Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship

Emerald Article: Entrepreneurial and SME marketing Audrey Gilmore

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To cite this document: Audrey Gilmore, (2011),"Entrepreneurial and SME marketing", Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship, Vol. 13 Iss: 2 pp. 137 - 145 Permanent link to this document: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/14715201111176426 Downloaded on: 12-02-2013 References: This document contains references to 23 other documents To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com This document has been downloaded 669 times since 2011. *

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Audrey Gilmore, (2011),"Entrepreneurial and SME marketing", Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship, Vol. 13 Iss: 2 pp. 137 - 145 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/14715201111176426 Audrey Gilmore, (2011),"Entrepreneurial and SME marketing", Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship, Vol. 13 Iss: 2 pp. 137 - 145 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/14715201111176426 Audrey Gilmore, (2011),"Entrepreneurial and SME marketing", Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship, Vol. 13 Iss: 2 pp. 137 - 145 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/14715201111176426

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Entrepreneurial and SME marketing

Audrey Gilmore
University of Ulster, Jordanstown, UK
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to consider marketing and its relevance to entrepreneurs and small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and how entrepreneurs and SMEs owner/managers adapt and use marketing for their specic requirements during the life of an enterprise. Initially, the paper will give some background to the subject, including how entrepreneurs and SMEs owner/managers are dened and their value to the economy. Design/methodology/approach The discussion draws from the academic literature and from experience of working with entrepreneurs and SMEs over a number of years. The background characteristics and frameworks of entrepreneurial and SMEs marketing are considered, with emphasis on a pragmatic approach, to try to understand how entrepreneurs and SMEs actually do business. Findings The main body of the paper focuses on the nature of entrepreneurial marketing typically used by SMEs. The key themes of the discussion are how entrepreneurs and SME owner/managers adapt standard marketing frameworks to suit their own enterprises, how they use networks to improve their business activity, the use and development of marketing management competencies and how they try to use and develop innovative marketing. Research limitations/implications Finally, the paper comments on the inter-relationships and relevance of entrepreneurship and marketing for each other. Originality/value In practice, entrepreneurial and SMEs marketing is quite different from the marketing frameworks described in the standard marketing textbooks used to teach most undergraduate students. This paper illustrates how entrepreneurs and SMEs adapt and use marketing according to the needs of their enterprises. Keywords Small to medium-sized enterprises, Marketing strategy, Entrepreneurial marketing, Entrepreneurial phenomena, Entrepreneurs, Market oriented behaviour, Networking, Innovation Paper type General review

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Introduction Entrepreneurs start up new ventures. New ventures and small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are very important to all economies. They often provide new employment opportunities within regional economies where there may be few large businesses. Typically they start up innovative enterprises, identifying opportunities that larger businesses may have missed or are not interested in. For example, they represent up to 99 per cent of the 23 million enterprises in the EU and in the USA, they generated approximately 64 per cent of all new jobs between 1993 and 2008. Entrepreneurs, entrepreneurial behaviour and how SMEs do business and their impact on the economic environment has been studied by researchers from different disciplines, such as business, economics, psychology and sociology. These researchers have brought a range of different research techniques and perspectives to the study of entrepreneurs and SMEs which has added richness and depth to understanding them, particularly over the past 20 years. There are regional differences in the focus of research into SMEs and how they do business. In the UK, much of the work has focused on SMEs and how their

Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship Vol. 13 No. 2, 2011 pp. 137-145 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1471-5201 DOI 10.1108/14715201111176426

