Small Businesses and Entrepreneurship Literature Review

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Small Businesses and Entrepreneurship Literature Review

Introduction

There is a lot of available literature on small enterprises and entrepreneurship in general. Entrepreneurs and small enterprises, without any doubt, play an important role in improving any country’s economy. They build opportunities, make a major contribution to GDP, induce consumption and stimulate consumer buying. This article, however, would not discuss these issues described above, but it is an effort to explore the notion that “small businesses are indeed examples of entrepreneurship” In defence of this assertion, the paper provides claims and seeks to discuss multiple aspects of this statement.

Discussion

During “entrepreneurship is the capacity and willingness to undertake conception, organisation, and management of a productive venture with all attendant risks, while seeking profit as a reward” (Hatten, pp. 148-149, 2011). A look at the other meanings of entrepreneurship will validate that entrepreneurship, the creative spirit of creativity, is seen mainly in accordance with the characteristics of invention and risk-taking. Without any hesitation, major corporations and enterprises build processes and structures over time to diversify and reduce their vulnerability (Hatten, pp. 148-149, 2011), but small firms experience a lot of confusion and complexity on a regular basis. Lack of abundant resources, limited funds, threat of competition, limited production capacity, narrow customer base, constraints in terms of conducting marketing research and others are factors that present challenges and risks to small business which are shared by almost all small businesses as well. Almost half of the new ventures and small businesses in UK and US fail in the first year, which is another proof and manifestation of the uncertainty that is faced by the small business and entrepreneurial ventures (Down, pp. 20-21, 2010).

References

  • Allen, Kathleen R., & Meyer, Earl C. 2005. Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management. McGraw-Hill.
  • Bridge, Simon, O’Neill, Ken., & Cromie, Stan. 2003. Understanding enterprise, entrepreneurship, and small business. Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Burns, Paul. 2010. Entrepreneurship and Small Business: Start-up, Growth, and Maturity. Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Down, Simon. 2010. Enterprise, Entrepreneurship, and Small Business. SAGE Publications Ltd.
  • Hatten, Timothy S. 2011. Small Business Management: Entrepreneurship and Beyond. Cengage Learning.
  • Lee-Ross, Darren, & Lashley, Conrad. 2011. Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management in the Hospitality Industry. Butterworth-Heinemann.
  • Longenecker, Justin Gooderl., Moore, Carlos W., Palich, Leslie E., & Petty, J. William 2005. Small business management: an entrepreneurial emphasis. Cengage Learning.
  • Scarborough, Norman M., Wilson, Douglas L., & Zimmerer, Thomas. 2010. Essentials of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management. Prentice Hall.
  • Schaper, Michael, & Volery, Thierry. 2004. Entrepreneurship and small business: a Pacific Rim perspective. Wiley.
  • Stokes, David, & Wilson, Nicholas. 2006. Small business management and entrepreneurship. Cengage Learning EMEA.
  • Stokes, David, Wilson, Nicholas, & Mador, Martha. 2010. Entrepreneurship. Cengage Learning EMEA.
  • Storey, D. J., & Greene, Francis J. 2010. Small business and entrepreneurship. Financial Times Prentice Hall.