Factors Influencing Small Business Success

This assignment delves into the critical factors that contribute to the success of small businesses. It examines various aspects such as business strategy, owner-manager characteristics, and alternative information sources used by these enterprises. Drawing upon a range of scholarly articles, students will analyze the impact of these factors on small business performance and sustainability.

SMALL BUSINESS
ENTERPRISE

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Profile of organisation with its strength and weaknesses......................................................1
1.2 Comparative analysis of performance of Beauty Blvd Company.........................................2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
2.1 Justification and recommendation.........................................................................................4
2.2 Analysis of ways that can make improvement in performance............................................4
2.3 New areas for expansion.......................................................................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................6
3.1 Existing business plan and objectives...................................................................................6
3.2 Review of business plan to make changes............................................................................7
3.3 Action plan to implementation of change.............................................................................7
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................8
4.1 Evaluating impact of changes on business and personnel....................................................8
4.2 Planning how the changes will be managed in business ......................................................9
4.3 Monitoring improvements in performance...........................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
There are many small, medium and big enterprises working in different countries
which contribute in development of economy. It is evident that there are many small enterprises
established in country which is most common as it needs less amount of investment to start with
little quantity of people. These are managed by the private companies as the decisions are made
by the owner only. Thus, the entire rights of managing the company and taking decisions are
with its owner. In UK, there is a famous TV serial Dragon's den which is based on a
differentiated concept of investing on various ideas presented by people having innovative
aspects (Eckerson, 2010). The panels of judges listen to the ideas of various contestants and the
best one is chosen so that their idea can be developed and aided through proper funds. The
present report is going to discuss one similar company for the further study. The Beauty BLVD
organisation is a company which was approached by Dragon's den when they were impressed by
the product. The report will discuss various strength and weakness of products along with its
SMART objectives that helped in gaining success. Besides this, some recommendations have
been made which can overcome weakness of product.
TASK 1
1.1 Profile of organisation with its strength and weaknesses
The Beauty BLVD is a cosmetic company which was funded by Dragon's den and
established as a small business enterprise. The firm is located in 1, Silver Street, Lincoln in UK
which is owned and managed by Racheal De Caux and Paula. The said firm serves its customers
glitter lips range and similar glitter products like eye liner, lip gloss, glitter eyes and lip balms
(Essers, Böhm and Contu, 2009). The mentioned organisation provides its products through its

physical stores as well as online platforms. The form has its presence in global markets of New
Zealand and Australia as well. Both co-owners of this entity had a good image in hair and beauty
industry they decided to start a venture. Both girls went into Topshop, and oxford streets wearing
their Glitter lips because of which they were noticed by many of the floor staff. They took
pictures of them and sent to the head office. Soon they got response and offered with an
opportunity to show their products to founder of Ruby & Millie make up along with beauty
editor of Vogue. The product gained much of the popularity due to its presence in Dragon Den's
show. The people used to stand in queue for long hours just to try out the product. Last year the
company has a turnover of £2.5million. The products of mentioned company got a big hype and
the owners decided to launch an online store so that they can cater the demands of customers
(Finch, 2011). At initial stage, the organisation was not much successful as they used Paypal for
selling their beauty products. Later, they found that they need to bring some improvements in
payment system which they improved through conducting researches and taking feedback from
customers. Thus, the company passed from various stages and later they successfully made their
market by winning the hearts of customers. Further, the product got more fame as it is of high
quality and it does not harm lips as it contains Vitamin A, C and E. Besides this, the product is
rich and long lasting up to 8 hours with just one time application. The organisation has entered
into hair care as well and now it has made the product popular through its tag line “Where
healthy hair care and beauty meet”.
For analysis of mentioned organisation, its internal scanning has been done which reveals
its various strength and weaknesses which are as follows:
Strength  The product has good innovative side which can easily attract large
number of people (Fitzgerald and et.al., 2010).
 The presence of products in global market with creativity and
differentiated ranges helps in attaining competitive advantage.
 The online sales of company help in increasing its sales volume.
 Products are of high quality and are harmful for skin and also long
lasting.
Weakness  The organisation deals in limited range of products.
 The tools and techniques used by firm are not much efficient to attract