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characteristics such as having limited resources impact on how they do business. In the USA, there has been a history of focusing on studying entrepreneurship and the nature and characteristics of entrepreneurs who start up businesses in the rst place. Entrepreneurs and SMEs Over the years, there has been considerable interest in how to dene and describe SMEs owner/managers are they the same or different to entrepreneurs? Researchers have tried to identify characteristics and traits that dene entrepreneurs, and illustrate how they are different from other business people, especially how they are different from SMEs owner-managers. Although some traits have been cited as particularly indicative of entrepreneurial behaviour, they are not always evident, they may change over time and are difcult to measure. For example, entrepreneurs may be different at the early stage of business development, they may become serial entrepreneurs or may become SMEs owner/managers with an emphasis on managing their growing rm. In the SMEs literature, particularly studies outside of the USA, the term owner-manager and entrepreneur are often used interchangeably to describe someone who manages a small business. Originally, the term entrepreneur was used to describe people like farmers or merchants who organised resources and accepted risk by buying at a certain price and selling at an uncertain price. The entrepreneur takes existing resources, such as people, material, buildings, money and redeploys them to make them more productive and give greater value (Stokes and Wilson, 2006). The term entrepreneurial refers to the overall activities and behaviour of entrepreneurs. This includes behaviour that is competitive and drives the market process. It is about identifying opportunities and using whatever resources and expertise that are available to the entrepreneur to help them realise value, often in a creative and innovative way. Entrepreneurs are involved in getting new ventures started up. Often this can take some effort and can be relatively risky (Gilmore et al., 2004). Many entrepreneurs fail in the early stages of business development, as it is difcult to move from a business idea to actually creating a tangible fully operating business. Initially entrepreneurs need to seek funding for their business ideas. They may approach banks for a loan but are not always successful so it may take some time to search around for suitable and available capital. In the early days of a business, entrepreneurs often work alone and will probably not have a team around them. Also they may not have developed much needed networking skills or marketing competence at this stage and so they may suffer from lack of expertise, particularly in relation to running a business. An SMEs owner/manager may or may not be entrepreneurial. He or she is the person who owns and manages the business and they may have started the business themselves. Often they are involved in the day to day running of the business and may get caught-up in operational activities. They may have less time to plan than they need and overall may be perceived as managers rather than entrepreneurs. However, entrepreneurs and SMEs owner/managers need to do marketing in a way that suits a small and/or growing rm that does not have the resources or operational structure of a large company. Understanding entrepreneurial marketing is based on knowing how SMEs owner/managers or entrepreneurs actually do business and how they make decisions, deliver their market offering in the market place within the constraints of limited resources, expertise, impact and size (Gilmore and Carson, 2007).

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For the remainder of this paper, the term entrepreneur will be used as a generic term for the person who makes marketing decisions in growing rms. As shown in Figure 1, entrepreneurial marketing is a combination of: adapting standard marketing textbook frameworks to suit entrepreneurial activities, new ventures or small businesses; marketing by networking and using networks to improve marketing activity; the use and development of marketing management competencies; and using innovative marketing where possible. Adapting standard textbook frameworks Entrepreneurial marketing is developed by the individual person, who will adapt traditional marketing frameworks to suit the specic situation of his/her own rm. They will have a product and/or service to offer to the market place, at a price and they will promote and deliver this using an affordable method and medium. This will be done in a pragmatic and practical way that suits the rm and will be structured around the existing functions and activities of the rm itself (Gilmore and Carson, 2007). The following discussion outlines some typical ways in which standard marketing frameworks are adapted by entrepreneurs as observed during many years of research and experience in the UK and Australia. Product/service Entrepreneurs often start out by producing a niche product or service (or combination of the two), and so the product aspect of the marketing mix often comes rst. However, entrepreneurs need to be exible in how to develop and promote the unique value of their core product or service. Firms that become highly specialised stand a good chance of beating bigger competitors especially in tough times such as recession or strong competition. The entrepreneur needs to be expert at making their specic products, or offer some unique selling proposition and possibly have specialised equipment or expertise to make the product or service; they need to have at least one of these so that they have some advantage over the competition. Entrepreneurial rms often survive by offering a different range of products and services than their competitors. They may offer a core
Entrepreneurial Marketing A combination of: Adapting standard textbook frameworks Marketing by networking

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Using innovative marketing where possible

