Walk the talk

Goodstein (2000) found that global competitiveness is forcing entrepreneurs to increase market awareness and marketing knowledge within the team. Marketing techniques used should be sophisticated and state-of-the-art. Marketing ideas should be customer driven and position the organisation strategically. Rwigema and Venter (2004) contend that integrated marketing components are used to create sustainability and ensure business growth in the entrepreneurial firm. It is the backbone to achieving business success. Reputation management is no longer enough to create growth.

Prioritise to ensure return

With limited resources it is important to prioritise marketing activities and ensure return on investment through choosing the activities that will contribute towards the company success. Vorhies and Morgan (2005) warn that sales and marketing are critical success factors for small businesses. Activities should start with market research leading into promotion. As early as 1991, McKenna (1991) acknowledged marketing activities as important factors affecting business success. During a study done in Botswana by Temtime and Pansiri (2004) marketing activity was cited as the main factor to influence business success. Vorhies and Morgan (2005) identified that specific marketing activities contributing the most to business success include promotion, research and training.

Entrepreneurs however are unsure of the value of the marketing function and is therefore less inclined to develop marketing strategies or invest in marketing. Marketing capability is about having knowledge of the target market, customer needs and requirements and providing a solution to those needs. Entrepreneurs should focus on the customer to enable him to react according to client requirements, adjust prices and deliver a quality product at the right time and place. The entrepreneur must have knowledge of every aspect of marketing and the ability to undertake the necessary research. From the research, the entrepreneur should be able to identify a market need and develop the product or service accordingly. This is the first and most important step towards entrepreneurial success.

Find a niche

It is vital for entrepreneurial success to find a niche in the market, a protected place that will give a competitive advantage. Tai (2007) showed that the failure of finding the niche could lead to business failure. The process of identifying the target market, and areas of marketing requirements, such as product marketability, will require the development of a strategic marketing plan in which potential customers should be identified and their needs documented.

An empirical study proved the theories of these scholars. Market interaction was measured through marketing and customer relationship management. Marketing comprised of six items, advertising, communications, events, sales, networking and promotions. The effect of these factors on business success as measured through sustainability, growth, profitability and customer satisfaction was researched through a multiple linear regression analysis.

It was found that marketing of the business and customer relationship management explain 24.7% of the variance in the sustainability of businesses, 13.8% of the variance in business growth and 11.3% of the variance in profitability, proving that when marketing and customer relationship management is done well, the business will be more sustainable, will grow faster and will be more profitable. What has to be noticed is that there is no positive relationship between marketing and customer satisfaction. The assumption could be made that when a product or service has been marketed the customer expectations are raised.

Maintain marketing functions

The findings of the empirical study concurs other scholars who advised that maintaining the company's marketing functions will achieve profitability. The significant relationship between customer relationship management and sustainability also proves the point of Eisenhardt and Martin (2000) that cooperative relationships with clients will achieve business success. Entrepreneurs should therefore not focus on marketing to satisfy customers, but to open new markets and obtain new customers and, in such, positively affect profitability, sustainability and business growth. The interconnectedness of all the factors should not be ignored. Through intensive marketing, more customers will be secured which will require more employees and therefore affect business growth. Once the customers have been secured through marketing activity, operational excellence will be required to satisfy customers. Should the customer be disappointed through the delivery of the product or service falling short of the marketing message the marketing budget would have been wasted.