customers.
 The costs of products are high which is preferred by few clients.
 The payment system through online purchase lacks efficiency which
creates bad experience for the customers (Miles, 2011).
1.2 Comparative analysis of performance of Beauty Blvd Company
The Beauty BLVD is a product that has gained a lot of hype in market due to its
innovative product range. The said company has become a leading organisation which is
engaged in various beauty products ranges that includes glitter. The product has made its success
with the help of innovation and its proper identification of needs and preferences of customers.
The company has used its various resources in the optimum way that puts a check on wastage
along with low cost of operations. The organisational culture of company is very friendly and
which gives the feeling of home to customers. Every worker in the organisation is encouraged
for enhancing their learning skills and creativity. For this purpose, different training and
development sessions are also arranged that aids in improving present skills and knowledge of
the workers. Further, they are also trained for learning different production and selling methods
that can help in boosting profitability (Reiss, 2012). The cited firm has its particular sets of
values that entail everyone to deliver quality services to the customers. Besides this, it further
sets the objective of treating customers and employees in a professional and courteous way. It
encourages participative decision-making in the organisation so that staff members can also
share their views and ideas. This motivates workers and develops a feeling of importance among
them. Thus, all efforts of management help in making positive work culture and also aids in
improving the performance of organisation. The competition is also high in market where the
stated product has a competitor with similar products. The Michelle Cosmetics company deals in
wide range of glitter products and gives tough competition as it also offers various innovative
services to the customers (Blackburn, Hart and Wainwright, 2013).
By comparing the performances of both companies, it is evident that Beauty BLVD has
better presentation level than Michelle Cosmetics. The later organisation has less number of
skilled and qualified personnel who can give proper shape to the ideas. But, Beauty BLVD lacks
in number of ranges in which it deals as Michelle Cosmetics has more diverse product ranges.
Further, the quality of Beauty BLVD is more as it contains Vitamin A, C and E which is good
for the skin. Due to its good innovation skills and better quality, it has attained a large market

share. The company is successful in satisfying its customers in a well manner. On the other
hands, the Michelle cosmetics have also a large range of make up products which fulfils
customer's wishes. The company has made many strategies which helps in attaining growth and
increases profitability. The major objective of this company is to serve customers with natural
products which can present distinctive aspects. In comparison to this firm, the Beauty BLVD has
made its progress through better customer services and addressing various issues of the clients.
They take their feedback on serious note and try to resolve it as soon as possible. Because of this,
it has become more preferable brand among consumers (Carraher and Paridon, 2015). The
company is also trying to enhance its marketing tools so that they can properly stimulate
demands. Some of the problems are also faced in the form of insufficient funds. This creates
barrier in the way to attain more market share and make better investments.
TASK 2
2.1 Justification and recommendation
The discussion made on weaknesses of the products, it is clear that Beauty BLVD has
many weaknesses that must be resolved to improve the performance level of company. It is
apparent here that, firm is engaged in delivering its services in glitter product's range. This this
limitation is necessary to overcome as it contracts the scope of expansion. It is necessary that
company makes an attempt to diverse its products and make use of its innovative skills to invent
new products for expansion. Further, it is also noticed that said organisation has inefficient
marketing techniques that can make it to lag behind in the competition. The enterprise must
adopt some tools that can easily make communication with customers. Besides this, the use of
social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr etc. can be used extensively which
will prove to be of great help (Cassar, Ittner and Cavalluzzo, 2015). In addition to this, use of
advertisements, arranging events and campaigns can also be a good tool to promote the services.
With adoption of different techniques, it is necessary to be aligned with budget. The advanced
tools and techniques must be adopted for production techniques so that it can help in reducing
cost of manufacturing. As a result, the products can be made available in comparatively lower
price. Thus, the weakness of its less sales volume due to expensive price range can be overcome.
Another method that can help in decreasing the cost of products is to make different ranges of all
goods with moderate changes in size, quantity and quality. This can also aid in the objective of

