Identifying Success Factors for Rapid Growth in SME E-commerce

• Published in: Small business economics Vol. 19; no. 1; pp. 51 - 62
• Main Authors: Feindt, Sylvie, Jeffcoate, Judith, Chappell, Caroline
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Kluwer Academic Publishers 01.08.2002; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Brand image; Business expansion; Business growth; Business innovation; Business structures; Business studies; Competitive advantage; Consumer goods industries; Customers; Economic conditions; Economic theory; Economics; Electronic commerce; Employees; Internet; Internet access; Small & medium sized enterprises-SME; Small and medium sized enterprises; Small business; Software; Start up firms; Startups; Studies; Success factors; Technological innovation; Technology
• ISSN: 0921-898X; 1573-0913
• DOI: 10.1023/A:1016165825476

With high unemployment rates and major companies downsizing, SME policy has started to move centre stage. The small business job-creation thesis can be traced to David Birch, who placed great emphasis on the job generation process of very rapidly growing businesses he termed Gazelles: "In fact most firms don't grow. Gazelles do. And that is only 3% of all small companies." This paper focuses on the baby gazelles of the Internet economy. It looks at critical success factors that fast growing E-commerce ventures need to take into account in the start-up phase. Based on the results of the EU project KITE, the article demonstrates links between critical success factors, and highlights the competitive advantage deriving from the application of a certain critical success factor. It will compare the critical success factors identified for high growth E-commerce ventures in the start-up phase in KITE with research into the success of high growth companies in general.