Entrepreneurial Marketing for SMEs: A Comprehensive Report

This report provides a comprehensive overview of entrepreneurial marketing strategies specifically tailored for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). It begins by defining entrepreneurial marketing and its importance for SMEs, emphasizing the need for resourcefulness and innovative approaches. The report then delves into the statistics and challenges faced by SMEs, highlighting the high failure rates and the crucial role of effective marketing. It explores the distinguishing features of the small business marketing environment, including political, economic, social, and technological factors, and how these impact SMEs. Strategic marketing approaches are discussed, along with key marketing issues such as gaining competitive advantage, establishing a unique selling proposition, and assessing risks. The report contrasts standard marketing theory with the realities of SMEs, emphasizing the importance of innovative marketing techniques. The report also provides an overview of the marketing strategies of Unicorn Grocery. Finally, the report concludes by summarizing the key findings and recommendations for successful entrepreneurial marketing in the SME context.

ENTREPRENEURIAL
MARKETING
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Marketing is considered to be an effective tool for all types of businesses in today’s
dynamic and fast changing world. In this regard, small business enterprises have lower financial
resources and initiatives to get engaged in marketing so as to ensure their sustainability in market
for a long time. Thus, it is largely required by them to optimally utilise their resources in order to
carry out entrepreneurial marketing. The purpose of this report is to present an academic report
upon the marketing tools and techniques used by SMEs and their review in context of marketing
environment. It is recommended that the small business owner should make use of 6 Fold
Contingency Cycle of Entrepreneurial marketing.
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Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) statistics.....................................................................4
Entrepreneurial Marketing in SMEs.......................................................................................5
Distinguishing features of small business marketing environment........................................5
Strategic Marketing................................................................................................................7
Key Marketing issues faced by new ventures or SMEs in industries (For instance: retail
sector).....................................................................................................................................7
Standard Marketing Theory and contrast with SMEs............................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11
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INTRODUCTION
Entrepreneurial marketing is a combination of two important and discrete management
areas, namely, entrepreneurship and marketing. Prevailing as two separate disciplines, marketing
and entrepreneurship have emerged to demonstrate the various facets of marketing which are
generally not taken into account by the traditional marketing concepts and theories. However,
entrepreneurial marketing can be defined as the proactive determination as well as utilisation of
opportunities that assist in capturing and retaining potential and profitable customers by way of
resource leveraging, value creation and adoption of innovative and unique approaches for risk
management (Whalen and Akaka, 2016). The present assignment is focussed upon ascertaining
the entrepreneurial marketing approaches and techniques adopted by SMEs to attract customers
and sustain in market taking an example of Unicorn Grocery. Further, it identifies the key issues
that are faced by new ventures or small businesses. Lastly, the analysis of standard marketing
theory is given in contrast with their application within SMEs.
Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) statistics
Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are the key to economy of a country and they
individually account for approximately 99.9% of the overall UK business economy. Research
conducted upon SMEs reveal that 20% of these businesses fail in 2 years of their initiation and
50% fail within 5 years (What Percentage Of Small Businesses Fail -- And How Can You Avoid
Being One Of Them?, 2018). Further studies reveal that even though SMEs generate employment
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opportunities yet their quantum is gradually declining. Although around 500,000 small
businesses start every year, lesser than half are able to survive 5 years or more within the
economy. It has been found that the major factor leading to their downfall is minimal attention
paid by them to market research while starting a new venture. The most common cause for their
failure is inadequate and ineffective marketing strategies and techniques used by them to attract
and retain customers as well as their failure to adopt modern marketing approaches (The Top 5
Reasons Small Businesses Fail, 2018). Further, the survival rate is noted to be least in
construction and transportation & warehousing industries (What Percentage of Small Businesses
Fail? (And Other Need-to-Know Stats). Which Small Business Industry Has the Lowest Survival
Rate, 2018).
According to various professionals and academicians, the business growth and success of
SMEs are largely dependent upon the small business owner (entrepreneur) as well as their
entrepreneurial characteristics such as innovation, creativity, propensity to undertake liabilities
and risks etc. It has been further found that all the businesses, irrespective of their scale of
operations (small or large) are largely dependent upon customers who are the ultimate decision
makers in relation to making a purchase of products and services sold by SMEs for their long
term sustainability in marketplace.
Entrepreneurial Marketing in SMEs
Marketing consists of identification of target market and target customers, gaining
knowledge about needs and preferences of consumers, fulfilment of customer demands better
than rivals, development of products as per customer choice and accomplishment of all the
before-mentioned activities at a profit. With the passage of time, many authors have given
diverse set of definitions of marketing. However, the definition given by Chartered Institute of
Marketing (CIM) includes all the pillars of marketing optimally. Thus, marketing is defined as
“the management process which ascertains, anticipates and supply customer demands in an
effective and profitable manner”.
