CHAPTER 1

The Problem and Review of Related Literature

Background of the Study

Marketing strategy depicts a key element of success for organizations and even

enterprises. It is not only a time process but a varied and series of action performed to

attain the objectives of an enterprise. Also, effective marketing strategies help enterprises

to get ahead in the competition. It has become the heart of success of every entrepreneur.

Thus, making marketing strategies as part of business believes to lead every

entrepreneur’s business towards success even if it is micro, small or medium enterprise.

Marketing strategy refers to ways on how different enterprises collaborate with

their consumers and employed to aware the customers about the features, specifications,

and benefits to the product that an enterprise is selling. It is basically focused on finding

and encouraging target market to buy those specific product or services. According to

Varadarajan (2009), marketing strategy refers to an organization’s integrated pattern of

decisions that specify its crucial choices concerning products, markets, marketing

activities and marketing resources in the creation, communication and/or delivery of

products that offer value to customers in exchange with the organization and thereby

enables the organization to achieve specific objectives. Adewale, Adesola & Oyewale

(2013) also stated that marketing strategy has become an important tool globally for any

organization to remain in competitive market environment. Marketing strategy is a vital

pre-requisite of industry's ability to strengthen its market share and minimize the impact

of the competition. Owomoyela, Oyeniyi and Ola (2013) also see marketing strategy as

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way of providing quality product that satisfies customer needs, offering affordable price

and engaging in wider distribution and back it up with effective promotion strategy.

Having marketing strategies especially when running a business is important

nowadays because they serve as the strength of your business to advance in a

competition. The success or failure of companies competing in a market is highly

dependent on strategy they evolve and implement. According to Ogwo (2013), one of the

major reasons attributed to failure of companies is the absence of a well formulated

strategy. So, a strategy is an action which leads to the fulfillment of the company’s short

term as well as long term objectives. The overarching goal of organizations is to achieve

superior performance compared to its competitors. Competitive advantage is achieved

when the strategies adopted by the organization culminates in superior performance. So,

the strategic management process in organizations has a very high impact on achievement

of superior performance (Gabrielsson & TomiSeppala, 2012). According to Shilke,

Reiman & Thomas (2009), in order to achieve a satisfactory and adequate marketing

strategy which has a positive outcome on global and overall firm success, the marketing

department within a company should bear in mind all the different marketing mix

strategies that can influence the comprehensive result and the cumulative firm success.

Most of the successful entrepreneurs in business industry today started from

managing a micro business. Micro, small and medium enterprises play a vital role into

the growth of every countries’ economy. According to the National Statistics Office of

the Philippines (2010), there were a total of 777,687 business enterprises as of 2010 in

the country. Of this figure, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises represented 99.6

percent with 774,664 establishments. Micro enterprises comprised 91.6 percent (709,899)

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of the total number of MSMEs while small and medium enterprises accounted for 8

percent (61,979) and 0.4 percent (2,786), respectively.

Number of enterprises are undeniably increasing, that is the reason why the

researchers of this study conducted this to determine the effective marketing strategies

that micro, small and medium enterprises used and how they affect the overall

performance of an enterprise to become successful. This study wants to find out what

marketing strategies are better when managing a micro, small and medium enterprises.

Statement of the Problem

The study aims to find the effective marketing strategies used by micro, small and

medium enterprises. It hopes to find out the advantages of using marketing strategies and

how it affects the overall performance of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

The researchers aim to answer the following questions:

1. What are the marketing strategies that an entrepreneur should consider when

starting micro, small and medium enterprises?

2. Do marketing strategies conducted by micro, small and medium enterprises

affect their chances of having good overall performance?

3. What are the advantages of having marketing strategies in micro, small and

medium enterprises?

Related Literature and Studies

Micro, small and medium enterprises’ success depends largely on various

marketing strategies they used. Marketing strategy refers to ways, methods and

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techniques that an enterprise or organization intends to exploit in achieving success in the

competitive marketplace. This involves crucial pattern of decision-making, evaluation,

formulation and selection of market-oriented strategies that enables the organization to

achieve specific objectives. Micro, small and medium enterprises usually focuses on

long-term objectives and well-planned programs to make their enterprise a successful

one.

