Managing Small and Medium Enterprises

MANAGING SMALL
AND MEDIUM
ENTREPRISE

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY.....................................................................................................................................1
Challenges SMEs are facing...........................................................................................................1
Strategies formulated by the Northern Monk Brew Company........................................................2
The nature of the entrepreneur behind the venture.........................................................................2
SME start-up process......................................................................................................................3
Business concept & its competitive advantages.............................................................................4
Porter's Five Force Model...............................................................................................................4
PEST Analysis................................................................................................................................5
SME internal growth & development strategy...............................................................................6
Government support to these start-ups...........................................................................................7
CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................................7
RECOMMENDATIONS..................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Small & Medium Enterprises are companies under special category with a certain level of
assets, revenue and number of employees. These are the enterprises with a number of employees
less than 250. The SMEs contribute to bolstering the economy of the United Kingdom. SMEs are
non-subsidiary and independent firms with less number of employees. Further portrays the
innovation, creativity in start-ups along with the abilities of the entrepreneur (Ormazabal and et.
al., 2018). Thus, their importance led the consideration of SME sector of strategic interest for the
efficient growth of the economy.
The organization chosen to understand the concept of small-medium enterprises is the
Northern Monk Brew Company. It was commenced in 2014, and is a part of Breweries Industry
which is located in Leeds, United Kingdom. It is an independent brewery and profit making
company that creates best beer experiences. The report examines the formation of such
enterprises accompanied by various models. The competitive advantage of the chosen company
is explained with the help of effective models along with the challenges they are facing and
support received from the government in order to cope up with the changing environment.
MAIN BODY
Challenges SMEs are facing
There are many challenges a new company faces in its initial period and further in
attaining sustainability in the market. Some of them are discussed below:-
• Government Regulations: Being a small scale business and beer brewing industry, faces
a large amount of government regulations. The Northern Monk Brew Company faced
regulations issued by the Bureau of Alcohol which includes restrictions on the location,
construction and equipment used in brewing. The brewery sector receives a lack of
government support. The restrictions imposed during the lockdown heavily impacted the
business (McDowell and et. al., 2018).
• Competition: Another challenge is their sustainability in the marketplace by attaining
competitive advantage. The line of breweries in the competition includes London’s
Beavertown, Manchester’s Cloudwater Brew Company. Even the industry receives less
support from the government. It is restrictions caused hindrances to compete with the
Global Beer Companies.
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• Growth and quality: The journey to become a sustainable business in the brewery
industry come with many challenges. The growth was affected due to the lockdown
throughout the nation. The company faces additional challenges such as strategies to
expand business without sacrificing the quality.
Strategies formulated by the Northern Monk Brew Company
• Value proposition: Russell Bisset thought that in order to survive in the crush of
competition and thus, developed beer cans to target the youth audience and professional.
Further company used digital labels as an innovative idea to get ‘wow’ look of the
product. Thus, added the creativity led addition of value in the product in order to gain
competitive advantage in the marketplace.
• Identify Customers: Another strategy which the company opts to attract its targeted
customers and fulfil their needs (Ahmad and Krishnan, 2017). The Northern Monk Brew
Company’s target market is 25 to 34 year old professionals and predominantly males. The
company aims to value experiences. The company creates experiences of their customers
by hosting festivals and other events. Further focus on sharing the brand stories of its
customers.
• Product expansion: The Company aims to expand business by creating series of five
coffee flavored beers and each label with the photography in order to attract its
customers. Further the company brought the use of “Scafell”, which is available in the
stores of Tesco with a wider network of distribution.
The nature of the entrepreneur behind the venture.
The entrepreneur is referred to someone who starts its own small business with an
ambition to take financial risks and rewards. They make a significant contribution in the
economy by evolving changes through innovative ideas, designs and also by anticipating the
present and future needs of the people (Polyviou, Croxton and Knemeyer, 2019). Further, the
ability of entrepreneurship improves in the standards of living and wealth in the society. In
context to the Northern Monk Brew Company that aims to create a world around the beers by
capturing the experiences of their customers. The company is a set example of a thriving
company and undeniable talent in United Kingdom. The company is based on its strategic brand
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