THE IMPLEMENTATION OF MARKETING IN THE BUSINESS OF MICRO AND SMALL ENTREPRENEURS

Marketing je ključna komponenta uspješnog poduzetničkog poduhvata. Neosporno je da veći i organiziraniji poslovni sustavi brže i efikasnije organiziraju marketinšku funkciju u poslovanju i time postižu dodatnu komparativnu prednost u odnosu na mikro i male poduzetnike. Mali se poduzetnici, sa druge strane, često dovode u situaciju zanemarivanja marketinga u poslovanju zbog nedostatka vremena, novca, ljudskih i materijalnih resursa potrebnih za organizaciju svih potrebnih procesa, ili jednostavno zbog podcjenjivanja važnosti njegove uloge. Oslanjanje na vanjsku uslugu za pojedine projekte ili korištenje specijaliziranih agencija, često je nepodesno za prilagodbe u tijeku poslovnog procesa, zahtijeva prevelike troškove i u konačnici se postavlja pitanje o opravdanosti istog. Hrvatsko gospodarstvo sa svojim specifičnostima kao što su malo nacionalno tržište, nerazvijena kultura poduzetništva, osjetljivost na sve oblike vanjskih utjecaja, te spora i komplicirana procedura kod pokretanja i zatvaranja posla u odnosu na usporedive zemlje, dodatno otežava povećanje udjela mikro i malih poduzetnika u bruto domaćem proizvodu. Navedene premise mogu poslužiti kao osnova za analizu mogućnosti uklapanja pojedinih marketinških modela i znanstvenih spoznaja, kod malih poduzeća bez tehničke mogućnosti organiziranja marketinškog odjela i standardiziranog praćenja svih marketinških procedura u svom poslovanju. Ovaj rad prezentira najvažnije marketinške principe i modele, analizirane i potkrijepljene u relevantnoj marketinškoj literaturi, te uz pomoć primjera iz prakse analizira mogućnosti njihove primjene kod domicilnih mikro i malih poduzetnika.Marketing is a key component of a successful entrepreneurial venture. Larger and more organized business systems are more effective in organizing marketing functions in their companies, thus achieving an additional comparative advantage over micro and small businesses. Small entrepreneurs, on the other hand, often lead to a situation of neglecting marketing in business due to lack of time, money, human and material resources to organize all the necessary processes, or simply because of underestimating the importance of its role. Reliance on external services for individual projects or the use of specialized agencies is often unsuitable for adjustments in the course of a business process, requires high costs with questionable profitability. The Croatian economy with its specifics such as a small national market, undeveloped culture of entrepreneurship, sensitivity to all forms of external influences, and the slow and complicated procedure of starting and closing business in comparison with comparable countries, additionally make it more difficult to increase the share of micro and small entrepreneurs in gross domestic product. These premises can be a basis for analyzing the ability to fit certain marketing models and scientific discoveries, with small business without the ability to organize a marketing department and standardized tracking of all marketing practices in their businesses.This paper presents the most important marketing principles and models, analyzed and substantiated in the relevant marketing literature, and with the help of practical examples, it analyzes the possibilities of their application in domestic micro and small entrepreneurs