According to Jose (2016), the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)

are small-sized entities, defined in terms of their size of investment. Micro enterprise is

the smallest type of enterprise wherein they usually found in streets or commonly known

as the “street vendors”. This type of enterprise are not likely to grow to considerable size

unless an aggressive strategy is put in motion. While, small enterprise is the sole

proprietor type of enterprise. It has only one owner who is responsible in managing the

business. This type of enterprise usually offers an existing product, process or service and

has an establish place for business. Lastly, medium enterprise is usually the partnership

type of enterprise. Medium enterprise can be classified by the number of employees and

revenues they have.

However, Venkatesh and Kumari (2015) explained that MSMEs play an

important role in the economic growth of the country owing to their contribution to

production, exports and employment. Ebitu, Basil and Ufot (2015) stated that MSMEs

are usually associated with little capital outlay, minimal fixed assets, highly localized in

the area of operation, and often with unsophisticated management structure. Moreover,

Yadav (2013) put emphasis that the business environment with well-established

marketing strategies helps MSMEs enhancing their product marketing. Most of the

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enterprises rely on marketing strategies for established product lines or services as well as

for new services and products. The major concern of marketing strategy are usually

referred to as the “7P’s” or the “marketing mix”: product, place, price, positioning,

people, packaging and promotion.

Marketing mix is a marketing strategy tool used by businesses and marketers to

help determine a product or brands offering to the market. Luostarinen and Gabrielsson

(2009) pointed out that sales and marketing strategies can be adopted to combat

competition, and also to improve the position of the company in the market in order to

grow the business. Palmer (2011) noted that marketing mix strategy is a major concept in

marketing. Over the recent years, the major version of such concept which is associated

to the 4P’s: product, price, promotion and place, it has been criticized from the fact that

wide range of marketing mix strategies have been proposed for the different marketing

contexts. It can be noted that services differ from the products due to the characteristic

nature of the services, intangibility, inseparability, heterogeneity and also perishability.

Gronroos (2010) improved the early version of marketing mix for the services from the

4P’s to the 7P’s. The additional 3P’s are people, positioning and packaging.

In marketing mix, positioning strategy is often a winning strategy. According to

Wilkinson (2013), positioning refers to consumer’s perception to a brand or product. It

focuses typically on the process wherein you are establishing image and identity to make

the product unique so that the consumer perceive it the way you wanted to be. He also

states that there are two broad categories of market position: cost leadership and

differentiation. Cost leadership strategy aims to position itself in the minds of consumers

as a company that provides product where the price is lower than the competing products

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in the marketplace. In differentiation, it attempts to position itself in the minds of

consumers as a company that provides unique products that consumers will pay more for

because they cannot find comparable products or product features anywhere else in the

marketplace. The more the market is crowded with neighboring products, the more this

strategy is effective because it makes the business stand out from other competitors.

However, Keller (2010) defined brand positioning as “act of designing the company’s

offer and image that occupies distinct and valued place in target customers’ minds.”

Aaker (2009) explained that product is something that is made in a factory and brand is

something that is bought by a customer. A product can be copied by a competitor but

brand is unique. A product can be quickly outdated but a successful brand is timeless.

Furthermore, knowing how you are seen and thought about by your customers is the

critical determinant of positioning to attain success in a competitive marketplace. The

main objective in using positioning strategy of a brand is to achieve active and loyal

customers, which in turn would allow brands to charge price-premiums and obtain more

effective marketing programs.

Place strategy plays a fundamental role in the marketing mix of a product or

service. Place strategy outlines how and where a company will place its products and

services in an attempt to gain market share and consumer purchases. According to Kumar

and Bansal (2013), place is regarded as a distribution point through which product is

positioned at a place for accessibility of consumers. Kotler and Armstrong (2011)

emphasized that involvement of place or distribution is visible at interdependent

organizations. Place or distribution embraced all marketing decisions which allows

products and services accessible to end users. Furthermore, place is categorized on the

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basis of location like open market, institutional houses, merchant houses and direct

delivery (Ola, 2013). However, Cavusgil and Zou (2014) pointed out that the location of

the firm in relation to its target market will influence the performance of the firm because

of the cost of delivering the goods and services to consumers. In the perspective of

competitive advantage, place has a negative impact as improvement of place is not able

to create impression to its competitive advantage (Chumaidiyah, 2014). Place strategy is

regarded as a good strategy in the area of distribution as it is obtained in competitive

environment. The entrepreneur must make the right choice about the very best location or

place for the customer to receive essential buying information on the product or service

needed to make a buying decision.

Price is also a key element used to support a product's quality positioning.

