Not Dogs: A Case Study of Entrepreneurial Marketing in a Small Business

This case study examines the marketing strategies employed by Not Dogs, a unique vegetarian fast food restaurant, to establish and grow its business. It explores the challenges faced by small businesses, particularly in the food industry, and analyzes the effectiveness of Not Dogs' approach to entrepreneurial marketing. The study utilizes the 4Is model to understand the informal, innovative, interactive, and identification-based marketing strategies adopted by Not Dogs. It also delves into the importance of branding and networking in building a successful small business.

SMALL BUSINESS

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................2
COMPANY BACKGROUND................................................................................................................3
TASK A..............................................................................................................................................4
TASK B............................................................................................................................................14
PERSONAL REFLECTION.............................................................................................................14
CONCLUSION.................................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................16
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INTRODUCTION
Every business, whether big or small contributes significantly to the growth of the nation by
supporting the economic wheel. Tough individual small business does not affect much but
together, they contribute a significant amount to the UK's economy. Since, very less funding is
required for setting a business, they are easy to establish and manage, unlike large businesses
that require high investment and team. For the given assignment, ‘Not Dogs’ are chosen for the
understanding the art of being a small business manager/owner and role of the marketing
function in small business. Initially, marketing function, as a whole will be discussed along with
its role in Not Dogs; later based on secondary research approach, micro and macro
environment analysis will be conducted, followed up by marketing plan prepared for Not Dogs
considering every aspect.
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COMPANY BACKGROUND
Not Dog is a unique restaurant, based on an innovative idea of reducing the meat content from
the day-to-day life of people and serving them equally delicious fast food without meats. In the
year 2016 Co-founder Katie and Co-creator Jane, came up with an idea of serving vegetarian
fast food for the vegan community and people who wish to reduce the meat content in their
diet. The small restaurant currently employs less than 13 staffs including the cofounders.
Initially started with a food truck that travelled around the UK to explore and connect with the
customers (Not Dogs, 2018); based on their review they improvised their menu and started a
small restaurant in Birmingham. The cofounders even pitched their idea at Dragon’s Den but
unfortunately failed to get investment for their requirements (Young, 2017).
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TASK A
Every business requires marketing function in order to survive and compete in the market;
marketing function involves more than selling the products produced by the business but
instead involves a set of tasks that helps in analysing the market and competition based on
which business and marketing strategy is formed. For the following report, a brief discussion
regarding the marketing function of Not Dogs will be conducted.
APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY
Research is considered as a systematic approach of collecting, analysing and evaluating the
data; based on this knowledge in a particular field is gained. Data plays a vital role in research
and can be generally obtained from two research approaches that are, primary research where
data is collected directly from the source in the form of surveys, questionnaire, feedbacks etc.
These data are partially reliable and is dependent on the participating spirit of the source.
Whereas, secondary research is conducted by analysing several reliable articles based on the
analysis of the similar subject (Sekaran, and Bougie, 2016). This method requires minimum
resources and can be easily conducted by small businesses to analyse the market condition and
competitors. For the following assignment, secondary research approach will be used where;
analysis of several kinds of literature and articles will be conducted that are published after
2010; though some relevant literatures are selected that were published before 2010.
MARKETING AND ITS FUNCTION IN NOT DOGS
During establishing a unique small business, several functions have to be handled by very few
staffs; of all these functions, the major task is to establish a network and analyse the marketing
conditions in order to form effective surviving strategies. Marketing functions not only sell
products offered by the small businesses but also educates and determine the market
conditions including the strategies of opponents (Cole, 2017).
Marketing function can be considered as the backbone of the entire business, as their research
and analysis are the base for all the strategies formed in the business. Additionally, even if all
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other functions effectively perform their tasks, it will be of no use if the marketing function fails
to perform its duties. Thus even if small business faces several hurdles while performing
marketing functions, it is equally essential for them to perform its role in order to survive in the
market (Sitkins, 2015).
Functions of marketing department include determining the strength and weaknesses of the
company and competitors, along with the demands of the customers. Based on the market
analysis, marketing plan and product development are done. Moreover, promotional activity
and customer relations are also established and maintained by the marketing (David, 2011).
Unlike other small businesses, Not Dogs also lack investment and expertise to effectively
perform the marketing functions. With a total turnover of around £12000, additionally, with
limited resources, it has become difficult for them to address larger segment. However, during
the initial stage, they started their business in the food truck in which they travelled around the
nation to form a well-established network and educate their segment regarding the use and
benefits of vegetarian food. Still, after the establishment of their first restaurant in Birmingham,
it has become difficult for the co-founders to find investors and cover larger segment to
maintain a sustainable profit.