Developing marketing competence

Figure 1. Entrepreneurial marketing

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product that accounts for the greater part of their sales, but they may enhance the offering by stocking a range of related items. The availability of these related items is to encourage purchase of the main product. Also entrepreneurs may frequently change and develop the product/service range to remain competitive. The packaging of the product is important as it will be strongly linked to the overall brand image of the rm, and to emphasis convenience, appearance and dependability of the company and its products or services. Research has shown that successful entrepreneurs are those who have created a very specic, unique product and service, really know how to make the product well or deliver the service and specialise in small segments of market because they have an unrivalled depth of knowledge and understanding that attracts customers within that market (Gilmore et al., 1999; Carson and Gilmore, 2000b). Pricing Owing to the smaller volumes of products that entrepreneurs can realistically produce, many nd it difcult to compete on price. They have costs to cover and need to maintain cash-ow. However, entrepreneurs tend to focus on value for money for their customers and may try to balance price with other aspects such as the quality of the product and the customer service associated with the offering. Finding the right balance is not easy and price is usually considered in relation to what competitors are offering. Entrepreneurs are very aware of competitive activity and they would try to charge the same, less or more in relation to the other dimensions of the product and service offering. In reality prices are often set higher than competitors in order to differentiate the rms product and to try to convey the quality of offering, while covering costs (Carson et al., 1998). In theory, entrepreneurs should consider all the factors that affect pricing in larger companies, however, in practice they usually employ some form of cost plus pricing while bearing in mind some other priorities. Pricing usually focuses on cost, cash-ow and prot in the context of competitors pricing and current practice within the industry but with market conditions acting as inuencers. Distribution and promotion Delivery or distribution is an area where a rms reputation can be substantially enhanced, but equally can be quickly eroded. For entrepreneurs and smaller rms in particular delivery problems can arise where operational plans are over-optimistic or where there is poor production control. Obviously, meeting customer expectations and keeping delivery promises are essential when a rm needs to establish and maintain long and protable relationships with clients. So it is vital to be reliable and punctual and not to let customers down. Indeed, by exceeding delivery expectations it is possible to add value for customers and achieve a competitive advantage. Efcient delivery systems also help to curtail some potential cash ow problems by the prevention of overstocking or leaving SMEs with dead stock (Gilmore and Carson, 2007). Companies with small budgets such as start-ups and SMEs have little to spend on promotion. Therefore, they need to promote their business by word of mouth and other below the line activity. They often build business based on the positive nature of staff and customer interactions and relationships. They may also obtain products and offer services outside their normal remit and provide a customised version of their standard

offering to key customers to ensure that they stay loyal to their company rather than looking elsewhere for accessories, for example. In this way, entrepreneurs take an integrative approach to selling their whole range of products and services. Entrepreneurs/SMEs use of e-technology E-technology can be a very useful way for rms to expand their marketing activities. It can be a cost-effective option and allows SMEs to reach a wider or specic target market. It can be used in conjunction with other business activities. E-marketing activities allow entrepreneurs to advertise their products and services more widely with less expense, to answer customer queries in several languages if need be, to use e-mail as a marketing tool and to provide on-line quotes. It allows them to carry out business activities around the clock if they want. It can increase awareness of promotional activities and decrease the costs of printing materials such as catalogues and glossy brochures. It can also help them gather information about potential foreign markets. Entrepreneurs can enhance their creditability by creating a professional image with an efcient web site (Gilmore et al., 2007). However, e-marketing can provide some challenges for entrepreneurs. Especially, in the early stages of a rms life, some entrepreneurs nd it difcult to maintain e-marketing techniques such as keeping their web page up to date and providing relevant information for customers. Some SMEs do not have the capability or time to follow up on interest and orders. Therefore, companies may need an e-marketing specialist or an interested employee to keep them up to date, competitive and as interactive as possible. They need to manage this consistently so that they do not erode customer relationships with poor e-communication (Gilmore et al., 2007). To summarise, entrepreneurs adapt standard marketing frameworks in relation to doing marketing and their marketing activities focus on offering added value products and services by combining exibility, superior service and close contact with customers so that they can meet customer expectations more fully than competitors (Gilmore et al., 1999; ODonnell et al., 2002a, b). They always try to maintain a good reputation. This is vital as they rely heavily on word-of-mouth recommendations. Marketing by networking As entrepreneurs do not do conventional marketing but adapt marketing frameworks to suit their own situation as described above, the entrepreneur will often use his peers and business contacts to sound out business ideas and gather information. He or she will consciously seek out information from certain individuals believed to be useful to them. On other occasions information will be gleaned sub-consciously as part of naturally doing business or as part of an informal conversation (Gilmore and Carson, 1999; ODonnell et al., 2001). Entrepreneurs will be dependent upon different networks at different stages of company development. However, networks and networking are fundamental to how the entrepreneur does business and the intrinsic value of an entrepreneurs business lies in its networks (Gilmore et al., 2000, 2006a, b). Networking ts around the individual entrepreneurs way of doing business, it can be informal, interactive, spontaneous, individualistic and opportunistic. However, it can also be disjointed and haphazard, consisting of one-to-one interactions with a few individuals in some circumstances. Marketing by networking is both a natural and an acquired competence. Entrepreneurs have different approaches to doing networking.