According to Kareh (2018), price refers to the value of a product or services that a

customer is willing to pay for. It is the amount a customer pays for a product or the sum

of values that consumers exchange for the benefits of having or using a product or service

(Bearden et al., 2009). Pricing strategy is a complicated element and there is always a

need to show the supply and demand relations. Sutevski (2010) stated that there are

different pricing strategies. These include introductory pricing strategy, skimming pricing

strategy, price lining strategy, odd-ending strategy, loss leader pricing, pricing strategy-

one price for all items, bundling as a pricing strategy and premium pricing strategy. In

introductory pricing strategy, most of the entrepreneurs set the price of their products at

low prices in order to enter a new market. This strategy is usually used by startup

companies that want to enter into a totally new market for them. While, price skimming

is a strategy by which company charges the highest initial price that customers will pay

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and lowers it over time. As the demand of the first customers is satisfied and competition

enters the market, the firm lowers the price to attract another, more price-sensitive

segment. In price lining strategy, the company must group the products into different

categories and then set up the same price for all items in each of the categories. On the

other hand, odd-ending strategy or also called as psychological pricing sets the price of

product with odd numbers and typically brings a psychological impact on the buyer’s

decisions. Meanwhile, loss leader pricing is a strategy wherein the product of an

enterprise is sold below its cost in the market to make other sales of goods and services

profitable. Unlike other pricing strategy, the pricing strategy-one price for all items

promote a unique way of settling price of product or services in the market. This pricing

strategy usually sets all the products and services with one same price. The entrepreneurs’

purpose of using this strategy is to find average cost and average markup and set all items

for that one price. In bundling as a pricing strategy, it involves grouping of different

products and services together and selling it for less than amount if each of the item was

purchased separately. This strategy is commonly use to increase average sales volume

from an average customers. Moreover, premium pricing strategy is a strategy that differs

among all stated pricing strategy. This strategy set their products’ price based on the

uniqueness. So, if the products and services are unique enough, higher prices must be

expected by consumers. However, pricing change according to circumstances and time.

Doyle (2009) explained that organizations that have inadequate market orientation are

much likely price their commodity by checking the competition or marking up their costs

to attain a set profit margin. Pricing changes can be made quickly and with almost no

lead time if the business needs to make some product changes or encounter a

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competitor’s activities but it is important to plan for pricing strategies. Nevertheless,

pricing decisions for a product needed to be made through proper research and often done

by a team of experts who spend time conducting research that considers all variables of

the market and brand. A low price may lead to loss of potential revenues while high price

may result to a loss of potential buyers.

Packaging is a significant issue from a strategic perspective. It is the “least

expensive form of advertising” and is of particular importance at the point of sale, as the

package is the manufacturer's last chance to convince the customer to purchase the

product (Sajuyigbe et al., 2013). In many cases, brand recognition depends on the brand

image that relies on the packaging of the product. According to Nader (2015), packaging

is what shows off your product in the best light, displays the price and value of the

product, communicates the product’s benefits to consumers, and it what physically

appears in your various distribution points. In addition, Stanton (2014) agreed that

packaging may be defined as the general group of activities in product planning which

helps in value designing and producing the wrapper for a product. Stewarts (2009)

defined three prime functions of package: To contain, to protect and to identify. In short,

the aim of packaging is to provide integrity, security and legit information about the

product. Flexible retail packaging, especially, can help brands communicate their values,

missions, and the qualities that make their products so outstanding. Sometimes packaging

is so important that it cost more than the product itself in order to persuade the consumers

to buy it. The product must maintain its packaging for it is the main tool that represents it.

Packaging is the first thing that people see and it has the power to decide if a person will

recognize it the first time they see the product's packaging.

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 One of the essential elements of the marketing mix is people. This includes

everyone who is involved in the product or service whether directly or indirectly.  Not all

of these people get in touch with the customers.  But all these people have their own roles

to play in the production, marketing, distribution, and delivery of the products and

services to the customers. In marketing mix, people are the most important element of

any service or experience. People are all human actors who play a part in service delivery

and thus, influence the buyers' perceptions namely the firm's personnel, the customer, and

other customers in the service environment (Zeithaml et al., 2009). They are responsible

for producing services needed by the customer. Also, people maintains the transactional

marketing and play an important role in the part of customer relationship. Dinesh (2013)

explained that in SMEs, the personal relationships are face-to-face and even familistic.

People underpin the customer relationship between the company and the consumer.

According to Rouse (2015), the goal of relationship marketing, which is also known as

customer relationship marketing is to create strong, even emotional customer connections

to a brand that can lead to ongoing business, free word-of-mouth promotion and

information from customers that can generate leads. As part of dealing with the company,

people recruit customer and encourage them to remain customer in the future. Without

people, all these other Ps will not complete a successful marketing formula.

