Abstract:

Micro businesses, which make up the vast majority of UK firms, face distinctive strategic challenges shaped by limited resources, informal planning practices, and founder-driven decision-making. Despite their economic significance, comparatively little is known about how micro business founders conceptualise and enact strategy. This pilot study investigates the strategic orientations of UK micro-enterprises through an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design, combining a survey of 12 founder-directors with follow-up semi-structured interviews. Using the Miles and Snow typology as a guiding framework, findings signal that most micro businesses rely on informal, adaptive strategic behaviours rather than formal planning, with strategic choices strongly influenced by founder motivations, prior experience, and personal definitions of success. Interview data particularly highlight the centrality of cognitive frames and sensemaking in shaping how founders interpret challenges and allocate strategic effort. The study reveals a misalignment between traditional strategic models and the lived realities of micro-firms, underscoring the need for more nuanced theoretical and policy approaches in the context of micro-businesses.

Please choose your submission type: Developmental Paper

Primary Track: Strategy

Keywords: strategy;strategic change

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Dr. Colin Akhurst