EXPORTING BY SMALL BUSINESSES: START-UP EFFECTIVENESS ISSUES

1997 ◽  
Vol 05 (04) ◽  
pp. 341-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
PHILIP D. OLSON ◽  
NEWELL GOUGH ◽  
DONALD W. BOKOR
Keyword(s):  
Small Business ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Small Firms ◽  
Growth Strategy ◽  
First Year ◽  
Export Intensity ◽  
Effectiveness Measure ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Foreign Countries ◽  
Total Sales

As a growth strategy, small businesses are increasingly seeking customers in foreign countries. Our knowledge about certain small business export concepts and relationships, however, is still fragmented. The purpose of this study is to empirically examine export start-up effectiveness issues for a set of small firms. Results indicate that sales measures, such as export intensity (export sales as a percent of total sales), were the most frequently used effectiveness criteria for the first year of exporting. This finding is important because in the literature export intensity has been criticised as an export effectiveness measure.

ASTEL: The Aston/Telford small business development programme

1988 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-55
Author(s):  
John Bailey
Keyword(s):  
Small Business ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Small Firms ◽  
University Management ◽  
Business Services ◽  
Small Business Development ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Corporate Entity ◽  
Training Courses ◽  
Functional Areas

Aston University Management Centre and Telford Business Services Unit have joined together to create a management development package which will address an area where currently there is little help for small businesses. Many training courses have been devised for the small firms market but most of them address specific functional areas of business or small business start-up. They do not deal with a business as a corporate entity, neither do they appear to address all aspects of a particular business.

scholarly journals Methodological Issues of Small Business analysis: Heterogeneity of its Structure and Sustainability of Development

2021 ◽  
pp. 74-102
Author(s):  
Yegorova N.Ye. Yegorova ◽  
◽  
E.A. Koroleva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Small Business ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Small Firms ◽  
System Analysis ◽  
Small Enterprises ◽  
Foreign Countries ◽  
Mesoscale System ◽  
Methodological Principles ◽  
The Stability

The article is devoted to system analysis of small business. The paper presents quantitative indicators of the development of subjects of Russian small business contained in various statistical databases (Rosstat, Federal Tax Service), reveals the incompatibility of the data, which complicates the analysis of the considered sector of the national economy. It is concluded that the scale of development of small business is insufficient, which does not allow for the full implementation of its inherent functions. The necessity of supplementing the quantitative approach with a qualitative analysis of small business as a mesoscale system has been substantiated. The concept of heterogeneity of its structure is introduced, characterized by the presence of a triad of categories («kids», «genetic dwarfs», «transformers») and a triad of subcategories («travelers», «reorganizers», «imago») that determine the composition of «transformers». Their system functions have been studied and it was concluded that the relationship between them, on one hand, determines the systemic stability of small business, and on the other hand, creates a «portrait» of small business in a particular state. Based on the proposed methodological principles, the specificity of the Russian small business model has been formulated, namely that the SME sector is currently not able to be the basis of a market economy, and the model itself is structurally unbalanced. Its distinguishing features include a low share of innovative oriented enterprises comprising “kids” and “dwarfs”, a significant number of small firms working in economic symbiosis with large enterprises, a relatively short life cycle of all categories of small businesses, a high share of imago and retiring due to the loss-making of small enterprises, etc. The specifics of the implementation of micro-level development strategies of various categories of small enterprises – the use of credit resources of banks, increasing the stability of their functioning (including increasing their life cycle) have been considered. The necessity of a differentiated approach to the implementation of the mesoscale strategy of state support of small businesses has been substantiated. The conclusion has drawn on the importance of transforming the existing infrastructure to support Russian small business, and, in particular, the importance of the role of state aid in times of crisis. Supporting measures for small enterprises in the context of the coronavirus pandemic in Russia and in foreign countries have been considered.

Prediction model of business success or failure for Palestinian small enterprises in the West Bank

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samir D. Baidoun ◽  
Robert N. Lussier ◽  
Maisa Burbar ◽  
Sawsan Awashra
Keyword(s):  
Small Business ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Small Firms ◽  
West Bank ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Business Failure ◽  
Business Success ◽  
The West ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Random Guessing