Product is one of the seven elements that make up the marketing mix. According

to Cornrite (2012), a product strategy is the foundation of a product life cycle and the

execution plan for further development. The product strategy allows the business to zero

in on specific target audiences and focus on the product and consumer attributes. The

product should fit the task consumers want it for, it should work and it should be what the

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consumers are expecting to get. However, the concept of marketing today is associated to

a number of development in history of marketing. The initial concepts is the production

concept where managers in production placed more focus on increased efficiency in

production, the low costs and also mass distribution (Palmer, 2011). However,

Mohammad et al. (2012) also stated that product is the physical appearance of the

product, packaging, and labeling information, which can also influence whether

consumers notice a product in-store, examine it, and purchase it. Furthermore, Lovelock

(2011) notes that when the product concept came, it states that the consumers often favor

the product offering that is highly innovative. Then there was the selling concept period.

Due to the entrance of competition in market, organization emphasized on selling their

products to customers (Palmer, 2011). The product should always be seen as representing

good value for money. On the other hand, Egbetokun et al. (2010) found out that critical

success factors for the product development process have been explained with the help of

an empirical research in SMEs. And it would focus on increasing product and process

innovation.

Promotions have become a critical factor in the product marketing mix.

According to Martin (2014), promotion includes all activities that involve communicating

with the customer about the product and its benefits and features. Advertising of products

and services is often described as being costly and slow in showing positive effects in the

initial stages. In some organizations it is considered a long-term investment and hence,

the allocation of time and resources is shifted to the advertising strategies of the

organization. Promotion efforts in marketing strategy are directed at accomplishing brand

awareness, brand loyalty and increase in market share. The promotion and

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communication stage is vital to the organizations marketing strategy. Advertising is a

mode of promotion which is usually paid. It is a way on how to inform or influence

people about the product or service they offered. It may contain a little or no message.

Tellis (2014) stated that primarily firms advertise to persuade customers about the merits

of their products or services, whenever supply exceeds demand, knowledge about the

product is low, confidence in the supplier or product is low or when demand exceeds

supply. Mass media such as television, radio or newspapers and magazines is most

popular carrier of these messages. Aside from that, billboards, posters, web pages,

brochures and direct mail also fall in this category. However, Tellis (2014) said that

advertising has proven in some ways to be ineffective, the perception the lay public have

or professionals hope for is an undisputable fact, there are various reasons why

advertising may prove ineffective –the lack of field tests and tracking, conflicts with ad

agency, competitive pressure, incentive system, budgeting system and pricing system.

When advertising information reaches the target customer, he/she may evaluate and relate

to the ad based on his/her motivation. Nevertheless, a target customer lacking the ability

to evaluate the advertising information, will most likely respond to cues associated with

the ad. Moreover, Clow and Barack (2014) highlighted that most small businesses do not

have the funds to broadcast and introduce their products to many potential customers.

Those small businesses usually uses unique strategies such as words of mouth, flyers,

posters or posting to social media to introduce their products to the market. Further,

promotion as marketing strategy is one of the most preferred and known strategy used by

successful entrepreneurs.

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 In conclusion, marketing strategy that can be used by micro, small and medium

enterprises consist of marketing mix that plays an important aspect in terms of business.

Most of the enterprises do not always use the 7P’s of marketing, but entrepreneurs must

realize its usefulness in the marketing goods and services. Marketing strategy highlights

the path that an entrepreneur is taking to achieve specific objectives and goals. By

addressing the 7P’s of the marketing mix, MSME has been able to establish a new

product range, people who will purchase the products, place one’s perspective through

positioning, choose the most effective approach to price, place it so that it is easily

accessible, choose the most legit and informational packaging and promote the range to

customers. By responding to external changes, it has improved its market position and

can meet potential competition.

Conceptual Framework of the Study

As shown in the figure below, the success of micro, small, and medium

enterprises as dependent variables rely on the following marketing strategies: product,

place, price, positioning, people, packaging, and promotion. These are the independent

variables that greatly contribute to the success and performance of micro, small, and

medium enterprises.
Marketing
Strategies

Promotion

Product

Price
Micro Enterprises

13 Small Enterprises

Medium Enterprises
 Packaging

Place

People

Positioning

Figure 1: Conceptual Framework of Steps to Success: Effective Marketing Strategies of

Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

Significance of the Study

This study evaluated the effectiveness of marketing strategies on the performance of

micro, small and medium enterprises. The findings of this study will greatly contribute

specifically the following:

The Entrepreneurs. The results will help entrepreneurs to know what marketing

strategies are the best to apply in their business and to serve as their guide towards

success. By identifying the appropriate marketing strategies, the industry will also be able

to achieve their objective much faster and growth of the individual enterprises. This study

will also serve as basic guideline for those who are planning to start a micro, small and

medium type of business.

