Factors Influencing Small Business Success

The assignment analyzes the factors that contribute to the success of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It delves into aspects such as business climate, ethics, innovation, integration of technologies like ERP, risk management, and visionary leadership. Drawing from scholarly articles and online resources, the document provides insights into the challenges and opportunities faced by SMEs in achieving sustainable growth.

Small Business Enterprise

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................................4
TASK 1.....................................................................................................................................................................4
1.1 Scenario of a small business enterprise, identifying its strengths and weaknesses......................................4
1.2 Analysis of the business using comparative measures of performance........................................................5
M1 ......................................................................................................................................................................6
TASK 2.....................................................................................................................................................................6
2.1 Appropriate actions required to overcome weakness in the business...........................................................6
2.2 Existing performance could be maintained and strengthened......................................................................7
2.3 New areas in which the company could be expanded..................................................................................8
M2 ......................................................................................................................................................................8
TASK 3 ....................................................................................................................................................................9
3.1 Assessment of existing business objectives and plan...................................................................................9
3.2 Business plan to incorporate appropriate changes......................................................................................10
3.3 Action plan to implement the changes........................................................................................................10
TASK 4...................................................................................................................................................................11
4.1 Impact of the proposed changes on the business and its personnels..........................................................11
4.2 Plan how the changes will be managed in the business..............................................................................11
4.3 Improvements in the performance of the business over a given timescale................................................11
D1......................................................................................................................................................................12
D2......................................................................................................................................................................12
D3 .....................................................................................................................................................................12
CONCLUSION .....................................................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Small scale business can be said as an undertaking containing few employees and the
people working in these small businesses does not work for the high business profits in the
market. take the high volume of sales and profit in the market. These enterprises are generally
privately owned and operated by the sole proprietorships, corporation and partnerships
(Bridge and O'Neill, 2012). This type of business are classified according to the capabilities,
annual revenue, sales, assets, shipment, number of employees and annual gross profit. Small
business in many countries includes the services and retail operation such as small stores,
groceries stores, restaurants etc. and many internet related business. Some professional
operate own small business such as consultancy business, restaurants and accountants. A
small business enterprises are non subsides by the government because its independents firms
which include less employers in the business process.
Austin Fraser Company is a consultancy organization in UK specializes in IT,
engineering and life sciences recruitment. This business entity's employee here to listen, give
the advise and help the customers and the organisations to perform better. It believes that
being open with clients and candidates and selecting the efficient one is a good idea. This
organization saves time, hassle and money. The present is based on small business enterprise
that include different type of culture, operations, work environment, strength and weakness of
the small companies.
TASK 1
1.1 Scenario of a small business enterprise, identifying its strengths and weaknesses.
Austin Fraser is an international recruitment consultancy based in UK. The
employees are always ready to listen, advise and help the various organisations that are
under it. This company provide the online services to the candidates to apply for the job in
the companies (Storey, 2016.). This company employees get the online services of the
candidates for the requirement of the companies. The organization employees helps in
advising the customers by giving them support. At Austin Fraser, the recruitment happens in
the following fields - Engineering, IT and Life Sciences sectors. Company consultants
specialises within the extremely specific market, skill set and geographical areas. Businesses
provide various recruitment services for every candidate who come in the company.

Strength and weakness of the Organization-
Strengths- This refer the company capabilities or aspect of the business that the
business entity does very well (Burns, 2010). Strength are includes the availability of the
resources in the business to give the advantages relative to competitors and need of the
market company serve or aspect to serve.
 Provide new fresh job for candidates.
 Carry out in very good location
 Company provide a outstanding recruitment services.
 Use online marketing.
Weaknesses- Weakness can be described as a deficiency in one or more resources
and somewhere in the power of the competitors for fighting for the performance of the firm.
These are those aspect of the organization operation, activities and function that It does not
go to very well in the market.
 Lack the information.
 Registration fees
 Focus on limited sectors
1.2 Analysis of the business using comparative measures of performance.
Austin Fraser is a consultancy firm to provide various job opportunities to the
customers. Monitoring the performance indicators is necessary for the firm so that if there is
any improvement, it must be indicated. Firm use the various measures of performance like
financial statements, data sample, interviews, questionnaire, survey and research. Determine
the business performance in the different department such as finance department to use the
financial statement for analysed or review the all cash inflow or out flow related to the
transaction. In any divergence in the financial part like cash flow, balance sheet, profit and
loss accounts an appropriate action can be taken by the firm (Stokes, Wilson and Wilson,
2010). There are various measure related to financial performance such as net profit.
This firm response given by the clients and candidates by the survey, questionnaire. In the
questionnaire some questions are asked related to the company products and services
(Schaper and et. al, 2014). Under this method, all the results are tracked in the company and
explanation of each answer is prepared for the report of the proposals to help in the
improving in the performance.