Purpose The aim of this study is to examine the factors that lead to success or failure of a small business in the West Bank of Palestine. Design/methodology/approach This study methodology is a survey research, testing the Lussier model of business success and failure with a sample of 246 small businesses (90 failed and 156 successful) to better understand the reasons of their success or failure using logistic regression statistical analysis. Findings The model is significant (p = 0.000); it will predict a group of businesses as successful or failed more accurately than random guessing 99 per cent of the time. The model will also predict a specific small firm as successful or failed 94 per cent of the time vs. 50 per cent for random guessing. The r-square is very high (r = 0.70), indicating that the model variables are, in fact, significant predictors of success or failure. Results indicate that having adequate capital, keeping good records with financial controls, making plans and getting professional advice on how to manage the firm are the most important factors for the viability and success of small businesses. Practical implications With the high rate of small business failure globally, results of this study provide a list of variables that contribute to the success of small firms. Firms that focus on these important factors will increase their odds of success. Thus, avoiding failure, firms better utilize resources that contribute to economic growth. Originality/value This is the first study that looks at success and failure of small businesses in Palestine. There is no one single accepted theory that may be applied to small businesses. This paper aims to further contribute to the global validity of Lussier success and failure model moving toward a theory to better understand why some businesses succeed and others fail.

scholarly journals Effects of public procurement of R&D on the innovation process: evidence from the UK small business research initiative

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kostas Selviaridis
Keyword(s):  
Small Business ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Small Firms ◽  
Market Failure ◽  
Public Procurement ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Business Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Initiative ◽  
The Uk

Purpose The study aims to investigate how pre-commercial procurement (PCP) influences the activities, capabilities and behaviours of actors participating in the innovation process. Unlike much of PCP research underpinned by a market failure theoretical framework that evaluates the additionality of innovation inputs and outputs, this paper focusses on the role and capacity of PCP in addressing systemic failures impeding the process of innovation. Design/methodology/approach PCP effects on the innovation process were studied through a qualitative study of the UK small business research initiative (SBRI) programme. Data collection comprised 33 semi-structured interviews with key informants within 30 organisations and analysis of 80-plus secondary data sources. Interviewees included executives of technology-based small businesses, managers within public buying organisations and innovation policymakers and experts. Findings The UK SBRI improves connectivity and instigates research and development (R&D) related interactions and cooperation. Through securing government R&D contracts, small firms access relevant innovation ecosystems, build up their knowledge and capabilities and explore possible routes to market. Public organisations use the SBRI to connect to innovative small firms and access their sets of expertise and novel ideas. They also learn to appreciate the strategic role of procurement. Nonetheless, SBRI-funded small business face commercialisation and innovation adoption challenges because of institutional constraints pertaining to rules, regulations and public-sector norms of conduct. Research limitations/implications The study contributes to existing PCP research by demonstrating innovation process-related effects of PCP policies. It also complements literature on small business-friendly public procurement measures by highlighting the ways through which PCP, rather than commercial procurement procedures, can support the development of small businesses other than just facilitating their access to government (R&D) contracts. Social implications The study identifies several challenge areas that policymakers should address to improve the implementation of the UK SBRI programme. Originality/value The study demonstrates the effects of PCP on the activities, capabilities and behaviours of small businesses and public buying organisations involved in the innovation process.

THE ROLE OF FAMILY START UPS IN THE EMERGENCE OF A SMALL BUSINESS SECTOR IN BULGARIA

2009 ◽  
Vol 17 (03) ◽  
pp. 351-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
DENISE FLETCHER ◽  
EMIL HELIENEK ◽  
ZVETA ZAFIROVA
Keyword(s):  
Small Business ◽  
Informal Economy ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Small Firms ◽  
Family Relations ◽  
Entrepreneurial Activity ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
The Family ◽  
Start Ups

It is widely reported that entrepreneurial activity has a significant role to play in transition economies such as Central and Eastern Europe but little is known about the role that the family unit plays in facilitating small business emergence in the former command economies. This is surprising given that the link between family and small business development has been widely researched in market economies. In this study, attention is drawn to the role that family relations and resources play in small business emergence. The study focuses on Bulgaria, a country in the Balkans with much cultural diversity and which became a European Union member in 2007–8. Analysis is undertaken of research material drawn from a survey of 69 small firms. 42% of the surveyed firms are two generation businesses involving the entrepreneur and children or parents. 35% of the businesses are three generation businesses involving the lead entrepreneur, parents, children and siblings. The remaining 33% are firms that are run by couples and/or siblings. This suggests that the family household is the key channel for (and of) small business formation. In neglecting the role of family start-ups, this gives a false understanding to the role that households and families sometimes contribute to the economy. At the same time, it is also partly because of this dependency on family relations and resources that small businesses become rooted in the 'informal economy' — an economy that is based on family favours and which it is difficult to break out of.

