scholarly journals Impact of Social Media Applications on Small Business Entrepreneurs

2016 ◽  
Vol 02 ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malik Shahzad Shabbir ◽  
Muhammad Saarim Ghazi ◽  
Atta Rasool Mehmood ◽  
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◽  
...  

The main objective of this paper is to investigate the impact of social media applications on small business entrepreneurs. It also examines how small business owners are motivated to use social media applications. Social media has completely transformed the way businesses are done. Social media applications in the present time have become the most efficient and effective tool for small business entrepreneurs, and normally all small businesses use social media platforms for the advertising and publicity of their products and services. They make fan pages for their followers, and they warmly welcome their suggestions and opinions, which help in improving their businesses. However, based on literature review, we conclude that there is a positive impact of social media applications on small business entrepreneurs as well as they are highly motivated to use these platforms.

2016 ◽  
Vol 02 ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malik Shahzad Shabbir ◽  
Muhammad Saarim Ghazi ◽  
Atta Rasool Mehmood ◽  
◽  
◽  
...  

The main objective of this paper is to investigate the impact of social media applications on small business entrepreneurs. It also examines how small business owners are motivated to use social media applications. Social media has completely transformed the way businesses are done. Social media applications in the present time have become the most efficient and effective tool for small business entrepreneurs, and normally all small businesses use social media platforms for the advertising and publicity of their products and services. They make fan pages for their followers, and they warmly welcome their suggestions and opinions, which help in improving their businesses. However, based on literature review, we conclude that there is a positive impact of social media applications on small business entrepreneurs as well as they are highly motivated to use these platforms.


Author(s):  
Courtney Lewis

This introduction describes how encouraging a diversity of small businesses can help support a Native Nation’s long-term economic stability, but goes further to demonstrate this uniquely through the eyes of the small-business owners themselves along with an in-depth examination of their local, national, and international contexts. In doing so, it describes how this book also addresses the ways in which Native Nations, by supporting small business resilience, are responding in politically and socioeconomically meaningful ways to settler-colonial economic subjugations. This introduction further describes how the book unpacks the layers of small-business complications specific to Native Nations and American Indian business owners while speaking to larger theoretical questions regarding the impact of small businesses in a global indigenous context. Debates regarding economic sovereignty versus economic power, measures of autonomy, land status, economic identity, fluctuating relationships with settler-colonial society, and the growth of neoliberalism (along with its accompanying “structural adjustment” policies) meet with specific practices, such as the implementation of guaranteed annual incomes, cultural revitalization actions, environmental justice movements, and the potentially precarious choices of economic development—issues that are exacerbated during times of economic precarity, such as the Great Recession.


2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-117
Author(s):  
Sarah Gundlach ◽  
Andre Sammartino

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of individual traits and attributes on the entrepreneurial and internationalization actions of Australian businesswomen, many of whom run small businesses. Design/methodology/approach This study is exploratory and quantitative, based on a questionnaire survey of 323 Australian businesswomen. Drawing upon the extant literature on internationalization, gender and entrepreneurship, the study explores two micro-foundational relationships of interest – personality and capability assessment differences between female business owners and their employed counterparts, and the impact of such traits and assessments on their internationalization. A further question is explored in terms of any differentials in perceptions of barriers in internationalization. Findings The findings show key personality dimensions do not differ dramatically between Australian businesswomen working in their own businesses (i.e. entrepreneurs) or as employees in organizations, while there are surprisingly few differences between women who are engaged internationally and those yet to do so. When comparing the female entrepreneurs and employees, in particular, the findings around tolerance for ambiguity and management efficacy are notably counterintuitive. This leads to the development of testable propositions to refine the causal claims in this domain. Practical implications The study calls into question the distinctiveness of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial endeavors, at least for female businesswomen. Originality/value By including entrepreneurs and employees, women who have engaged internationally and those that are yet to do so, the study avoids some of the potential self-selection and confirmation biases inherent in studies of only entrepreneurs or small business owners. The investigation of individual traits, attributes and experiences as micro-foundations for internationalization motivations challenges existing theories of small business expansion.


Author(s):  
Mark E. Schweitzer ◽  
Scott Shane

Small businesses continue to report problems obtaining the financing they need. Because small business owners may rely heavily on the value of their homes to finance their businesses (through mortgages or home equity lines), the fall in housing prices might be one of the causes of their difficulty. We analyze information from a variety of sources and find that homes do constitute a significant source of capital for small business owners and that the impact of the recent decline in housing prices is significant enough to be a real constraint on small business finances.


2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-83
Author(s):  
Avika Mungal

The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the perceptions of small business owners on the implementation of cash management techniques in their businesses. This paper also highlights the importance of managing cash inflow and outflow in the business and examines the impact on business profitability and sustainability. The study focused on small businesses in the Tongaat area, South Africa. This research was quantitative, descriptive and cross-sectional in nature. The instrument used to extract the relevant data from respondents was a Likert type questionnaire. The findings of this research identified the perceptions of small business cash management techniques. A short course on cash management could be offered by the Durban University of Technology to small business owners and managers to enhance their basic cash management knowledge in the implementation of cash management techniques.


