Managing Small and Medium Business: A Case Study of Marshfield Bakery

MANAGING
SMALL AND
MEDIUM
BUSINESS

Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Findings.......................................................................................................................................................3
Nature of entrepreneur.............................................................................................................................3
SME-Startup process...............................................................................................................................4
Business concept and source of competitive advantage...........................................................................5
Source of competitive advantage.............................................................................................................5
Current level of demand and competitive environment...........................................................................5
Growth and development of business till date.........................................................................................6
Challenges of managing and running business........................................................................................6
Current growth and development strategy...............................................................................................7
Government support to help business so that they can overcome the challenges.....................................7
Recommendations...................................................................................................................................8
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................8
References.................................................................................................................................................10

Introduction
Small and medium enterprises are started with less amount of initial investment.
However these entities play a crucial role in the economic growth and enhancement of a country
(Branicki and et. al., 2017). In UK, SMEs contribute nearly 2.3 trillion in the economy and also
provide employment to nearly 16.8 million individuals. The present study is based on Marshfield
bakery that is it is small company based on England. It offers bakery products such as biscuits,
cakes, snacks and more. The present study will cover nature of entrepreneur of venture, start-up
process of a small business along different sources of the competitive advantage. Additionally,
existing level of demand and analysis of competitive environment will also cover in the
following report. It will also include development of business so far with a detailed analysis of
challenges and support of government authorities for future development of business.
Findings
Nature of entrepreneur
Entrepreneur is a person who starts a new venture by setting a creative and unique idea.
Entrepreneur aims to introduce a new product in society and also aims to earn higher amount of
profit. In context of Marshfield bakery, it is a small business which was initiated with an aim to
earn certain amount of profit. The bakery was founded by Mr Paul white and his wife Lenny. In
this context, nature of entrepreneur is discussed below.
Risk Taker: An entrepreneur needs to have risk taking ability to attain success in the
field of business. The main aim of starting an entrepreneurial venture is to earn profits
(Verreynne and et. al., 2019). However, there is no certainty to regarding profit and revenue of
the business venture. In current situation, Paul started a new venture with an aim to earn
significant amount of profit in future period of time.
Profit Maker: The main aim of an entrepreneur is to earn higher profit from the new
business venture. In the given scenario Paul and his wife started the bakery so that they can earn
significant amount of profit to keep the business running for longer run.

Innovator: It is one of the crucial traits of entrepreneur which make them enable to
introduce a unique project in market. For and entrepreneurial venture, it is important to include
some unique and creative aspects to maintain a different identity in the competitive environment.
In context of Marshfield bakery, they provide delicious taste and quality of bakery products to
the customer which help them in maintaining differentiation from the other bakeries working the
industry.
SME-Startup process
SME small and medium enterprises which are generally started with limited amount of
funds and resources. The process of starting a small business is given below:
Conduct market research: It is the initial stage wherein the administration of
Marshfield bakery undertakes effective market research in order to gather detailed and in depth
information regarding customers, profit, competition and more (Gray and et. al., 2017).
Writing business plan: After conducting market research, the next step is to prepare a
business plan. In reference of the respective company, they are required to prepare a business
plan including different elements such as mission and vision statement, marketing plan, financial
requirements, operational plan and more.
Fund the business: To commercialise the idea, it is crucial to have adequate amount of
funds which can be gathered from different sources like bank, personal investment and more. In
context of the respective bakery, funds will be taken from bank loan and personal investment to
run the business.
Choose business location and structure: It is the next step wherein location of business
is selected (Polonsky and Waller, 2018). Here, the Marshfield bakery is located in UK and
follow a particular structure in order to maintain proper flow of information.
Choose business name business: name of a business needs to be unique and align with
the product or services. In context of the respective bakery they have been selected a different
name which clearly reflects the project or services they offer.