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It can be a conscious and sub-conscious activity, be proactive and passive, overt and covert. It may be continuous, frequent or just occasional. And it is in constant ux but ts with owner-managers individual way of doing business (Carson et al., 2004; Rocks et al., 2005; Gilmore and Carson, 1999, 2007). The overwhelming purpose of networking is to help and guide the entrepreneur get business done and to do it effectively. It is integral to doing business, it is not a task to be completed, it is simply part of everyday business. Networking helps the entrepreneur gather information that is useful in supporting decisions, aid his/her assessment and evaluation of any market situation and also help in maintaining awareness of market-related issues (Rocks et al., 2005; ODonnell et al., 2002b). Learning to network competently is important for an entrepreneur. It provides entrepreneurs with considerable strengths and contributes to successful marketing. The actual nature and content of SME networking will vary depending on the life stage of the company. For example, networking will be different at each stage, whether it is at the set-up stage, the business development stage, more established or at the generation shift/hand-over stage (Gilmore et al., 2000). At set-up stage, networking will be used to establish contacts from prior experience and past industry contacts by the entrepreneur. At the business development stage, networking will focus on getting the business established and formalising networks within the industry such as setting up contacts with relevant trade associations and organisations. At the established and generational shift stage, the entrepreneur will then try to encourage younger staff to network and create stronger collaborations and alliances within the industry (Gilmore et al., 2000). Overall, entrepreneurial networking is usually highly focused and relevant to the specic context of the rms position in the market place at any given time. Marketing management competencies The use and development of management competencies for doing marketing are important for entrepreneurs throughout the life of the rm. Marketing decisions are often inseparable from any other decisions relating to the enterprise. A management skill or competence is an ability that can be developed, it is not necessarily inborn. Competence is manifested in performance and in the context of the tasks and role of the manager (Gilmore and Carson, 1996; Carson and Gilmore, 2000a). There are many lists of managerial competencies: vision, innovation, being creative, lateral thinking, leadership, communication, motivation, intuition, judgement, knowledge, but some are more fundamental than others for entrepreneurial marketing. Many entrepreneurs perceive themselves to have limited marketing ability, primarily because their prior interests and background mean that they are unlikely to bring useful marketing experience and skills to a business. In the early stages of a business, many entrepreneurs bring technical competence to the role but may discover that they need to develop their overall business competence. The most relevant competencies for entrepreneurs are those that are essential to running the business within their particular industry context, such as knowledge, experience, communication and judgement. They also need to develop experiential knowledge over time (Carson and Gilmore, 2000a, b). The key is to learn as quickly as possible and with as few big mistakes as possible. Entrepreneurs can demonstrate their experiential knowledge by providing a better or different product/service offering than competitors, having a sustainable pricing policy,

good delivery and customer service systems, good promotion and selling techniques and taking a focused approach to the use of resources. In addition, entrepreneurs can use networks to help them improve their competence in decision making and in delivering marketing activity. For example, in relation to pricing decisions, a lack of market experience and orientation may account for managers resorting to intuition when it comes to pricing and often they are not overly motivated to nd the right price as they just want a fair rate of prot. However, by learning from mistakes and looking at what companies within the wider industry networks are doing they may see other approaches to making pricing decisions. Another way to develop competence is to ll staff positions with outside experts. For example, manufacturing, marketing and web site design can be outsourced. In this way, entrepreneurs can diminish the risks of expansion and generate ideas from new people. Innovative marketing In practice entrepreneurs are usually focused on trying to be innovative, especially in relation to offering something in the market place and differentiating their company and products from the competitors. There are many denitions of innovation, most emphasise change and/or the introduction of something new (Cummins et al., 2000). A vast majority of the academic literature is focused on product innovation and often assumes that this is where most entrepreneurs are innovative. It may be true that entrepreneurs display a high degree of product innovation since many new ventures will have started up in the rst place because of a new and innovative product or service idea. However, in most cases, entrepreneurs develop products that are only marginally differentiated from others and much of the product innovation is in response to customer demand (Cummins et al., 2000; ODwyer et al., 2009a, b, c). Innovative marketing in SMEs in wider than simply product innovation, it is not only about new product development, it is not necessarily very original, radical or one-off. Instead it covers the whole spectrum of marketing activity within an enterprise (Cummins et al., 2000). Innovative marketing is driven by several inherent factors surrounding the rm. Entrepreneurial small business characteristics and limitations mean that they cannot engage in expensive marketing programmes so they need to be innovative in how they do marketing. That is, how the product or service is presented, how added value is created within the scope of the product/service offering, how the offering is delivered and the level or degree of overall service provided. None of this marketing innovation is in itself strikingly different, but packaged together amounts to innovative marketing and that is compatible with rms characteristics and abilities. Therefore, innovative marketing for SMEs is complementary to existing activities, builds on prior activities, is continuous and ongoing, may be marginal and incremental, can be reactive and market-led, or opportunistic and prot driven. Conclusion Entrepreneurial marketing is driven by the entrepreneur, it is opportunistic, intuitive and if the rm is to survive, it is prot driven. It offers something more or something different from competitors in the context of the environment and industry in which it operates. However, the societal context will impact on the nature of entrepreneurial activity within a given region, as entrepreneurship needs to be valued in society.