Since their business, depending on targeting a specific segment of the market and educating
the potential customers about the benefits of the vegetarian food. It is essential for Not Dogs to
perform several functions of marketing to achieve their business objectives. Additionally, for
further expansion, they require sufficient funding and partners, which will provide required
resources to them (Jones, and Rowley, 2011).
MARKETING STRUCTURE IN NOT DOGS
Not Dogs was initially based on the concept of a food truck, in which the co-founders used to
travel around the UK for interacting with a different customer base and educating them about
the unquiet business concept. Like most of the entrepreneurs, the co-founders also preferred
down to up approach for marketing, in, which they provide services to the customers, take their
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feedback and suggestions, and based on requirement alter the menu. This process continues
until a satisfied product is prepared (Young, 2016).
Most of the networking at the beginning of the business was formed by one to one interaction
with the customers and maintain social media account on different platforms like Facebook,
Twitter etc. This form of informal direct marketing is efficient for the small businesses since
they do not require much investment and gives a personal touch to the marketing, which is
essential to make loyal customers (Stokes, et al.,2010).
As the start-up became stable and their small restaurant was established, the cofounders of
small business feel the requirement of following the formal path of communication and
marketing in order to compete with the competitors. Based on the aforementioned issues of
Not Dogs a detail secondary research is conducted to analyse the roles and possibilities of the
marketing function in the small business.
CHALLENGES FACED BY SMALL BUSINESS
Small businesses like Not Dogs face several challenges in the market, of which, three major
issues are marketing, money, and resource management. For Not Dogs it is essential to educate
and promote their innovative dishes to the customers. In context with Not Dogs, there are
several problems faced by the small restaurant, due to lack of expertise and its small size
(Stokes, and Wilson, 2010). Such as:
 The business offers a specific range of food designed for vegetarians or segment who
wish to get alternative to non-vegetarian fast food, thus they have limited customer
base
 The business has limited resources that are handled and managed by the cofounders of
limited expertise
 The marketing function performed in the Not Dogs are managed and handled by the co-
founders, due to lack of funding and resources no expert team is employed to perform
this functions (Burns, 2016)
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 Though the concept of providing hot dogs and other non-vegetarian fast food in
innovative, but is not revolutionary, moreover there are several competitors in the
market that provide vegetarian fast food as well such as Sub-Way, McDonald’s etc.
Competing with such multinational companies is a major obstacle for Not Dogs
STAGES OF MARKETING
As per Westwood, (2016), marketing plan comprises of a systematic guide for the business that
has to be followed in order to achieve the set business. Before forming an effective plan,
several aspects have to be considered, for instance, the impact of micro and macro
environmental factor on the business, budgets, implementation etc.
Jones and Rowley, (2011.) described that every small business like Not Dogs follows four stages
of marketing that are described below:
 During the set-up stage of the business, the initial form of marketing is done by
consulting with the friends, relatives and neighbourhood customers
 As the demand of the product increases the reactive selling approach is applied by the
businesses, where they allow the customers to reach them, rather than approaching
the customers
 Next stage involves the participation of the owner and manager of the business, where
they personally analyse the market and promote their products based on their
experience and expertise. Many small businesses including Not Dogs uses this approach
due to lack of funding and guidance
 In the final stage, small business becomes capable enough of hiring marketing expert
for the functions, this stage results in higher productivity (Shaw, 2012)
4Is MODEL
According to Stokes, (2010), it is difficult to apply the existing marketing mix model in
entrepreneurial marketing, since there are several factors that work during the establishment
of new business. All the business functions are managed and controlled by very specific people
(generally entrepreneurs), therefore based on their behaviour and expertise they follow a
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different strategy, which can be broadly covered by 4Is Model. The four stages are briefly
explained below in Context with Not Dogs:
Figure 1: 4Is Model
[Source: Author]
Innovation
It generally includes forming a unique or different product that gives the company an edge over
their competitors. This unique selling point helps the small businesses to directly connect with
the customers. Entrepreneurs of small business try to improvise the existing product based on
the feedback and suggestion of the customers and this continues improvisation results in
product innovation. For Not Dogs, their special vegetarian fast food alternatives of hot dogs are
innovative and have attracting USP (Kiel, 2014). During the initial stage of their business, the co-
founders use to travel around the UK to interact with the different community and people and
adjust their menu based on their feedbacks that resulted in several innovative dishes in their
menu such as, cha-cha chilli dog, the ticklish tikka dog etc.
