Is marketing practice applicable to small business growth? A literature review based study Md. Hassan Kamrul1,* 1Assistant Professor, Department of Business Administration, East West University, Dhaka, Bangladesh *Corresponding author: Md. Kamrul Hassan can be contacted at: kamrul@ewubd.edu
Online published on 9 April, 2021. Abstract Small businesses are mostly sole proprietorship businesses having a small size and limited capital. Most entrepreneurs have either followed the trend or had an initial innovative idea to fill a market gap. The vital question this paper addresses is -does marketing practices, which are followed in medium and large businesses, are applicable in the growth of small businesses or not. An extensive literature-based study reveals that the operational focus of small business coupled with resource constraints lead to an adaptive response rather than a systematic planning process. While the universal theories of marketing are valuable to all business, insufficient knowledge about marketing in small business remains a reality. Moreover, an appropriate marketing theory, specifically related to the understanding of strategic marketing in small business, is absent. Attention has been paid mostly to the constraints of small businesses, while the importance of the marketing discipline has been overlooked. A balanced approach, putting emphasis on both the small firms limitations and the normative marketing discipline should be focused. Market orientation and innovation give small businesses an edge over competitors. Top Keywords Small business, Marketing practice, Growth and survival, Market orientation, Entrepreneurial marketing. Top |