Introduction
Small business refers to the start of a small business when you have experience
in the field and then turn it into an industry. Every businessman dreams of
converting their small company into an industry known as a brand.
The journey from a startup to a dominant industry is not just the scaling operating
it includes the day-night shifts, unlimited struggle, planning, innovation, and
ability to adapt to the changing market condition.
There are” 33.3 million small businesses in the USA” and “Generated almost
44% economic GDP” according to small business statistics. This can highlight
that small business gives employment, and their potential growth can often lead
them to evolve into industry giants.
Understanding the planning, and strategies and learning from other struggles can
give you insights and lessons about what you do and don’t do to achieve
significant growth and turn industry.
In this article, I’ll explain how small businesses turned into industries by
discussing the successful case studies like Amazon and Starbucks that motivate
you and their strategy and planning abilities. By examining the key factors of
technology usage, strategy changing, and understanding market trends you
easily drive business growth.
Evaluation of Small Business
The development of a small business begins at some point with the creation of a
set of effective activities aimed at gaining a market foothold and creating a
profitable type of activity – the start-up stage. In this phase, most businesses
work with limited capital and mostly depend on the passion and determination of
the founder. Following the growth of the business the business goes to the
growth stage where the revenues increase and customers are many hence the
need to expand operations. At this point, the business may start to develop strict
structures, enhance organizational structure, and look for more capital. The last
one is maturity in which the business becomes firmly placed in the market and in
a position to determine change in market trends and can even lead to becoming
a market dominion.
Key Factors in Growth
1. Innovation: It is an essential factor of business growth because it began
the changing capabilities of products and services according to user
needs.
2. Scalability: Scalability means that businesses give a high-demand
product to the audience without compromising on quality. It designs the
operation in such a way that gives high-quality products and services for
customer trust.
3. Market Demand: Focus on updating market trends and leveraging them in
the business, understanding and respond the customer needs that drive
growth.
4. Strategic Planning: Strategy planning is very crucial in business growth, a
long-term strategy that can align with business goals and market trends.
5. Strong leadership: Leadership plays a vital role in the business growth by
leading the business with a clear vision, and giving the effective strategy
and plans. Motivate the team members for productivity.
6. Adaptability: It deals with the changing market trends and adjusts them
according to the size of the business and seizing the new opportunity.
Case- study 1 Amazon e-book store to E-commerce Giant
Amazon was started in the year 1994 by Jeffrey Bezos solely as an internet store
selling books from his garage in Bellevue, Washington. Bezos identified the
strength of the internet in retail basing and decided to start selling books because
they were inherently good, easy to ship, and universally appealing. The company
was easily accepted because of its large base of books to select from,
reasonable prices, and well-designed catalog. In 1997 Amazon floated its stock
and came out from being a small online bookseller to a global giant in online
selling.
Amazon Growth Strategy
Amazon paid much attention to constructing a solid supply chain network that
enabled the company to deliver faster and provide clients with a smooth
purchasing experience. The arrival of such services as Amazon established
customer loyalty through free shipping and exceptional material. Besides, the
company used analytics to craft suggestions and enhance various aspects of its
activities. Many investments in new technologies such as investment in cloud
computing with Amazon web services also had a significant role in the expansion
of other markets.
Amazon’s E-commerce industry transformation
It first came up with the ‘’everything store’’ strategy, which saw buyers make
purchases across all categories from one outlet. Another advantage that Amazon
had was sheer focus on the customer, improving the convenience and service to
the customer that drew attention and changed the business paradigm on how it
should be executed. It has also brought major changes in the structure and
functionality of the supply chain, where and how products are stocked and
transported.
Case Study 2 Starbucks from Coffee House to Global Brand
Starbuck’s roots can be traced to 1971 as a coffee company with only a single
coffeehouse in Seattle’s Pike Place Market that had been founded by three
partners: Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gordon Bowker, and their love for fine
coffee. In the beginning, Starbucks only sold coffee beans and equipment and
concentrated on teaching people how to brew coffee at home. The Company’s
goals were to serve the best coffee and simultaneously build a relationship with
the community. Until the arrival of Howard Schultz in 1982, Starbucks company
was not much more than a coffee retailer company. Drawing on the roots of
coffee drinking in Italy, Schultz had a dream of establishing ‘the third place’,
different from home or office, where people would consume not only coffee but
also a unique experience.
Starbucks Brand Growth
Due to the following, strategic differentiators, Starbucks has expanded its growth
beyond most other coffee-selling companies. The criteria of differentiation was a
sharp branding of the place, which aimed at generating the image associated
with extra quality coffee and a pleasant atmosphere. On the social dimension,
Starbucks presented considerable importance in the customer space, with
attention to a pleasant atmosphere in the stores, individual approach, and quality
of products. Starbucks went a step ahead to improve consumers’ loyalty by
establishing Starbucks Rewards; a loyalty program.
Starbucks Global Business Expansion
Starbucks can firmly be said to have changed the world of coffee probably
beyond imagination. It brought into the mainstream the coffeehouse, thus
spurring the coffee culture around the world. Through its strategies, Starbucks
changed the quality, service, and brand uniformity that triggered competition in
the market of coffee shops and affected traditional coffee drinking habits.
Currently, Starbucks has become almost the reference for ‘better quality’ coffee
with over 30000 retail stores in over 80 nations.
Lesson learned from this Transformation
Innovation and Adaptation
However, one of the primary conclusions that can be drawn from the success
stories of Amazon and Starbucks which are representatives of the modern
American entrepreneurial triumvirate is that the organizations’ focus on the policy
of consistent innovation and adaptability. Regarding the issue of new products
services and technology, both firms have always innovated to respond to this
challenge. They have always been able to be relevant in a rapidly changing
market and have been able to meet the ever-changing demands of the
consumers, thus their stability and leadership in the market.
Customer-Centric Approach
Another lesson is that security must be oriented to customers. Thus, two
representatives of the fast food service industry – Amazon and Starbucks – base
their business models on the identification of customer demands. Another factor
has to do with the specifics of Amazon: the company emphasizes the principles
of convenience, speed, and customization. Likewise, Starbucks has vested effort
in quality customer experience, product quality in particular, guaranteeing
customer satisfaction. This is because the above-stated companies have
managed to come up with strategies that place the customer at the heart of their
business.
Strategic Scaling
Last but not least, strategic scaling has been useful in the process of
transforming the above-stated business into a large-scale industry. For their
growth, both Amazon and Starbucks had to incorporate technology and proper
infrastructure. Amazon’s effective and complex arrangement has provided the
key infrastructure for Amazon’s highly-scaled operations based on cloud
computing, whereas Starbucks’ capacity to expand worldwide and improve the
supply chain management system have helped it to maintain the management
quality in so many stores. These cases reveal that it is not enough to scale and
that one must do so in a manner that is strategic while also ensuring investment
when the time is right.
Conclusion
In this article, I’ll explore how a small business turns into an industry and explore
the famous case study brands Amazon and Starbucks. This brand is a global
brand that started with a single room of a bookstore and coffee shop, but it
innovated its technology, built trust with its customers, and focused on marketing
demand. If you also want to become an entrepreneur and build your brand focus
on long-term strategy, planning, and market demand that customers need and
fulfill their requirements. These tips can transform a small business into an
industry.
