds by company management which can
be used on branding of products and services.
Collaboration- Big companies and firms can built partnerships and alliances with other
established brands for reaching new segments of customers. For example Tesco has gained
strong market position and expanded into various sectors of business due to strong capital
funds.
Market share- Big companies have wide reach in the market share due to strong diversification
business strategies, high capital investments into technology implementation and strong products
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and services. Tesco for example has strong market share due to high customer goodwill attained
due to wide pool of products and services (Gheorghe,Moritz and Tarara,2019).
Bigger budget- Big companies have high budget for big investment opportunistic growth into
various sectors of business into untapped countries, and the reach of customers is highly wide.
For example -Big MNCs have higher budget and smart technology inputs to put into
management uses, and it impacts the growth of business vastly.
Heritage and history- Big established companies have high history of legacy and established
goodwill among consumers due to strong quality standards and promotions on websites and
networks. For example- the legacy and goodwill of Tesco is wide, and the reach of potential
customers is wide.
Key Marketing Operational Issues Faced By Small Businesses
There are many issues which a small and new ventures face while marketing activities to
increase their potential in the market effectively.
Financial Management
Small business have many issues in managing their financial flows and also cannot
record all the transactions which reduce the efficiency of the business to formulate budget
(Sadiku-Dushi, Dana and Ramadani, 2019). As the small business do not follow proper
management policies and techniques it is very difficult to increase the potential in the global
market. New ventures and small business do not have high capital to invest in marketing
activities. The focus of small business is to earn profits and survive in market effectively.
Monitoring Performance
Small business and new venture like Pure Planet are also inefficient in understanding the
performance of their marketing activities due to lack of proper knowledge and experience to
analyse their performance. This also reduces the efficiency of the business to develop new
strategies due to lack of understanding of problems.
Regulation and Compliance
Small businesses face challenges in adopting regulation of government as it impact the
profit margins and increases the risk of survivability in the market. Small business faces issues in
operating marketing activities in global market due to changes in regulation and policies of
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government in high competitive market. This also increase rate of penalties and fines for small
business due to inefficiency.
Technology
Change in technology can impact the business activities and marketing strategies
negatively in small business environment which also helps to decrease the potential of the
company. Technology changes rapidly due to change in the market trends in global market and
due to less capital small business can not cope with new trends thus making them more
ineffective in marketing activities.
Customer Services
Marketing activities are conducted to increase customer satisfaction by fulfilling their
needs and wants. Small businesses are not having proper channel to improve their customer
services which impact the sales and profit margins of business. Business have issues in
marketing activities as they are not able to meet all the requirements of customers due to lack of
resources.
Brand Value
There are many factors which impacts the brand value of small businesses in marketing
activities. Ineffective products reduces the brand image and trust of customers on company
(O'Cass and Morrish, 2016). This also decreases the potential of business to improve their
market share and sales due to lack of trust. Expansion opportunities are also not possible due to
this challenge.
Lack of Vision
Vision is very important in communicating with the customers while marketing activities
this increases challenges for small businesses as they focus on product and service innovation to
increase profit margins of the company (Sulistyo, 2016). This is also very essential as it helps to
integrate all the employees with the objectives to increase efficiency of the business.
Lack of Potential Workforce
This factor also impact small business in operating marketing activities as employees do
not have proper skills and knowledge to increase information and aware customers about
company's products and services effectively.
Innovation and entrepreneurial marketing in SMEs.
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Word of Mouth- Small enterprises can use this innovative approach of establishing goodwill
among consumers in market share by emphasizing the word of mouth factor among people.
Word of mouth helps people to get acknowledged about new business enterprise set up and the
products' promotion.
Opportunistic Behaviour- Enterprises need to adopt an opportunistic behaviour for establishing
firm place in industry and invest in building products and services as per new preferences of
customers. Opportunistic outlook in business decisions is vital for reaching high expansion in
business scale and innovative growth in dynamic business world (Alomar and De
Visscher,2019).
Comparison Between Standard marketing Theory and Current Practice of Small Business
Marketing methods of SME are variably different from big firms in forms of budget, methods
and finding of revenue scales as the business managers have to focus on marketing efforts
within budget, which limits growth and expansion into consumers. Budgets of small
companies are small and the margins are also variably different to invest in technology and
other up-gradation which highly imposes the risk for future expansion.
Standard Marketing theories are the systematic framework which helps business to attain
efficiency in marketing activities and gain effective knowledge in increasing customer
satisfaction. Marketing theories helps to analyse all the factors which can impact the business in
marketing environment to formulate effective practices to achieve objectives effectively (Nouri
and et.al., 2017).
Standard Marketing Theory Practices of Small Businesses
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Ansoff Matrix Ansoff matrix is used to
analyse the factors in
marketing planning process by
identifying effective strategies
which will help to grow and
expand business in market
effectively (Nijssen, 2017).
Small business uses normal
research methodology to
identify al the market factors
to formulate effective
marketing strategies without
any marketing tool.
SWOT Analysis This is internal market analysis
which help to understand
strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats of
business in order to increase
the potential in the market
effectively.