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Innovation
IdentificationInteraction
Informal
Information
Gathering

Identification of Markets
Once the initial product is designed, next stage of marketing is identifying the target markets,
where potential buyers are available. For a small business, the stages of targeting involve,
identifying the marketing opportunity, attracting the initial customer and understanding their
requirement and demands. Once the required changes are done, expanding the targeted
segment by applying the similar approach. Providing satisfactory services at the initial stage
results in word of mouth marketing, which is considered significantly effective compared to
other methods of marketing (Jones, and Rowley, 2011).
Since every product offered by the Not Dogs are vegetarian, therefore can be consumed by
every-one tough the targeted segment are vegetarian and people who wish to cut out meat
from their meals. Not Dogs followed the similar approach; where they targeted a specific
segment during their initial stage, as they travel around the UK, their menu and services
improved.
Interactive Marketing
Entrepreneurs of small business are more tilted towards interacting with the suppliers or
customers directly rather than impersonal methods used by larger businesses. Communication
and networking with the customers directly help is building, maintain a long relationship with
them, and are more likely to influence them to become loyal customers. Additionally,
interactive marketing used by small businesses results in quick response to the requirements or
demands of the customers, this results in improved experience to the customers (Kiel, 2014).
Co-founders of Not Dogs prefer to directly interact with the customers and know their views
regarding food and concept followed by the small business. Additionally, this also helps in
conveying the information regarding the importance and necessity of using vegetarian meals in
the day-to-day life of customers (Randall, et al., 2014). The business has a dedicated Twitter
and Facebook account through which customers have the facility to direct contact with the Not
Dogs staffs.
Informal Information Gathering
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This step involves a direct conversation with the suppliers in an informal way to establish a
relationship with the employees. This stage helps in determining the minor aspects that require
improvement in products as well as services. Not Dogs restaurants have a friendly work
environment where staffs are outspoken and loyal, this helps the co-founders to determine the
drawbacks and factors that requires improvisation (Hair et al., 2015).
BRANDING
It is a business aspect which can help in attaining the best results in the business. Branding and
brand management activities also include several activities which are supported by several
other factors as a brand cannot be made valuable. Basically., the brand is the name on the
products or service which may be diverse from the other products available to the public.
Whereas, the branding is the process to make the brand more valuable and disseminating in
the markets (Stanworth, and Purdy, 2006). There are several ways available for the branding
especially for the small and new businesses and they are all easy to be applied so that the
business owners can get the best from them. Being a small brand, the small businesses should
choose a specific direction to make the business more valuable and powerful in the markets.
Among the rich and poor business owners, the strategies that have to be implemented differs
and hence the business functions. The poor business owners generally chose strategies which
are based on new ideas as they don't have money to invest in the present costly strategies and
options. At the same time, the rich entrepreneurs and businessmen choose present platforms
to make their business powerful. In addition to this, the different concepts of marketing are
what makes better sense to the strategies and eventually the results of the marketing (Ottman,
2017). For this, the business owners have to take some strategic decisions for the welfare of
their small business so that they can get motivation and further implement strategies in future.
The key decisions for the business owners majorly reside in the key functions of the business as
marketing, research, customer service, promotion and finance management. Ate the same time
the business owners are the people who decide the value of the brand as they are the only
people who are responsible for making the business successful by motivation staff members,
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implementing better strategies and monitoring the implemented strategies a that they can get
more better results in future (Machmud, and Sidharta, 2014).
The braiding process in the small businesses generally should include improved product
performance, high loyalty standards, low vulnerability, large margins, customer retention
strategies, focused strategies on the brand extension so that they can develop better market
presence and high brand value.
NETWORKING
After establishing a new business or operating a small business unit the most essential initial
tasks are to make better market relations or networking to expand the business. The
networking involves several strategies and tactics to explore the businesses in New fields and
directions. The one operating or managing the business should first understand the necessities
of their business so that they can design their personal networking plan and make people
aware of their brand (Conway, & Jones, 2012).
The major aim of the networking plans is to develop the business outside the internal business
environment. the necessities of the different forms are always different and hence they should
choose their plan accordingly. In addition to this, if the firm is a large enterprise or has gained a
better market value, then they should maintain them inter-functional relations and hence attain
their business objectives and goals. Networking involves people from both the business and the
business environment as customers. The first ones are the networks or the relations between
the people and the management of the company which are basically invaluable if not
maintained properly (Boling, et al., 2014).