lowering cost of goods. The availability of goods should be made wider and easily accessible as
well. The accessibility through online platforms and physical stores must be enhanced which can
aid in making it more recognisable by customers (Choshin and Ghaffari, 2017).
2.2 Analysis of ways that can make improvement in performance
The Beauty BLVD has various options through which it can bring efficiency in its
performance levels. For this purpose, it is necessary to take some concrete steps that can lead the
organisation towards success. Some of the measures that can be adopted by mentioned venture
are as follows:
 Porter's five force analysis: The cited firm can analyse the environment with the help of
porter's five force analysis. This will help in examining the entire surrounding with
various elements that can pose threat for organisation. This analysis will give a clear
picture of different factors like competitors, substitutes, new entrants, suppliers and also
customers. Thus, this analysis must be conducted by quoted company to overcome
weakness and formulate strong strategies for solution (Obeng and Blundel, 2015).
 Customer relationship management: The close and sound relation with customers is a key
factor of achieving success in competitive environment. It is necessary to take care the
needs of clients and make products accordingly. This will help in catering their needs and
maintaining good relations with them. Besides this, company should deliver good after
sales service to customers and address their feedback properly.
 Developing marketing techniques: The organisation needs to develop its marketing tools
and techniques so that company can enhance its services and also attain competitive
advantage (Squicciarini, 2016). Several advertising techniques like social media sites,
event organisation etc.
2.3 New areas for expansion
The Beauty BLVD is performing well in market with its innovative products and
services. But it is not enough as the company has very less range of products that limits its scope.
Therefore, it is necessary that organisation makes its products with diverse characteristics.
Recently, the mentioned business firm has planned to come up in market with new product range
for hair care. With this planning, the company has released its new range of shampoo and hair
brush. This shampoo claims to give healthy hair with good scalp and strong roots. It also protects
the head from hydration and and gives better shine to hairs (Frearson, 2016). The product is rich

in vitamins, anti-oxidants, various minerals and fatty acids which gives good conditioning to
hairs. The product is not much popular among customers which must be addressed by mentioned
company. For this, the said firm can organise public events where use of shampoo and its
benefits can be demonstrated. In addition to this, the online platforms must also be used
extensively to make it more popular among customers. Besides this, it will also help in
stimulating demand for shampoo. Moreover, the organisation must also expand services by
selling its shampoo and other products to high profile saloons. This will also help I promoting
the new product among customer. It is also necessary to price this product at a nominal range
which will help in making it more famous and recognisable (Goss, 2015). The company must
ensure proper employee cooperation in this as well. The employees must be trained and given
proper education about new product and its objectives which will help in engaging them with
new product and its proper expansion.
TASK 3
3.1 Existing business plan and objectives
For a successful completion of various objectives, the company must ensure that all aims
must be clearly defined to its employees as well as other stakeholders. Primarily, the firm must
design its objectives properly, so that it can align the strategies and plan of action accordingly.
For this purpose, the Beauty BLVD company must make a market research and study which will
provide information about customer's needs and requirements. This information will act as a base
for making products and using marketing tools accordingly. The another objective of cited
organisation is to collect funds that may aid in enhancing investment opportunities. These
investments must be made in different areas which can be utilised for increasing product range,
making improvements in current services etc. (Eckerson, 2010). Further, the management should
also induce some strategies that can reduce cost of operation in order to attain less cost of
products. The quality control must be assessed which will ensure that products are made with
high standards. To ensure proper quality control, the methods like TQM or Six Sigma are much
helpful. The products can be made with diverse ranges that can serve different target customers.
This will include products with less price with similar quality. In addition to this, it is crucial to
develop effective promotional tools because without making communication with customers, the
products cannot be provided properly. The online sites must be developed and given space to