Over time, the focus is on the manner in which firms meet the needs of customers and
keep them satisfied. Customer orientation is the prime requirement for small businesses in
today’s competitive marketing environment (Kilenthong, Hultman and Hills, 2016). For this, the
major role is of entrepreneur who shapes the foundation of enterprise and lays out the activities
to be undertaken by entity in order to sustain in market for a long time. Small & medium
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enterprises do not have access to resources as large companies, thus, SMEs such as Unicorn
Grocery generally rely on unique and innovative ways to keep the customers engaged and retain
them for future. The four pillars of success for SMEs are business venture, uniqueness,
innovation and business growth. Each of these has a pivotal role in the dynamics of small
business and their marketing management processes.
Distinguishing features of small business marketing environment
Small businesses like Unicorn Grocery do not have access to immense resources as large
scale enterprises. Thus, they employ marketing strategies and techniques in accordance with
effective utilisation of available resources in order to maintain their sustainability in marketplace.
In this regard, the spheres of marketing for them in terms of product, place, price and promotion
tend to have a different contextual meaning and implication in contrast to large scale enterprises.
The factors of macro environment affect SMEs in ways different than larger organisations. In
this regard, PEST analysis is conducted to gain knowledge of the distinguishing features of small
business marketing environment:-
Political Factors: This defines the extent of interaction with local government and
related agencies. Small business enterprises possess a larger scope of maintaining an effective
working relationship with city council members in order to influence the codes and legislations
that affect SMEs such as Unicorn Grocery. Further, when the communication and relationship
with local government is good, the access to tax subsidies as well as local funding becomes
easier which reflects the chance to invest more on marketing (The Effects of Environmental
Factors on Small-Scale Business, 2018).
Economical Factors: This demonstrates the shift in local economy which may facilitate
or hinder the operations of small business enterprises such as Unicorn Grocery. In case a
business sells low priced products, the buying process will witness an upsurge when the
economic conditions are weak and unemployment in country is on rise as people have budget
constraints in such instances. In contrast to this, service businesses and luxury items strive to
earn more when economy is strong and employment is stable (The Effects of Environmental
Factors on Small-Scale Business, 2018). When SMEs earn higher, they have the scope to incur a
larger amount on marketing strategies.
Social Factors: These include changes in demographic values such as attitude of people,
lifestyle trends, societal movements etc. Small scale business enterprises have lesser financial
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resources to attract customers towards their products and services yet they stand a chance to
make a good impression upon the consumers by recognising the latest trends prevailing amidst
the population and taking steps to make them accessible to public. By rendering offerings which
match the tastes and preferences of customers, SMEs like Unicorn Grocery strive to gain a
significant goodwill and stake in marketplace and further focus upon marketing approaches to
ensure the same performance for long term.
Technological Factors: This determines the alignment of organisations with the latest
equipments and techniques prevailing within the same business sector as well as overall market.
Small business enterprises have relatively lower funds than large organisations to be able to
invest in lucrative and efficient technologies (Yang and Gabrielsson, 2017). Yet the scope for
SMEs such as Unicorn Grocery in this regard is to adopt unique and innovative ways of
differentiating the products in order to gain an edge over rivals in market.
Strategic Marketing
The primary focus of an organisation carrying out marketing management is to devise
and formulate a clearly defined and communicated marketing strategy. The success of
entrepreneurial marketing strategy depends upon the organisation’s understanding of its
competitive environment, organisational structure and flexibility of company in alignment with
changes taking place in marketing environment (Miles and et. al., 2016). In this regard, new
ventures and/or small business enterprises such as Unicorn Grocery face a number of marketing
issues within the industry in which they operate.
Key Marketing issues faced by new ventures or SMEs in industries (For instance: retail sector)
In today’s rapid changing world, new ventures and SMEs face a number of marketing
issues which tend to hamper their performance and sustainability in market for long term. In this
regard, some of the key issues are briefly described below:-
Competitive Advantage: The success and survival of new ventures and small & medium
business such as Unicorn Grocery largely depend upon the quality of their products and services
in order to gain a competitive advantage over rivals. In this regard, entrepreneurial marketing
propose that competitive advantage can be gained through unique positioning of goods or
services sold at lower prices and USP (Nijssen, 2017). This is what SMEs like Unicorn Grocery
and new ventures fail to recognise and thus, they face marketing operational issues to attract
customers in a rapidly expanding sector like retail industry.
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Unique Selling Proposition: Another key marketing issue that new ventures and SMEs
fail to take into account is to possess knowledge about the firm’s USP and undertaking
marketing activities in order to communicate this to the customers. This lack of delivery of
information about an entity’s USP leads to the downfall or failure of such enterprises within
marketplace. In this context, USP of Unicorn Grocery is good quality products at low costs
which they failed to communicate within retail sector and this is why the scale of operations of
firm is not expanding.