Business Administration Students. This study will enhance the students'

knowledge in the field of business. They will learn new and effective methods of

handling a business because the findings of this study will provide a deeper

14
understanding about the importance, effects, and benefits of marketing strategies in a

business, specifically micro, small, and medium enterprises.

Business Administration Professors. The findings will be beneficial in

implementing lessons concerning marketing strategies and use the information they gain

from this study to impart the knowledge to their students.

Researchers. The researchers can also get knowledge based on the result of this

study. The study will increase the researchers' capacity in creating wise decisions. Thus,

it will provide new and valuable information about businesses that they can use in the

future.

Future Researchers. The result of this study can be used by future researchers to

serve as their basis in conducting their own study about the effective marketing strategies

that can be used by micro, small and medium type of business.

Scope and Limitations of the Study

This study focused on studying marketing strategies that are currently used by

those real-life entrepreneurs who are under the classification of micro, small and medium

enterprises. The main objective of this research is to determine the strengths, weaknesses,

effectiveness and other variables of marketing strategies being used in a business and to

find out the effective marketing strategies used by those entrepreneurs.

This study is limited to six entrepreneurs coming from the three classification of

enterprises within San Ildefonso, Bulacan. In addition, the findings of the study were only

valid in this specific setting and cannot be used to other sites or study with different

15
research participants. The procedure of conducting the study started from December 10,

2018 and ended on March 25, 2019.

Definition of Terms

 Marketing Strategies. different method or techniques used by an individual to

execute their plans or tactics, specifically in the world of business. This strategies

affects the operation and stability of the business positively or negatively, depends

on the person that applies those methods.

 Enterprises. a synonymous term with business. Enterprises refers to a business

organization which is involved in various marketing activities.

 Entrepreneurs. are the people that deals with marketing activities such as online

selling, buy and sell, and other strategies in business.

 Micro Enterprise. the smallest classification in business category. This

enterprise mostly comprised by only one entrepreneur and a small capital.

 Small Enterprise. a business with atleast a few employees. This is commonly a

sole proprietorship like micro enterprises and generating income on a small scale.

 Medium Enterprise. this business have medium-level of capital. This type of

business generates high volume of income.

 Business Administration Students. are the people who are studying business-

related courses like entrepreneurship, marketing and specifically, business

administration.

 Business Administration Professors. are the instructors that teach business

administration and other business-related courses.

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 Capital. is the lifeline of a business. It keeps the company stable and maintained

as long as there is money that sustains the business. A good capital can be a

headstart for newbies in business.

 Marketing Mix. are the seven factors that can be controlled by an individual or a

company which influences consumers and the public.

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 Chapter 2

Methodology

Research Design

The researchers conducted a study about the effectiveness of marketing strategies

that contributes into the success of micro, small and medium enterprises. This study

followed a qualitative approach in collecting data about effective marketing strategies of

micro, small and medium enterprises within San Ildefonso, Bulacan. Hence, this study

used narrative research design to collect information and stories of entrepreneurs. Also,

respondents were asked to narrate their perspective towards the given topic. The needed

information was obtained through interviews and by asking some questions to those

entrepreneurs within San Ildefonso, Bulacan. Interview was done to generate

participants’ perspective, ideas, opinions, and experiences.

Participants

The researcher used purposive/judgment sampling procedure. It was used to fairly

select the needed participants of the study, a non-probability sampling technique where

subjects were selected based on the researcher's criteria, knowledge, and judgment for the

study. The participants were selected based on the purpose and objectives of the study.

This technique was applied to entrepreneurs in San Ildefonso, Bulacan specifically

entrepreneurs who manage micro, small and medium enterprises.

The total respondents comprised 6 entrepreneurs including 2 entrepreneurs from

micro enterprise, 2 entrepreneurs from small enterprise and 2 entrepreneurs from medium

18
enterprises. Six entrepreneurs within San Ildefonso, Bulacan were the total respondent for

this study.