share feedback and suggestions of customers. This will assist in fulfilling the objective of
managing customer relation and knowing views of customers about products and services. Apart
from this, it will also help in making improvements in products as per the customers' needs and
demands. The development of tactics will also be helpful in managing different activities and it
will act as a backup plan in case of failure of major strategy (Essers, Böhm and Contu, 2009).
The best plan is to formulate objectives based on SMART criteria that refers to objectives which
are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bounded. Therefore, stated enterprise can
develop objectives based on said criteria like
 To increase sales volume of products with 10% than last year.
 To attain minimum cost of production with 5% savings in various resources.
3.2 Review of business plan to make changes
The change is an inevitable part of any business enterprise which must be made timely to
gain competitive advantage and sustain rivalry in market. The current business strategies that are
followed by Beauty BLVD implies that many of its plans are not able to accomplish some
concrete objectives and needs many improvements. The company must develop policies that can
overcome its weakness of limited product range, costly products, weak marketing strategies etc.
for this, it is necessary to bring changes in its current business strategies and plans (Fitzgerald,
and et.al., 2010). The cited company must go with proper planning and setting definite goals to
achieve. As per these goals, strategies must be formulated. Before this, the company may also
opt for making a budget plan so that allocation of funds can be done wisely. According to this
allocation, the stated firm must move and adopt different tools and techniques to overcome
various weaknesses. According to set budget, the company can make decision to diversify the
business and its product range as well. Similarly, use of techniques and tools must be used
accordingly that can help in saving cost of production. For this, employees can also be given
training so that they can use some methods which may provide benefits in attaining less cost per
unit. In addition to this, marketing tools must be adopted that are in budget and can communicate
with people on mass scale at once. The online presence must be improved by the mentioned
company through use of sophisticated features that can highlight the digital content and product's
quality (Miles, 2011). The arrangement of various resources must be made properly and cost
must be maintained at lower level. Apart from this, the innovation and creativity must be
continuous which will help in gaining competitive advantage.

3.3 Action plan to implementation of change
The action plan to implement the changes in current business plan may follow some
critical steps by Beauty BLVD. This plan will help in improvement of current position and
achieving set objectives as well.
Identification of problem: The first stage refers to correct identification of basic problems that
which are faced by the company. This may be done by analysing the current performance and
studying the market. It will help in getting clear vision of those areas where the organisation is
lacking in giving good performance. The major issues which are currently faced by enterprise are
lack of good marketing efforts, high cost of goods and limited range of product line
(Reiss, 2012).
Setting objectives: The objective setting in clear terms help in gaining the success. The
objectives must be aligned with vision and mission of company along with its clear definition to
all its employees. The objectives must be made according to SMART criteria that can help in
gaining objectives properly. Cited organisation must determine the current position of the market
and develop the action plan for it accordingly.
Analysis of environment: The proper analysis of environment can be done with the help of
implementing different models and theories. Use of SWOT, PESTLE and Porter's five force
analysis can help in accomplishing this objective (Carraher, and Paridon, 2015). Apart from this,
it will aid in attaining the knowledge of both external and internal business environment that can
impact the operations of business.
Formulation of strategies: The strategies can be made according to above analysis of
environment that will give all information about different factors that may affect business along
with level of competition. Therefore, the strategies must be made as per the external environment
so that company can survive competition and fulfil demand of customers.
Monitoring action plan: After proper analysis and formulation of strategies, it is necessary that
the company must monitor its plan and its implementation. The top level management must put a
proper check to ensure that work is going on as per the plan (Cassar, Ittner, and Cavalluzzo,
2015). The performance level of employees must also be properly observed so that they products
can be made and sold effectively. This will ultimately result in better output with more revenues.

TASK 4
4.1 Evaluating impact of changes on business and personnel
The above suggested action plan and changes will have a great impact on business and its
personnels. The changes will help in bringing a proper and systematic functioning within
workplace. The use of various strategies and analysis of environment will help in proper
investigation and development in company's performance (Choshin, and Ghaffari, 2017). The
personnels of organisation will be trained and developed so that they can work as per the
formulated strategy. Besides this, it will assist in managing the competitive environment and
make revenues. The products will get better response and the customers can get quality products.
This will make a good relationship between company and customers resulting in retention of
consumers. The developed marketing techniques will help in capturing more market share and
customers that directly give more profits to organisation (Choshin, and Ghaffari, 2017). This
increased profits will be invested in developing organisation and its employees as well.
4.2 Planning how the changes will be managed in business
In the present time, it is highly important for all the companies to adopt with several
changes so as to ensure with the sustainability in the market. Thus in Beauty BLVD, they have
made several changes so as to develop there business in the industry. They have enhanced wit
there product range, taking efforts to reduce the initial cost of the products, adopting with
different marketing strategies like developing there page on Twitter, Instagram etc. which will
help them to attract large number of customers (Squicciarini, 2016). Further, in relation to this
the company has adopted with the change model for the evaluation of the effect of change
management. It involves mainly three stages:
 Unfreeze- It is the first stage in which the company identify with the needs of the
customers about there needs and develop with the ones which can satisfy them to a
greater extent.
 Change- In this step,they come up with new marketing strategies which will them to
make the customers about the products in an efficient manner. Furthermore, the people
will accept with the changed products provided to them and start using them and enjoy
with the services (Goss, 2015).