Customer relationship and effective communication- An employee understands the
customer needs and wants to be in a good relation with the customer. For that good
communication is necessary so the person will be able to get the points accurately.
Employee's satisfaction and development- Every Company provides equal
opportunities for all their employees in a workplace which leads to employee satisfaction as
well as to the development of the company.
Supplier's relations- The schema of every Company is to maintain a good
relationship with the suppliers in the market so that they can decide the material or products
for supplying, according to the customer needs.
By measuring the performance through these aspects, its helps the company to mark a higher
position in the market.
M1
Firm uses the systematic problem solving strategy for the appropriate solution of the
problems. Company first identifies the main issues and then identifies the impact of the
issues in the business process. To create a strategy map for planning on solving the problem
it is important to First identifying the problems and its impact on the whole organisation.
Next is identifying the root for the strategy for the appropriate solution and barnstorms for
the solutions. At the end select the appropriate solutions and implement the strategy to
identify the impact.
TASK 2
2.1 Appropriate actions required to overcome weakness in the business
Firm take the actions to reduce the risk factors to use the many tools and techniques
such as promotion tools, advertising techniques to promote the firms products and services.
As Austin Fraser is a consulting company , its requirement is to analyse and monitor the
weakness that must be converted into the various opportunities or benefits for the future
growth and achieve the competitive advantage in the market place (Malhotra and Temponi,
2010). In the many small business some major weaknesses create the many problem for the
business operation and function.
The weakness related to the customer demand, that the firm identify the customers
choice and demand related tot he companies. To use the method to identify the weakness in

the performance, managers increases the employees performance to meet the goals for the
employees. Using different outsourcing methods to increases the profit revenue of the
company is a very good idea.
The weaknesses related to the law which are include in the government authorities of
the state .The weakness of the small businesses are related to social responsibilities. The
company should be aware of the policies of environment protection and the contribution to
the society at small level.
2.2 Existing performance could be maintained and strengthened.
Austin Fraser is a multinational enterprise that has a much scope in maintaining and
improving the present performance of the enterprise in the market. There are various ways for
the firm to increase their can increases their performance in the consumer opinion priority,
loyalty building, record the performance, better communication support to the new clients as
well as potential customers. Some ways are explained below-
Customer opinion priority- Organization should make sure and determine the
response given by the clients related to the company products and services. Some clients are
give the different opinion about the time management of the service provide in this situation
the company minimise the time consumption resources and process improving the online
consultancy services for manage the time in the providing services.
Performance record- The organization can record the all information regular of the
each activity and all process are involved in the business operation and functions. Employees
record the every activity of the all transaction of the company affected by the within the time
management so that there will be no more issues and difficulties in the future operation and
functions (Altman, Sabato and Wilson, 2010). The company employee also aware the all
procedures are involved in the business process.
Customer support- This firm maintain the its performance by the responding every
time of the customers needs and demand to support the regarding services of the company.
Being a consultancy company the need of the business to resolve the any problem of the
clients.
Loyalty building- The business should take the appropriate actions for building the
customer's loyalty to provide the better services to the employers. It can also benefit the
existing performance of the business in the long term. Thus there are many ways through

which the Austin Fraser can strengthen and maintain the existing performance of the
organisation to achieve its desired goals and objectives.
2.3 New areas in which the company could be expanded
Austin Fraser as a consulting company has a lot of scope to explore and determine the
new areas in which it can be developed more. There are some new opportunities in the area
of recruitment consultancy (Fassin, Van Rossem and Buelens, 2011). Some of the areas in
which the company can grow and expand its business as following.
Research techniques- The company can use research techniques as many changes
are seen in the technology time to time which can help the business to expand in new areas.
The company can conduct a research on the latest and useful techniques like qualitative and
quantitative techniques.
Development in the market- The company can expand its business by developing
some new features in the existing products and services. In this market, which is full of
competition, the organisation have the facilities to explore the new areas in which it can
expand the business.
Identification of new opportunities- The Austin Fraser can expand its business by
including the new opportunities in the condition of recession or inflation. In these situations
the company can make use of the marketing strategy to maintain in the market can get new
opportunities for business.
Re branding- The company can expand its business in the long term by rebranding
its product. It can modify the feature of the product according to the need of the customers so
that there will be maximum sales and customer satisfaction which leads to the revenue
generation and profit maximisation (Forsman and Temel, 2011). Thus there are many new
areas in which the organisation like Austin Fraser can expand its business.
M2
Organisations use different methods and techniques for increasing the value of the
business. Those techniques are used for solving the problems-
Identify the problem- Researchers firstly identifies on the objective to design and
maintain the organisation activities and the strategy adopted to solve the problems.

