Abstract
The concept of social value as a growth process offers small businesses a unique opportunity to achieve growth while upholding their economic value and contributing to societal wellbeing. Recognizing the increasing importance of creating positive social impact, it becomes essential to explore the ways in which social value contributes to the growth process of small firms. This narrative review aims to synthesise existing literature to provide a comprehensive overview of the relationship between social value and the growth process of small businesses. Drawing upon a narrative review of 53 studies, encompassing empirical research and theoretical perspectives published between 2000 and 2023, this review examines how small firms can adopt social value as their growth process. By bridging the fields of small firm growth and social value, this review contributes to the understanding of how small businesses can utilise and adopt social value as a firm performance measurement indicator for small business growth. The findings of this review provide insights and practical implications for small business owners, policymakers, and researchers. The review concludes by outlining potential avenues for future research in the domain of small firm growth process.