Strategic Competence: In order to survive for a long time in marketplace, organisations
need to constantly scan the external environment in order to identify emerging opportunities and
utilise organisational capabilities to expand market share (Miles and et. al., 2015). In this regard,
Unicorn Grocery failed to embrace digital transformation and missed the below mentioned
opportunities:
 Utilisation of technology to gain an edge over others through value chain
 Development and delivery of new product and services over online websites such as
Amazon, Pret A Manger, Marks & Spencer etc.
Risk Assessment: New ventures and SMEs often fail to assess the risk effectively in the
age of internet. These entities should constantly review their marketing strategies to ensure
effectiveness in consistence with dynamic environment. This could include recognising
innovative practices and sustainable strategies to ensure long term survival in marketplace
(Renton and et. al., 2015).
Standard Marketing Theory and contrast with SMEs
Standard marketing theory proposes maintaining healthy customer relationships by
engaging in effective practices such as social media and digital marketing. In contrast to this,
SMEs have limited resources due to which they can not engage in expensive marketing
programmes. Thus, they are solely dependent upon Innovative Marketing to gain an edge in
market over rivals.
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Figure 1: Innovative Marketing
(Source: Innovative Marketing, 2019)
The main components of such type of marketing within SMEs such as Unicorn Grocery are
customer focus, marketing variables, modifications, USP, market focus, integrated marketing etc.
(Gilmore and et. al., 2018). All these together constitute the foundations of marketing strategy of
SMEs which render them a competitive advantage over rivals in market. Thus, by constantly
bringing innovations within products or services, SMEs strive to gain a high stake in market and
ensure their growth as well as sustainability for long term.
CONCLUSION
On the basis of above assignment, it has been concluded that marketing plays an
important role for small and medium enterprises. Also, it has been analysed that SMEs face
various marketing issues which at times hamper their position and stake in marketplace. Further,
it has been acknowledged that owing to limited access to resources, these businesses lack the
initiative to carry out extensive marketing. Thus, they can adopt innovative marketing through
which they will be able to attract customers and retain them for long time.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
From the above discussion, it has been recommended that firms should undertake steps to
communicate the USP of company to customers so as to grab their attentions towards their
specialities. Also, it is suggested that SMEs should use AIDA model to recognise the response of
customers towards the products sold by them. AIDA stands for Awareness, Interest, Desire and
Action.
 Attention: Here, consumers become aware about the product or
brand by way of advertising generally.
↓
 Interest: Here, consumers become interested in products by gaining
knowledge about the benefits associated with them and product's
alignment with their lifestyle.
↓
 Desire: Here, consumers develops liking towards the brand and
consider buying the products of brand.
↓
 Action: Consumers finally develop a purchase intention, conduct trial
of the item and makes a purchase.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Miles, M. and et. al., 2015. Exploring entrepreneurial marketing. Journal of Strategic
Marketing. 23(2). pp.94-111.
Nijssen, E. J., 2017. Entrepreneurial marketing: an effectual approach. Routledge.
Yang, M. and Gabrielsson, P., 2017. Entrepreneurial marketing of international high-tech
business-to-business new ventures: A decision-making process perspective. Industrial
Marketing Management. 64. pp.147-160.
Miles, M. P. and et. al., 2016. The influence of entrepreneurial marketing processes and
entrepreneurial self-efficacy on community vulnerability, risk, and resilience. Journal of
Strategic Marketing. 24(1). pp.34-46.
Gilmore, A. and et. al., 2018. Four questions of entrepreneurial marketing education:
Perspectives of university educators. Journal of Business Research.
Kilenthong, P., Hultman, C. M. and Hills, G. E., 2016. Entrepreneurial marketing behaviours:
impact of firm age, firm size and firm’s founder. Journal of Research in Marketing and
Entrepreneurship. 18(1). pp.127-145.
Whalen, P. S. and Akaka, M. A., 2016. A dynamic market conceptualization for entrepreneurial
marketing: the co-creation of opportunities. Journal of Strategic Marketing. 24(1).
pp.61-75.
Renton, M., Daellenbach, U., Davenport, S. and Richard, J., 2015. Small but sophisticated:
Entrepreneurial marketing and sme approaches to brand management. Journal of
Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship. 17(2). pp.149-164.
Online
What Percentage Of Small Businesses Fail -- And How Can You Avoid Being One Of Them?
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<https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesfinancecouncil/2018/10/25/what-percentage-of-
small-businesses-fail-and-how-can-you-avoid-being-one-of-them/#3b809e3a43b5>.
The Top 5 Reasons Small Businesses Fail. 2018. [Online]. Available Through:
<https://www.inc.com/travis-thorpe/the-top-5-reasons-small-businesses-fail.html>.
What Percentage of Small Businesses Fail? (And Other Need-to-Know Stats). Which Small
Business Industry Has the Lowest Survival Rate. 2018. [Online]. Available Through:
<https://www.fundera.com/blog/what-percentage-of-small-businesses-fail>.
The Effects of Environmental Factors on Small-Scale Business. 2018. [Online]. Available
Through: <https://smallbusiness.chron.com/effects-environmental-factors-smallscale-
business-66109.html>.
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