Use performance indicators- Mangers use the different types of performance
indicators for the employees that how they will be able to get the new innovations and the
outcomes and new learning about the task.
Assessment plan and Action research methodology design- Use of an assessment plan
for applying the new design and at the end of the process to take action for the evaluation of
the all designs.
TASK 3
3.1 Assessment of existing business objectives and plan.
Austin Fraser is a small company should have achievable, profitable objective and
goals these help to achieve the desire position in the market place then its competitors (Chell,
Nicolopoulou and Karataş-Özkan, 2010).
The company should have a SMART objectives so that the company achieve the
goals in time. Company aims for the new companies in the tract of the recruitment
consultancy.
In order to the attain the desired goals of the entity, some strategic plans should be
used by companies for maximum customer retention. It is significant for companies to
achieve SMART objectives of entity. Strategic plans are important part of effective outputs of
the business. If the plans are not effective then there might be some difficulties arises in
organisation.
These objectives also includes the best services provided to the customers.
SMART objective of the company includes the specific, mensurable, accomplish able,
realistic and time effective.
For the convenience of the employees and employers, the objectives should be easy
and specific.
Company target the specific area for the innovation. It is irrelevant to the business that
only one task is being targetted by the functional and operational unit of organisation,
Concentration on all the factors is needed in a business. In case of target kinematics, it is not
possible for management team to function effectively on achievement of the objective.

To achieve a considerable share in the market, it is vital that a effective set of
strategies are implemented to achieve the goal. (Carraher and Paridon, 2015). It is also
necessary to set a time limit for accomplishing every target. Time effectiveness is required in
every organisation in attaining development.
3.2 Business plan to unite appropriate changes.
Firm can make a new business plan for the appropriate changes-
The firm can identify the the problem in the changes by the planters and planing for the create
the new planning strategy.
Next step is select the approaches and strategy for the appropriate change in the
business process plan.
After select the approaches and strategy than chose the best alternative for applying
the new approaches and strategies in the plan.
For a SME, it is necessary to have an effective plan for its survival in business world.
Also, these effective plans help in increasing business value. For, The Austin Fraser, which is
a recruitment company it is essential to have proper plans, dates, etc. (.Jasra and et. al, 2012).
Timely revision of these strategies are required depending upon the situations. For the
incremental changes in the real plan, this SME needs a long-term and constant planning, not
for major revision of the full plan of the company. It is also a foremost duty of managers to
check the wellness of the strategy and to implement them effectively in the organisation.
Also, quick redesigning of decisions are required from managers in case of changes related to
working situations. Further, proper learning of environment of company is needed to provide
employees with comfortable working conditions. This will result in increase in efficiency and
effectiveness of employees, hence the business value of the entity will be increased. Various
factors can be altered for effective functioning, these factors may be economical, social,
cultural, etc. Also, changes can be done in the products to deal with the market demand and
meet up the customers' expectation. Moreover, to compete with the business rivals, policies
should be changed timely according to the need of customers. Thus, above were some
changes depending upon different aspects of an establishment which should be implemented
in different situations.

3.3 Action plan to implement the changes..
Austin Fraser has involved various into the existing businesses plan for make changes
into the process. Business plan fort he company helps to analyse the vision, aim and objective
in order to achieve goal (Teece, 2010). In order to achieve this various effective approaches
and models are available, for managing various process. It consist of strategies to execute
plans and combination of technological support. It helps to achieve compatibility in business
process. In order to achieve this first step is involve modification in aim and vision of
company. Second is management of group should be done effectively, all duties are
distributed effectively. The third step, helps to implement various responsibilities in order to
make changes according to the demand of work. Forth , in this action plan is analysed in
order to measure progress of work.
In first step of an action plan to implement the changes in the organization goals and
the objectives are determined and identified.
The second step the change management team should assess the rules, roles of the
member of business plan an the tools which are to be used in changes.
Third step the action plan which is suitable for the nature of the business and the
objective of the company like Austin Fraser is developed. (Kearins, Collins and Tregidga,
2010)
The fourth step, the action plan is Implemented. In implementing the action plan, the
key areas to improve are considered and the progress in the action plan is evaluated.
TASK 4
The fourth step, the action plan is Implemented. In implementing
the action plan, the key areas to improve are considered and the progress
in the action plan is evaluated.
TASK 4
4.1 Impact of the proposed changes on the business and its personnels.
Staying current- Change in the businesses helps to stay in the current market trends
and also attracts new and more number of customers in the existing marketplace as well as
new market.