 Refreeze- Thus, by getting the positive response by the customers, they are able to come
up with new changes as per the preferences of them. This will help them to grow there
business in the market and becoming a leading brand in the industry.
4.3 Monitoring improvements in performance
The regular monitoring of plan is an important part to check proper improvement in
work. The monitoring of performance helps in observing the performance and ensuring
efficiency of employees. This will assist Beauty BLVD organisation to appraise with the
presentation level of every worker so that it can ensure high efficiency of the firm (Obeng and
Blundel, 2015). For this purpose, they can execute with several types of models and theories
such as 360 degree feedback and many others which will help to bridge the gap between the
expected and actual performance of the company. Apart from this, some of the steps that can be
developed for monitoring presentation level which can be as follows:
Purpose Information Existing condition Monitoring
Increasing the sales
and revenues of
organisation.
The company
managed to enhance
its sales by 12%.
Achieved The managers and
superiors must be
instructed to check the
performance level as
per the set criteria.
Declining cost of
operations (Blackburn,
Hart and Wainwright,
2013)
The per unit cost of
each product has
decreased to 1%.
Moderately achieved. The managers require
to formulate strategies
that can cut cost of
production and
increase savings
(Finch, 2011).
CONCLUSION
The small business enterprise is the most common form of business organisation that are
run in various countries with the objective of providing goods and services to consumers. These
industries also assist in development of economy. The present report has discussed on Beauty

BLVD which is a cosmetic company in UK which became famous through its presentation in
Dragon's Den TV serial. The company makes glitter lipsticks and similar innovative beauty
products, the report has concluded that it is necessary to perform environment analysis that
provides information of market and aids in strategy formulation. Besides this, the change
management is discussed which is an inevitable part to overcome issues of said company like
ineffective marketing and limited product range. The last section of report has discussed about
monitoring of proposed plan.

REFERENCES
Journals and Books
Blackburn, R.A., Hart, M. And Wainwright, T., 2013. Small business performance: business,
strategy and owner-manager characteristics. Journal of small business and enterprise
development, 20(1). pp. 8-27.
Carraher, S.M. And Paridon, T.J., 2015. Entrepreneurship journal rankings across the
discipline. Journal of small business strategy. 19(2). pp. 89-98.
Cassar, G., Ittner, C.D. And Cavalluzzo, K.S., 2015. Alternative information sources and
information asymmetry reduction: evidence from small business debt. Journal of
accounting and economics. 59(2). pp. 242-263.
Choshin, M. And Ghaffari, A., 2017. An investigation of the impact of effective factors on the
success of e-commerce in small-and medium-sized companies. Computers in human
behavior. 66. pp. 67-74.
Eckerson, W., 2010. Performance Dashboards: Measuring, Monitoring, and Managing Your
Business. John Wiley & Sons.
Essers, J., Böhm, S. and Contu, A., 2009. Corporate Robespierres, ideologies of management and
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Finch, E., 2011. Facilities Change Management. John Wiley & Sons.
Fitzgerald, M. A. and et.al., 2010. Socially responsible processes of small family business
owners: Exploratory evidence from the national family business survey. Journal of Small
Business Management. 48(4). pp.524-551.
Goss, D., 2015. Small business and society (routledge revivals). Routledge.
Miles, A., 2011. Risk Factors and Business Models: Understanding the Five Forces of
Entrepreneurial Risk and the Causes of Business Failure. Universal-Publishers.
Obeng, B.A. And Blundel, R. K., 2015. Evaluating enterprise policy interventions in africa: a
critical review of ghanaian small business support services. Journal of small business
management. 53(2). pp. 416-435.
Reiss, M., 2012. Change Management: A Balanced and Blended Approach. BoD – Books on
Demand.
Squicciarini, M., 2016. Entrepreneurship, innovation and enterprise dynamics.small business
economics, pp.1-6.
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