Entrepreneurial Marketing: An Analysis of Small Business Strategies

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ENTREPRENEURIAL MARKETING
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ENTREPRENEURIAL MARKETING
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Analysis of different features of small business market..................................................................3
Identification of key operational issues faced by small business....................................................4
Critical analysis and contrast of marketing theory and its application in small business................5
Skills required for performing business operation...........................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
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Introduction
At present globalisation is the major trend due to which the competition is rising in most of the
industries. Small and medium-size business is emerging in an efficient manner and is performing
very well in the global market. In the UK, more than 90% of the private sector organization is
small or medium enterprise. They are responsible for more than 60% of employment. This study
will focus on the analysis of different features of the small business market and its environment.
Moreover, Identification of the key operational issues faced by small business will be elucidated.
Critical analysis of marketing theory and its practical application will be depicted. Furthermore,
the skills required for performing small business will be analyzed in the study.
Analysis of different features of the small business market
There are certain features that separate the small business market from the multinational business
market in a prominent manner. The most important feature of the small market is that it is related
to the local economy of a country in an effective manner. Moreover, it is seen in UK the small
business market is mainly focused on local areas and small market segments to perform its
business operation in a prominent manner. In comparison with the large-scale business market,
the profitability of the small business is less by almost 30 %. It is said that a business whose
profit is less than 21 million Euros per year is depicted as a small business (Zalewska-Kurek et
al., 2016). However, it is seen that the small business as if small retail organizations sometimes
attract more local customers in local markets compared to the multinational corporations as they
establish effective relationship with the consumers of the local markets. Since the small business,
market is concentrated in some of the local areas the profit in the small business environment is
less by almost 20 %. On the other hand, it is noticed that the competition in the small business
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market is also less compared to the multinational global business environment. This is one of the
main features of the small business market environment,
In the words of Aqmala et al., (2018), it is seen that in the small business majority is ownership
companies and collaboration among different companies is seen less compared to large business.
The small business organization is mostly run by entrepreneurs and since the profit margin is less
collaboration is not done. However, according to Burns (2016), collaboration may have a
positive impact on the holistic business operation as it may strengthen the human resource and
financial capacity of the organizations. It is observed that the small organization has fewer
outlets but concentrated outlets in the market. It helps the small business functions as a more
cohesive unit in the global market. According to the present trend, there is a steady rise in the
Market for the small-scale organization by almost 10%.
Identification of key operational issues faced by small business
There are some key issues regarding operational management in the small-scale business. In the
words of Karadag, (2015), one of the major operational issues is the lacuna in employee strength
and cash flows. It is observed that most of the small business has employee strength less than
100 and delegation of work is not properly done due to lack of employees. Moreover, another
major problem is the maintenance of the cash flow in the small business. It is seen that there is a
lack of investors in small business compared to a large business by almost 30%. Due to this lack
of cash flow, the small business faces difficulties to maintain their operational management. In
the words of Sekaran, and Bougie, (2016), another issue that is lacks of motivation among the
employees those results in employee retention issues. It is observed that in small business, the
workload is immense and salary structure is not up to the mark. Due to this, the motivation level
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of the employees becomes low that effects the operational management in the small and
medium-size business. Moreover, another problem is that overhead cost is sometimes not
managed properly by the small-scale organization due to the lack of infrastructure and
technologies like sophisticated management procedures. The top management sometimes fails to
make a perfect office structure due to a lack of experience that creates issues in operational
management. Joint ventures are sometimes very hard to form among the small business
organizations due to the lack of cash and human resource. The human resource policies like basic
pay and work-life balance are to some extent hampered. In the words of Krishnan, and Scullion,
(2017), the small business organization lacks the skills to perform efficient management.
Furthermore, another major issue is that owners of small and medium enterprise sometimes
cannot adapt to the technologies and marketing styles that are currently prevailing in the market
due to lack of time and cash.
Critical analysis and contrast of marketing theory and its application in small business
The Ansoff Matrix is one of the most significant marketing theories that have a diverse
application to enhance the market of small and medium scale enterprises. In the words of Legg,
et al., (2015), Ansoff matrix includes four components like the market penetration, product
development according to the exact requirement of the market, promotional strategy to establish
the product in the market and diversification strategy to survive in this fiercely competitive
market. The Ansoff matrix may be used effectively by the small scale organizations to
effectively research market needs and formulate strategies so that market product development
should be done accordingly this may enhance the profit by almost 15%. Moreover, according to
Piercy, and Rich, (2015), the Ansoff matrix helps in the mitigation of risk. On the contrary, it is
stated by Burns (2016), that small business has to take a calculated risk to upscale its growth if
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the organization does not take the risk they may be unable to perform business in this fiercely
competitive market.
Moreover, other important marketing theories are the balanced scorecard, Maslow’s hierarchy of
needs this has a practical application on the marketing management of the small and medium
scale enterprise. In the words of Chang, (2016), the balanced scorecard is an important theory
and model that may be implemented in reality that helps to formulate mission and vision for
organization and implementation of the mission and vision in real life. The ranking is given to
different marketing parameters according to the performance of the organization. On the
contrary, in the words of Seethamraju, (2015), Ansoff matrix is more efficient in applying to the
small-scale organizations. Since the Ansoff matrix helps in better market development than
Balance scorecard method. In the words of Grayson, and Hodges, (2017), another point is that
mitigation of the risk in market development is done in a better way by a using Ansoff matrix as
it depicts to develop the known market fast in an effective manner.
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Fig 1: Marketing theory Ansoff Matrix
(Source: Seethamraju, 2015)
Skills required for performing a business operation
In the opinion of the Fleisher, and Bensoussan, (2015), some basic skills set are required to set
up and perform business in an efficient manner. Some of the most important skills are effective
communication and problem-solving abilities. In business, operation there will arise situation
with stiff challenges those may be monetary issues, human resource problems but if innovative
and creative skills are, present in the individual these challenges may be transformed into
opportunities to enhance the business operation in a prominent manner. Moreover, another
important point is the problem-solving abilities that should be enhanced by the thinking out of
the box solution. For example, if this kind of problem regarding work distribution and financial
problems solution may be done by out of the box thinking.
Loans may be taken from the government to mitigate the financial issue in an effective manner.
Moreover, communication is one of the most significant components that are required for
effective business development. In the case of small business communication is one of the prime
components that is needed to perform meetings with investors to extract funds for the business
operation (Sekaran, and Bougie, 2016). On the other hand, communication is essential to deal
with the human resource present in the organization and to perform efficient recruitment so that
the right person is selected for the right job profile. Furthermore, another important component is
the self-management that is needed to perform the business operation in an effective manner.
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Self-management includes skills like time management proper allocation of work and
formulation of the action plan in an efficient manner to enhance business development.
Conclusion
The study mainly focused on the analysis of the marketing strategy and issues regarding the
small and medium business environment in an efficient manner. Critical analysis of the different
marketing theories like Ansoff matrix and balanced scorecard and its comparison is done in an
efficient manner. The skills that are required to perform a business operation in an effective
manner like self-management, effective communication and solving critical problems are
discussed in a detailed manner in the study. It is necessary for entrepreneurs to develop skill sets
so that effective marketing may be performed to achieve sustainable development.
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References
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Grayson, D. and Hodges, A., 2017. Corporate social opportunity!: Seven steps to make
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Karadag, H., 2015. Financial management challenges in small and medium-sized enterprises: A
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