Small Business Management



Abstract

Industrial design is the practice of creating solutions by studying people and businesses. Originally centered on development of goods, industrial design uses methods rooted in human behavioral study, human factors, and strategic problem solving. As our economy and professional practice shift away from manufacturing towards a service-dominant landscape, industrial design must align its profession to formally include service design. The small service business setting is a microcosm in which the value of design and branding in business is magnified. This research reinforces design's ties with services marketing and business and is dedicated to finding solutions for the backbone of the economy.

Small Business Management

Introduction

A significant limitation of most research regarding small businesses is the lack of clarity in the definition of a small business across nations, decades, and academic literature. The bulk of studies regarding small businesses and specifically the role of brands and marketing in small businesses is growing. The majority of studies appear to come from Europe and Australia which both, recognizing the unique challenges and opportunities within small businesses adopted more specific classifications in 2005 and 2009 respectively for small businesses than the United States currently uses. The definition of a small business, though universally based on the number of employees and annual revenue, greatly varies across the European Union, the United States Small Business Administration (SBA), and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). However, a loose definition of small business is accepted in this research because of the qualitative nature of the study and the narrow focus on the challenges in strategic planning that are faced by any small businesses which could be considered less sophisticated organizations or those whose owners' omnipresence creates a highly personlised management style. Therefore, all the issues related to Small Business Management will be discussed in detail.

Discussion

Entrepreneur can be equally as nebulous a term. It is defined broadly as one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise; the term entrepreneur is irregularly defined. While it is often considered synonymous to 'small business owner' its meaning also extends a more aggressive connotation regarding the subset of small business owners who are viewed as pursuing leading technology, starting very high growth or high innovation business, or who are taking initiatives to create value while accepting risk. The terminology referring to small business owners within this study is used interchangeably unless otherwise specified (Ensley, 1999).

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