Small businesses uses this tool,
with the help grid boxes to
determine all the internal
factors which help to attain
opportunities and overcome
threats effectively (Estrin,
Gozman and Khavul, 2018).
Porter's Five Forces This is the competitive
analysis method which help to
identify all the threats which
are present in market due to
competition which can impact
the efficiency of marketing
strategies. It is horizontal
competition analysis in the
market which help the
business to gain better
perspective about to
understand the efficiency
effectively (Becherer and
Helms, 2016).
Small businesses has the high
competitive in the market and
they analyse all the bargaining
power of stake holders and
analyse the marketing
strategies of competitors to
formulate effective marketing
strategies and achieve market
stability to capture higher
market share and learn need to
innovate and invent new
products and services to
increase customers and profit
margins effectively.
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Autonomous learning skills
Employablity and change-maker skills are highly important to be developed in employees
and leaders of Pure planet company which is an SME in UK where the management functions
are highly varied to reach benchmarks in performance standards.
Learning skills
Employee learning skills are highly important for management to develop as the
company has large management responsibilities to confer them on employees. Training and
development of skills to improve their learning skills are integrally important for Pure Planet as
with high competition in industry it is imperatively important for employees to enhance their
performance standards. There should be seminars conducted and sessions to motivate them and
cultivate strong learning skills in employees for strong performance standards (Ayn, Matthews
and Andrews, 2020).
Problem solving skills
Leaders should posses strong problem solving skills to build strong effective team
structure with cooperation among all subordinates and team members. Leader has the role to
motivate employees and solve their interpersonal issues, problems arising in productions and
provide them with hygienic working conditions. Quick problem solving abilities enable top
management and leaders to work with contingencies situations where business have high threat
of competitiveness. SME marketing and functions have impact on business structure of company
which are correlated with problem solving skills of managers. Problem solving skills can be
learned by leaders by proper understanding of business principles and enabling management to
communicate their grievances effectively to leaders (Kadam and Sawant,2020).Quick decision
taking ability is also integral part of problem solving skills among leaders and mangers where
they play vital role in delivering company goals. Pure planet lays high emphasis in developing
high problem solving sissies in all leaders to bring high revenues with increased profitability
margins,as it enable management to position itself as highly innovate company in dynamic
business world.
Effective communication and self management
Strong interpersonal skills in management employees are highly important for enabling
effective communication among all hierarchies in company and it also strongly develops self
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management. Pure planet aims to develop itself as highly developed SME where employees
work with effective communication among each other and leaders keep them motivated to reach
self management targets. Strategies to implement effective communication skills and self
management can be understood as follows (Lo and Hsieh,2020).
 There should be team sessions held by leaders where there is free flow communication
among employees and their peers which will motivate them to exchange business ideas
regarding production enhancement. Leaders in Pure Planet should lay focus in building
strong communication skills among team members and employees who work at stores to
deliver customer satisfaction services.
 Employees should be given opportunities and platforms to showcase their skills and
potentialities which will enable them to build self management platforms in company.
Training sessions should be followed by assignments and QA sessions between leaders
and employees working in production teams to build strong communications and quick
solutions to issues within managementm (Qureshi and Zehra,2020).
 Self management can be understood as techniques where employees feel motivated and
empowered to increase their performance standards in company, and find avenues where
they can harness new talents and learn new abilities. This will keep them motivated and
retained in company for long term with high functionality levels and strong performance
levels. Pure planet can increase its market share by strong customer goodwill services by
employees in stores and building them dynamically strong to perform better in dynamic
business world (Fadli, 2020).
Core ideas and concepts analysed along with conclusion
Small business marketing environment differentiates on various levels and concepts from
large and medium-sized scale business which are analysed on paradigms of general forces,
complexity in business structures, vibrancy, certainty and relativity. This report concludes with
explanation that SME marketing is largely different from medium or large companies where the
finance capital is relatively huge to invest in marketing and promotion activities. Key marketing
operational issues faced by SME are analysed on arenas of financial management, monitoring
performance and metrics to provide quick regulation and compliance connected in procedures.
Die to lack of investment funds technology and brand value in serving customer services are also
highly impacted as these areas where investment is highly needed by company structure. There is
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often lack of vision in top management and lack of potential workforce in SME which impact
expansion of marketing operations by company. This report concludes explanation of
comparison Between Standard marketing Theory and Current Practice of Small Business with
analysis of business theories Ansoff Matrix, Swot analysis and Porter Five Forces (Kusuma and
Susantini,2020).
This report also concludes autonomous learning skills are highly important for employees
to develop as they enable them to perform effectively with innovative learning skills, problem
solving skills and effective communication for self management. It is highly important for
companies to have high productivity skills in their employees for reaching benchmarks in
performance levels of company goals and high profitability margins. Company can position itself
firmly with strong customer satisfaction services in stores where employees have dynamic
working skills to delver their duties. The high volatile business world strongly impacts SME To
build operational structures in company with high effective delivery performance standards and
occupy large market share (Semedo, Diniz and Herédia,2020).
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