Research Instrument

The instrument used by the researchers is an interview schedule consisting of 8

open-ended questions which tackled the effectiveness of marketing strategies used by

micro, small, and medium enterprises. The reseachers chose the interview schedule to

gather the needed data about the topic being studied. Also, the open-ended questions

were provided to accommodate free formatted views or opinions related to the study.

Hence, the respondents answered the following questions based on their knowledge and

experiences as an entrepreneurs/businessmen. As the researchers asked and translated the

questions, the respondents were free to answer and there was no limitation for their

language being used. In addition, the respondents were also free to share some additional

information that are relevant to the study.

Data Gathering Procedure

In this study, the data were collected through the use of interview schedule. The

interview schedule is made up of 8 open-ended questions regarding on the effectiveness

of marketing strategies of micro, small, and medium enterprises. As the first step in data

gathering, the researchers made a waiver signed by parents/guardians for the approval of

Saint John School in conducting an interview outside the campus and a letter of consent

for each respondents to formally asked their permission. Also, the instructor validated the

interview schedule. In gathering data, the researchers used the time allotted given by the

instructor which was from 1:35pm to 4:00pm on February 21, 2019. The researchers

19
looked for two entrepreneurs/businessmen in each category of enterprise, for a total of 6

respondents located at San Ildefonso, Bulacan. Each respondent were asked by the

researchers to answer their questions orally. To preserve the needed data, the researchers

recorded the answer through voice recording. After the data gathering, the researchers

collected and transcribed all the information included in the voice recording.

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 Chapter 3

Results and Discussion

This chapter provides a detailed analysis of the findings and interpretation of the

results. The purpose of the study was to determine the effective marketing strategies of

Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

There are certain things to consider when starting micro, small and medium

enterprises. Based on the results gathered by the researchers, among six participants, two

of them only started their business with a small capital and only one product to sell. They

managed to control it well until now that they can already sell various types of foods.

Even if they have insufficient knowledge about marketing, they are able to manage their

businesses because of their own strategies and techniques, one of those is building a

social relationship among the customers. Otherwise, three of the respondents started their

business with little savings while they are working as an employee and used it as capital

in starting their own business. Until then, they begin to know their own perfect marketing

strategy to make their business prosper. Lastly, one of the participants started his business

which is only an inheritance to his late father. He continues to operate the business up to

this day with the help of his brother. Since the business is already popular before, it is

growing consistently. Most of the participants said that one of the strategies when starting

a business is that you have a background on what you are doing or your passion is really

on it. According to them, in order to become successful you must possess faith in God,

perseverance and patience especially to customers to achieve your goals. Therefore, the

researchers concluded that having background study about your business and building a

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good relationship with customers are the main marketing strategy when starting a

business.

The marketing strategies conducted by micro, small and medium enterprises

might affect their chances of having good overall performance. Based on the results

gathered by the researchers, out of six participants, five of them stated that marketing

strategies greatly affect their chances of having good overall performance since using

marketing strategies can increase their number of customers or potential buyers. While,

one of them stated that marketing strategies help the business to grow, stabilize and avoid

losing of business. Most of the respondents stated that although marketing strategies can

result to good overall performance, there are obstacles that prevents them from executing

their strategies, like lack of money, competitors, and unavailability of resources needed

by the business. The researchers concluded that obstacles are challenges that would help

entrepreneurs to strengthen their business. Also, various experiences and challenging

situation like shortage in supplies, debtors, climate and inflation that respondents have

encountered can help them to have a good overall performance. It serves as their

advantage to their competitors.

The advantages of marketing strategies depends on the classification of

enterprises and how entrepreneurs utilized their marketing strategies. By executing their

marketing strategies in their business, entrepreneurs assess each carefully to know which

one creates benefits or advantages. Based on the data gathered by the researchers, two of

our participants which belongs to the micro enterprises said that growing business and

increasing sales are the advantages of having marketing strategies in Micro, Small and

Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). By executing their marketing strategies in their business