New opportunity- It provides new chances for business enhancement and acquire new
employees that could be beneficial for the organisation(Philip, 2010). Change provides
various opportunities to grow and acquire varied techniques in several areas such as finance,
human resources, production unit and distribution unit.
Encouraging innovations- Change adoption within business provides and encourages
entrepreneur to bring innovations in the work and business operations. It helps in increasing
efficiency of the work.
4.2 Plan how the changes will be managed in the business.
Firm can adopt the new plan to change the analysis process to determine the all
aspects to affect the business process and activities. Areas that require change should be
identified and analysis of business profile should be performed. Information about creating
proposal for change should be collected and utilized in the process. A presentation that
explains effects of change should be made and activities should be arranged accordingly.
Information collected should be presented and changes should be encouraged to implement.
Inputs and outputs of the change should be noted and mangers should record its impact on the
organisation(Chow and et. al, 2011). Change plan should be introduced to the employees and
workers should be encouraged to provide their efforts in the business plan and analysis of the
concepts and ideas behind change should be carried out.
4.3 Improvements in the performance of the business over a given timescale.
In the company as there lot of changes made by the organization to achieve the goals.
The firm chose the problem solving strategy to solve the problem in the business activities.
The managers are create a plan for adopting the strategy and select the best alternative for
applying the strategy. This strategy help to identify the risk problem in the firm to affect t the
business activities. This strategy help to determine the problem in the business process.
Performance of the Company could be improved by variety of ways such as conducting
SWOT analysis to identify present situation of the venture, conducting market research, trend
analysis. Benchmarking could also be set and seminar could be conducted to understand
curentpositon in the market of the firm (Dethier, Hirn and Straub, 2011). Company
performance could be improved by setting up strategies that would define ways to acquire
goals. A business should be designed after formulation of strategy that defines how change
should be implemented within given time period and available resources in order to achieve

desired outputs. After implementation process, company measures outputs whether they are
according to the expected outcomes. An action plan is prepared if results deviates form the
expectations.
D1
According to me the Austin Fraser, new market should be always be targeted and
quality provided to the market should be maintained. New techniques should be utilized to
provide hob opportunities to the people and accordingly new consumers should be taken into
consideration. Impact of the change within the business plan should be identified and issues
encountered in the process should be solved. For every new task a completely new
management team should be framed and accordingly target consumers should be identified.
D2
Austin Fraser managers have direct the talent and resources within an organization to
give the advance for achieve strategic business objectives in the future. Responsibilities of a
mangers should take the all department and its functions. Managers responsibilities are-
Planning and organising the all functions of the company and business planning
involves the business goals and objectives, designing the strategies, organising the resources
help in achieving the objectives (Wu and Olson, 2010). Managers responsibility to take the
right actions to related to the changes needed to adopted the external and internal factors to
impact on the business process. Managers are play the informational and interpersonal role in
the organisation to manages the all information about the employers and the customers of the
company.
D3
Company with a small scale business in the market to provide the many new job
opportunities to the candidates that is target the new students for searching the jobs.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that the small business enterprises are
important part of the market. In this present report identify the small business enterprises
strength and weaknesses. For improvement in the current performance of the business,there
are many measures by which the performance can be calculated. Being starter in the
established market small business has scope in the new areas in which the business can be

expanded. There are many changes which can affect the business and its members. To deal
with such changes, business plan is also modified according to the situation.
REFERENCES
Books and journals
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business. Palgrave Macmillan.
Burns, P., 2010. Entrepreneurship and Small Business: Start-up. Growth and Maturity.
Palgrave Macmillan.
Carraher, S.M. and Paridon, T.J., 2015. Entrepreneurship journal rankings across the
discipline. Journal of Small Business Strategy. 19(2). pp.89-98.
Chell, E., Nicolopoulou, K. and Karataş-Özkan, M., 2010. Social entrepreneurship and
enterprise: International and innovation perspectives.

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ONLINE
Small Business Enterprise. 2017. [Online]. Available through.
<http://certifications.thomasnet.com/certifications/glossary/ownership_diversity/
ownership_diversity/small-business-enterprise-sbe/>. [Assessed on 17th May 2017].
Small business enterprise program. 2017. [Online]. Available through.
<http://www.txdot.gov/business/partnerships/sbe.html>. [Assessed on 17th May
2017].