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Entrepreneurial marketing offers added value and is inuenced by competitor activity, industry and market considerations. It is subject to external change factors, depends upon exibility and negotiation and it is based on the entrepreneurs knowledge and experience. This paper has advocated that entrepreneurial marketing is based on the adaptation of standard marketing textbook frameworks, uses networking to build and support marketing activity, is based on the use and development of marketing management competencies and tries to be innovative where it can. Therefore, entrepreneurship is relevant to marketing and marketing is relevant to entrepreneurship. There are many different views, from both academics and practitioners. Some academics have attempted to conceptually position the relationships and inter-relationships between marketing and entrepreneurship theories and perspectives but none have received wide recognition so far. As discussed earlier, there are some commonalities and differences between marketing and entrepreneurship perspectives and focus. Some academics use a marketing lens to view entrepreneurial issues and some use an entrepreneurial lens to view marketing (Hansen and Eggers, 2010). Whether academics or practitioners come from a marketing or entrepreneurial background, marketing is part of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship involves marketing. There is room for all the different perspectives and there are many opportunities for progressing research in this eld, as all economies need entrepreneurial marketing to meet future challenges and opportunities.
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Gilmore, A., Carson, D. and Rocks, S. (2006a), Networking in SMEs: determining the level of marketing-led decision-making in the face of multinational competition, International Business Review, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 278-93. Gilmore, A., Gallagher, D. and Henry, S. (2007), E-marketing and SMEs: operational lessons for the future, European Business Review, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 234-47. Gilmore, A., Carson, D., ODonnell, A. and Cummins, D. (1999), Added value: a qualitative assessment of SME marketing, Irish Marketing Review, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 27-35. Gilmore, A., Carson, D., Grant, K., ODonnell, A., Laney, R. and Picket, B. (2006b), SME networking: ndings from Australia and Ireland, Irish Marketing Review, Vol. 18 Nos 1/2, pp. 21-8. Hansen, D. and Eggers, F. (2010), The marketing/entrepreneurship interface: a report on the Charleston summit, Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 42-53. ODonnell, A., Gilmore, A. and Carson, D. (2002a), Competition and co-operation between small rms and their competitors, Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 7-15. ODonnell, A., Gilmore, A., Carson, D. and Cummins, D. (2001), The network construct in entrepreneurship research: a review and critique, Management Decision, Vol. 39 No. 9, pp. 749-60. ODonnell, A., Gilmore, A., Carson, D. and Cummins, D. (2002b), Competitive value and SMEs, Journal of Strategic Marketing, Vol. 10, pp. 205-23. ODwyer, M., Gilmore, A. and Carson, D. (2009a), Innovative marketing in SMEs: an empirical study, Journal of Strategic Marketing, Vol. 17 No. 5, pp. 383-96. ODwyer, M., Gilmore, A. and Carson, D. (2009b), Innovative marketing in SMEs: a theoretical framework, European Business Review, Vol. 21 No. 6, pp. 504-15. ODwyer, M., Gilmore, A. and Carson, D. (2009c), Innovative marketing in SMEs, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 43 Nos 1/2, pp. 46-61. Rocks, S., Gilmore, A. and Carson, D. (2005), Developing strategic marketing through the use of marketing networks, Journal of Strategic Marketing, Vol. 13, June, pp. 81-92. Stokes, D. and Wilson, N. (2006), Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship, 5th ed., Thomson Learning, London. About the author Dr Audrey Gilmore is a Professor of Services Marketing at the University of Ulster. Her teaching and research interests are in service marketing and management, entrepreneurial marketing, SME marketing management competencies and networking. Currently, she is the Special Interest Group Co-ordinator for the Academy of Marketing, an active member of its Entrepreneurial and SME marketing SIG and a regular contributor to the UIC International Research Symposium on Marketing and Entrepreneurship. She is the out-going editor of the European Journal of Marketing and is on the review boards of various academic journals in the UK, Europe and the USA. Audrey Gilmore can be contacted at: aj.gilmore@ulster.ac.uk

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