22
they are able to save money which helps them in maintaining their businesses as

entrepreneurs. Since their businesses only belongs to the micro enterprises, they are using

limited techniques/strategies since they do not have enough money to execute other

marketing strategies. On the other hand, two of the participants which belongs to the

small enterprises gave the same ideas on what are the advantages of marketing strategies

in their own enterprises. The first participant stated that increasing the source of her daily

income is the advantage of marketing strategies in her business. She also said that her

marketing strategies such as being perseverant and patient helps her to maintain her

business. Similarly, the second participant told that increasing income is the advantage of

marketing strategies in her business. Also, she said that good relationship with the

customers is the key to increase the sales of her business. Lastly, two of the participants

shared their different perspectives about the advantage of marketing strategies. The first

participant said that the advantage of marketing strategies is that her customers will know

her product. In addition, she told that her marketing strategies such as acquired

knowledge and solicited techniques helps her to keep the business running. The other

participant said that maintaining customers is the advantage of marketing strategies. His

marketing strategies like fair prices, maintaining the freshness, cleanliness and

consistency of the product ensures the growth of his business. Moreover, most of them

stated that marketing strategies like word of mouth, establishing a good relationship with

the customers, creating promos and discounts, having a fair price, and consistency of the

product greatly help them to ensure the growth of their business.

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24
 Chapter 4

Conclusions and Recommendations

Conclusions

The researchers conclude that there are various marketing strategies that can be

used by the entrepreneur in his or her business. Managing a micro, small and medium

enterprises is not a basis on marketing strategies. Based on the research results from the

six respondents of the study, the researchers found out that there are simple, yet effective

marketing strategies that an entrepreneur have been using in their businesses. The

strategies are about gaining basic knowledge about their businesses, saving capital,

proper budgeting, good social relationship among the customers. Having a background or

knowledge about business is considered as strategy since it is a tool that an entrepreneur

can use to ensure the growth of business and by applying the knowledge they have, they

can make a wise decision in business. Also, saving capital is considered as one of the best

marketing strategy in keeping a business. Having savings will greatly help entrepreneurs

especially in times of need. Aside from that, the most effective strategy among them is

the customer relationship or socialization with the customers. Because the growth of a

business highly depends to your customers. A business would never be possible without

the consumers who patronizes the project. One way to maintain customers’ loyalty and

stabilization of the business is to befriends existing customers and new ones. In that

strategy, the growth of the business will be ensured and the flow of income will continue.

In addition, befriending customers will give your business a positive outlook in the

public. The overall strategy which is the most effective and being utilized by the

25
entrepreneurs are customer relationship and the second one is saving capital, or

budgeting.

Recommendations

In light of the conclusion of the study, the following recommendations were

drawn:

For the next Researchers:

1. The researchers encourage future researchers to seek, find and gather more

marketing strategies or if possible, continue the same research to help aspiring

entrepreneurs.

2. The researchers advise the future researchers to have more respondents to make

research more credible and reliable.

For the Entrepreneurs:

1. The researchers motivate entrepreneurs to apply the marketing strategies that

gathered in their business as it will surely help them or help their business to

grow.

2. The researchers suggest to businessmen especially in San Ildefonso, Bulacan to

focus on overcoming their weaknesses. Instead of giving all of their attention in

sustenance of their enterprises and buying unnecessary luxury, focus on

developing and ensuring the growth of their own business.

26
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 APPENDIX A: Letter of Consent

Dear participant,

Good day!

We invite you to participate in our research study entitled “Steps to Success:

Effective Marketing Strategies of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises”. We are
Grade 12-Accountancy, Business and Management students from Saint John School,
Makapilapil, San Ildefonso, Bulacan.

The purpose of this research is to determine the marketing strategies used by

entrepreneurs especially those who are under the classification of micro, small and
medium enterprises (MSME). If you agree to participate in this study, please answer the
following questions based on your perspective, opinions, knowledge and suggestions
regarding the study. We, the researchers assure that all the information gathered will be
treated confidential and will be used for academic purposes only.

Thank you for your cooperation. May the God bless you!

Delos Reyes, Alec Miguel M. Llanes, Samantha Dianne M.

Guevarra, Cedrick Jade R. Victoria, Pia Heurika C.

Ms. Gracezhelle V. Javier, LPT

Research Adviser

31
 APPENDIX B: Interview Schedule

Good day Ma’am/Sir. I am ______________________________ , member of the

research team, and I will interview you regarding on our research entitled “Steps to

Success: Effective Marketing Strategies of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises”.

Thank you for sharing us your precious time and effort for this research.

1. How did you start your business?

2. How do techniques/strategies help you as an entrepreneur in maintaining your

business?

3. What are the obstacles that prevents you from executing your strategies?

4. What are the advantages of having marketing strategies when running a business?

5. What are the effects of marketing strategies in your business?

6. In what way do you ensure the growth of your business?

7. What do you think is the most challenging situation you have experienced as an

entrepreneur?