Piping hot dogs: a case of a Malaysian franchise

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Sethela June ◽  
Asmat-Nizam Abdul-Talib
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Fast Food ◽  
Small Firms ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
First Year ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Start Up ◽  
New Business ◽  
International Franchising

Subject area Internationalization, entrepreneurship, franchising, international marketing. Study level/applicability First year undergraduate students of Management courses. Case overview This case is about a newly established fast food company that expands very rapidly in Malaysia. Growing from merely a single pushcart, the company has evolved into one of the most successful purely-local food franchise businesses with almost 100 franchises throughout the country and abroad. The company keeps on looking at bigger expansion plans abroad and eyeing the Middle Eastern markets. Expected learning outcomes After carrying out this exercise, students are expected to be able: to understand how a new business start up grows; to provide a simple illustration on how internationalization of small firms can took place; to analyze the various factors of considerations prior to internationalization; to identify the basic issues of international franchising and how the system works. Supplementary materials Teaching note.

Accounting and Marketing—Key Small Business Problems

1983 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 19-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Wichmann
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Small Business ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Small Firms ◽  
The United States ◽  
Business Administration ◽  
Small Business Administration ◽  
Business Failure ◽  
Business Managers

The Small Business Administration (SBA) estimates that small businesses represent 97 percent of all businesses in the United States [5, p. 1]. The SBA defines a small business as “one that is not dominate in its field.” While the ma and pa shops fall within this definition, much larger firms are considered small under SBA criteria. The owner-managers of these small firms face unique problems—success or failure is keyed to solving these problems. Each year in the United States, some 500,000 new businesses start and 400,000 businesses discontinue operations [1, p. 47]. These discontinuances are not all due to business failure (a bankrupt firm). Some small firms are merged with larger companies, while the spark of life leaves other small firms because the owner retires without a son or daughter to take over the reins of leadership. The purpose of this article is to aid small business managers by (1) reviewing the process of beginning a business, (2) identifying some of the attributes that characterize a successful or unsuccessful small business, and (3) discussing small firms’ problems common to the frontier states of Alaska and Wyoming.

Comparison-Shopping Agents and Online Small Business

2011 ◽  
pp. 738-745
Author(s):  
Yun Wan
Keyword(s):  
Small Business ◽  
Web Sites ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Customer Base ◽  
Comparison Shopping ◽  
Online Shoppers ◽  
Important Trend ◽  
Total Sales ◽  
The Web ◽  
Web Visibility

Since the commercialization of the Internet in the 1990s, online retailing has increased steadily. According to the most recent Department of Commerce Census Bureau report,1 retail e-commerce sales in the first quarter of 2004 were $15.5 billion, up 28.1% from the first quarter of 2003. E-commerce sales in the first quarter of 2004 accounted for 1.9% of total sales, compared with 1.6% of total sales for the first quarter of 2003. An important trend in this growth in B2C (business-to-consumer) e-commerce is the participation of small business on the Web. Considering that in the United States small business comprises more than 99% of employer firms,2 this trend is significant. Though the Web offers huge potential to these small businesses for growth and prosperity, and also offers them a very low entry cost, Web visibility becomes the major barrier for them. Small businesses often have difficulty putting up enough funding to compete with brand-name businesses in promotion. So small businesses are desperately in need of a less costly channel for increasing their Web visibility. In the past 4 years and especially since the economic slowdown in 2000, comparison shopping has become more and more popular among online shoppers. Because of the low cost of being listed on comparison-shopping Web sites and the relatively high conversion rate for online shoppers who use comparison shopping, many small businesses found this an ideal channel to increase their Web visibility. As a result, many early participating small businesses gained a customer base in the competition by displaying their products and service prices on comparison-shopping Web sites. Now, it is more and more clear that comparison shopping provides a unique opportunity for small businesses to reach a large customer population with relatively little cost. To help readers better understand this phenomenon, we give a comprehensive introduction to comparison-shopping agents and summarize recent research on their impact in e-commerce.

IT readiness in small firms

2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 807-823 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riccardo Spinelli ◽  
Romano Dyerson ◽  
G. Harindranath
Keyword(s):  
Small Business ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Small Firms ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
Small Business Owners ◽  
It Adoption ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Management Capability ◽  
And Cluster Analysis ◽  
It Application

Purpose – The aim of the paper is to explore conceptually and empirically the application of the concept of IT readiness to small firms. Design/methodology/approach – The approach taken was a questionnaire administered to small manufacturing business owners in the Liguria region of Italy. Data were analysed using factor and cluster analysis. Findings – IT readiness concept appears valid with the emergence of three constructs: strategic vision; project management capability; and IT application infrastructure. The date analysis yielded four distinctive and varying profiles of small business owners. Research limitations/implications – This quantitative study exploring a cross section of small firms suggests antecedents to change have been ignored relative to IT adoption decisions. Practical implications – Provision of policy and support services requires a much more nuanced approach to small businesses. Originality/value – There are very few studies of IT readiness in the literature, making the paper original in its intent. The construction of the IT readiness concept appears robust when subjected to empirical testing and yields a number of specific small business profiles with respect to IT.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document