Author(s):  
Sam Lubbe

This chapter addresses the effective use of information technology (IT) in small businesses. Worldwide it is regarded as a problem as was illustrated in the literature review. Small business owners need to calculate and plan proper use of IT in their businesses by aligning their strategic IT planning to the business plan. A computing grid is proposed with a proper structure and guideline to help the owners


Author(s):  
Haydn Du Plessis ◽  
Annlize L. Marnewick

Background: Small businesses are an important part of the South African economy, yet they have high rates of failure. Several contributing factors have previously been identified through literature, including regulatory compliance, skills shortages and lack of government support. Globally, there has been an increased interest in smart cities and the variety of services they offer. These technologies were investigated to establish what role, if any, they could play in alleviating the challenges that small businesses face.Aim: Identify the relative impact of each of these challenges on the small-business and the relative value of each of the smart city services in order to determine which services would have the largest impact in addressing the challenges.Method: This research used these factors and identified which challenges had the largest time and financial impact on small businesses and investigated ways in which a variety of smart city services could be leveraged to address these challenges. Using a multi-criteria decision analysis technique, 44 small-business owners participated in the research. Weighted results for the impact of each of the challenges and the value of each of the services were obtained.Results: Through the subsequent analysis of the results, it was found that small businesses face many challenges because of lack of government and entrepreneurial support, as well as widespread corruption. Similarly, the small-business owners identified that educational material, small-business support portals and eGovernment systems would be the most valuable services that a smart city could offer them. Various sources of literature were used to identify these smart city services and link them to the business challenges that they may be able to mitigate. The infrastructural prerequisites for each of the services were also investigated to identify dependencies and potential problems in their deployment.Conclusion: The various aspects of this study were integrated, and a smart city roadmap for small-business support was subsequently developed. This roadmap will assist cities in planning their smart city deployment, so that they may better support small businesses in the role that they play in the country’s economy.


2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 254-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beth Walker ◽  
Janice Redmond

AbstractThe importance of the environment is something of a cracked record to many small business owners, as historically any calls to business to change or improve their practices or behaviours were from the ‘environmental’ or ‘green’ perspective, rather than from a business perspective. As a consequence, many small businesses have simply tuned out. This research sought to identify the impact of an education intervention program that encouraged better environmental management practices and provided practical assistance to the businesses. The research was designed to test the effectiveness of the program and record any changes that occurred in the businesses over the duration of the project. To measure changes, it included a pre- and post-intervention survey. Overall, there was an increased awareness in most of the businesses in regard to environmental issues. Participants from many of the businesses also expressed positive changes to both behaviours and attitudes to environmental issues. This demonstrated the value of the program, and also highlighted the challenge to engage small business, even when a business case is apparent, given the cost of implementing this type of intensive and personalised assistance.


Author(s):  
Crystal Lupo ◽  
Jason R. Stroman

Despite research contending that marketing is a pivotal factor in small business success, many small business owners continue to underutilize low-cost marketing options available to them. Of these options, social media marketing is a useful tool to maintain competitiveness in the larger marketplace. However, the adoption of social media best practices in small business remains deficient. The landscape industry is a large and growing field with small businesses making up a large and growing share of the industry. Yet some landscape industry small business owners lack strategies to adopt innovative social media marketing strategies to help ensure business viability. This study incorporated a qualitative, exploratory multiple-case study design to explore how landscape industry small business owners use social media marketing strategies to help ensure business viability. Results indicated that successful marketing strategies tended to incorporate Facebook as the primary social media tool and included content such as service, education, and holiday posts. Benefits of social media marketing primarily centered on low-cost marketing options for improved visibility, while challenges included a trial-and-error learning curve. Results of this study might help small businesses improve their long-term viability through social media marketing strategies.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shirumisha C. Kwayu

The plethora of social media applications creates an ecosystem that can assist strategies for small business. However, the abundance of social media applications is attributed as a cause for confusion to business owners and executives making it difficult to conceive strategies for engaging effectively with social media. Following a practice theory, this paper uses an autoethnographic methodology to study how the social media ecosystem influences strategic practices of a small business. The study found that the social media ecosystem is crucial for enacting a strategy of a small business and that changes within the ecosystem influence the whole strategy. In addition, the study shows how context is interwoven with the social media ecosystem to affect the strategy of a small business. The study underscores the importance of strategizing practices for small business to develop agility that is necessary for developing and embedding digital transformation. Practically, the study highlights the significance and the need for developing countries to synchronize their soft infrastructure in order to help small businesses exploit the benefits of globalization during this era of social media.


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