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Figure 2: Different types of Networks
Further, the networking nowadays involves the social media, television, newspaper
advertisement, online marketing and many other present media platforms that can reduce the
stress of the companies and enhance the customer base and revenue. Operating this media
platforms is not an easy task and hence they require a lot of skills and analytics. Having good
ability to make a better network in the markets is highly recommended for the small businesses
and especially those who have started recently in the complex business situations. According to
the market researchers, the market consists of different type of networks where the social
network consists of the family, friends and the close relatives whereas the professional network
consists of the colleagues. Moreover, there are people who are using artificial intelligence to
make the business successful (Short, et al., 2010).
SWOT ANALYSIS
Strengths
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Not Dogs is an emerging business model which is serving the people with the best and delicious
veg dishes with the simple modifications. The business is growing rapidly and hence there are
growing their market values and the markets. The company has even tried the Dragon’s Den to
get some investors in the business so that they can further expand the business but due to
some terms and conditions, it failed. Even with the great business idea and satisfied customers
the company is working successfully and leading their small business (Young, 2017).
Weaknesses
When it comes to the shortcomings of the businesses the prime functions like marketing, sales,
finance management and promotion strategies come first. These functions of the company are
well maintained and hence they do not pose any kind of hindrance in their business. In some
cases, the scarcity of the financial resources creates shortcomings in the business which hinders
their running path and operations (Brooks, et al., 2014).
Threats
For the small business like Not Dogs the threats in the markets are basically emerging from
their business competitors, government policies and environmental and social acts. Not Dogs
always tries to manage these functions in their business but there are cases which have created
threats in their business (Santos, and Laczniak, 2015).
Opportunities
Not Dogs have created several opportunities for them in their business and business
environment. The company has the competitors like McD, Subway which is one of the top
brands in the food and beverage industry which shows the strengths of the company. In
addition to these the effective marketing strategies, business management, customer service,
their satisfaction level and business growth has opened the doors of several opportunities in
their business (Foo, 2011).
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TASK B
PERSONAL REFLECTION
As I am taking this course, thus have a brief knowledge regarding, how business operates and
establish. I choose this module, as I strongly believe that, reducing meat content in day-to-day
food not only benefits the body but also benefits the environment by reducing global warming,
reducing greenhouse gases content in the atmosphere and much more. Additionally, selecting a
small business that educates their customers regarding the benefits of going vegetarian helped
me in better understanding different concepts of marketing. In my previous semester different
concept was studied by me such as SWOT, PESTLE etc.; in the current module, SWOT analysis is
done on the chosen small business that helped me in understanding the concept in detail.
Through this module, I got an understanding about the difference between the small and large
businesses; and how it is an art of being an owner or manager of the small business. I got a
better understating of how small business management and perform different functions with
limited resources and funding. Additionally, I got the chance to understand and apply
secondary research method whereby reading different books suggested by the module leader
helped me to get a clear understanding of marketing function and its importance in small
businesses. By analysing different kinds of literature, I evaluated that, there are several factors
due to which, effectively applying marketing function is not possible for small businesses. From
the literature review and class lectures, it was clear to me that, traditional marketing mix does
not apply to entrepreneurial marketing rather; 4Is marketing model is applied to the chosen
small business.
This module also helped me in realising that, though individual small business does not affect
much to the economy together, they significantly contribute to the nation's economy. Apart
from this, several group activities organized by the tutors helped me in building confidence and
improving my communication skill.
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CONCLUSION
Establishing a small business is comparatively easy and economical since it requires neither high
investment nor larger workforce. Tough managing and owning a small business is an art since
there are several factors that create risks for the survival of the business in the market.
Additionally, lower revenue, resources and expertise also makes it difficult for the owners to
perform all the functions of the business effectively. From the aforementioned module, it can
be evaluated that, marketing function can be considered as a backbone for every other function
of the business. A clear understanding of marketing and its function is a small business as
described above. Additionally, in context with Not Dogs, marketing structure and challenges
faced by small businesses is discussed in detail. In addition to this, the evolution of marketing in
small business is also described along with the marketing model that is applied to small
businesses. Lastly, microenvironment analysis is conducted on Not Dogs that gave a clear
understanding of how small businesses are affected by the internal factors. The module is
concluded by a brief personal reflection that includes every aspect
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