The Expert Group was comprised of:

2 bankers
3 business instructors at the College of the North Atlantic
5 business development offices with various levels of government

The interviews lasted 30 to 60 minutes and all questions were posed with a focus on the marketing context of local small and medium sized businesses. The format was an in-depth interview that allowed each participant to contribute to the research in a way that demonstrated their core competency. Questions revolved around: feasibility/business plans, product development, working with lending and development institutions, education, the accounting-marketing connection, marketing and advertising in general, and anything else that could be discussed in an hour.

The participants were only shown one simple chart (a tree diagram) – New Entrepreneurs and Experienced Entrepreneurs. And the questions were posed in a way to fill in the information for each type of entrepreneur separately.

Some members of the expert group wish to remain anonymous to prevent their comments from being attached to the company which they represent. The interviews were extremely candid.

Appendix 2

Image 1 and 2 – questionnaire pg 28-29

Identified flaws in the marketing questionnaire:

Marketing Questionnaire 1

Marketing Questionnaire 2

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