8. As an entrepreneur, what tips can you give to those who want to start a business?

32
 APPENDIX C: Time Table

DATE ACTIVITY
December 10, 2018 Choosing a Topic/Problem
December 14, 2018 Writing the Research Title
December 18, 2019 Submission of Research Problem
December 21, 2018 – January 3, 2019 Holiday Break
January 7, 2019 Statement of the Problem
January 14-16, 2019 Notecard
January 18, 2019 Related Literature and Studies
January 19, 2019 Significance of the Study
January 22 – 23, 2019 Bulak Festival
January 25, 2019 Scope and Limitations of the Study
January 28, 2019 Research Framework
February 4, 2019 Research Design and Participants
February 8-11, 2019 Letter of Consent and Survey

Questionnaire/Interview Schedule
February 13, 2019 Approval of the Survey

Questionnaire/Interview Schedule
February 14, 2019 Research Instrument and Data Gathering

Procedure
February 15-16, 2018 Data Gathering
February 19-23, 2018 SJS Foundation Week
February 26-28, 2019 Friendship Game
March 4-8, 2019 Submission of tallied data and transcribed

interview
March 13-15, 2019 Submission of Chapter 3 (Results and

Discussions)
March 18, 2019 Submission of Chapter 4 (Conclusions and

Recommendations) and Abstract

March 20, 2019 Submission of Acknowledgement,

Definition of Terms, Reference, Budget

Plan…
March 21-22, 2019 Final checking before hardbound
March 25, 2019 Submission of final research in hardbound

33
 APPENDIX D: Budget Plan

ITEMS COST

Printed Papers ₱180.00

Transportation Fee ₱80.00

Hardbound ₱350.00

TOTAL: ₱610.00

34
 Curriculum Vitae

ALEC MIGUEL M. DELOS REYES

Pala-Pala, San Ildefonso, Bulacan
delosreyes023@gmail.com

Educational Background
Senior High School:
Saint John School
Makapilapil, San Ildefonso, Bulacan
Accountancy, Business and Management
2017-Present
Junior High School:
Saint John School
2015-2017
Montessori De San Ildefonso
2013-2015
Primary School:
Pala-Pala Elementary School
2007-2013

Personal Information:
Age: 17 years old
Birthdate: July 5, 2001
Birthplace: Pala-Pala, San Ildefonso, Bulacan
Religion: Iglesia ni Cristo
Nationality: Filipino
Father: Ma. Alexiza Manuva
Mother: Michael V. Delos Reyes

35
 Curriculum Vitae

CEDRICK JADE R. GUEVARRA

Barangca, Candaba, Pampanga
Gokiguevarra@gmail.com

Educational Background
Senior High School:
Saint John School
Makapilapil, San Ildefonso, Bulacan
Accountancy, Business and Management
2017-Present
Junior High School:
Saint John School
2013-2017
Primary School:
Saint John School
2007-2013

Personal Information:
Age: 18 years old
Birthdate: January 23, 2001
Birthplace: San Miguel, Bulacan
Religion: Roman Catholic
Nationality: Filipino
Father: King M. Guevarra
Mother: Rowena R. Guevarra

36
 Curriculum Vitae

SAMANTHA DIANNE M. LLANES

Mataas na Parang, San Ildefonso, Bulacan
sammllanes@yahoo.com

Educational Background
Senior High School:
Saint John School
Makapilapil, San Ildefonso, Bulacan
Accountancy, Business and Management
2017-Present
Junior High School:
Saint John School
2013-2017
Primary School:
Mataas na Parang Elementary School
2007-2013

Personal Information:
Age: 17 years old
Birthdate: July 17, 2001
Birthplace: Baliuag, Bulacan
Religion: Roman Catholic
Nationality: Filipino
Father: Cesar V. Llanes
Mother: Cecilia M. Llanes

37
 Curriculum Vitae

PIA HEURIKA C. VICTORIA

Pulong Tamo, San Ildefonso, Bulacan
piaheurikavictoria1218@gmail.com

Educational Background
Senior High School:
Saint John School
Makapilapil, San Ildefonso, Bulacan
Accountancy, Business and Management
2017-Present
Junior High School:
Saint John School
2013-2017
Primary School:
Pulong Tamo Elementary School
2007-2013

Personal Information:
Age: 17 years old
Birthdate: December 18, 2000
Birthplace: San Ildefonso, Bulacan
Religion: Roman Catholic
Nationality: Filipino
Father: Emmanuel V. Victoria
Mother: Evangeline C. Victoria

38