Assignment on

Managerial Functions of a Small Business

MGT 306: Small and Medium Enterprise Management

Prepared for:
Tahmina Khanam
Assistant Professor
Department of Management
University of Dhaka

Prepared by:
Faysal Chowdhury
ID: 31
Section: A
Department of Management
University of Dhaka

Date of Submission: 1st December, 2020

 Introduction
In Bangladesh, Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of the national
economy. This sector is playing an important role to develop the economy of our country. The role
of the SME sector is immense to alleviate poverty from the country as well. Small and Medium
enterprises are particularly suitable for densely populated countries like Bangladesh where the
SME sector can provide huge employment opportunities with much lower investment. They are
expected to create jobs, reduce poverty, and drive a resilient national economy.

Definition of Small Business

Small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs) are businesses that maintain revenues, assets or a number
of employees below a certain threshold. Small and medium-sized enterprises or small and medium-
sized businesses are businesses whose personnel numbers fall below certain limits.
In manufacturing, small industry/enterprise are those with assets worth 3.5 to 13.5 million dollar
and/or 25 to 99 workers.
In the service industry and in business, small enterprises are those which employ 10 to 50 workers
and have assets worth 3.5 to 14.5 million dollars.

Management and it’s Functions

Management involves coordinating and overseeing the work activities of others so that their
activities are completed efficiently and effectively. Efficiency refers to getting the most output
from the least amount of inputs. Effectiveness is often described as “doing the right things”—that
is, doing those work activities that will help the organization reach its goals.
According to Henri Fayol, all managers perform five functions: planning, organizing,
commanding, coordinating, and controlling. Today, these functions have been condensed to four:
1. Planning: Setting goals, establishing strategies, and developing plans to coordinate
activities
2. Organizing: Determining what needs to be done, how it will be done, and who is to do it
3. Leading Motivating, leading, and any other actions involved in dealing with people
4. Controlling Monitoring activities to ensure that they are accomplished as planned
Every function is essential in any kind of organization. All four of the functions does not carry the
same weight in case of a small business because the owner himself is not a skilled manager. In
order to get a better understanding of the managerial functions of a small business, a small
enterprise has been selected named “Bismillah Store” and the managerial functions performed in
that organization are presented.
 Business Overview
“Bismillah Store” is small business which offers laundry services and iron clothing, operated by
Md. Mostak Ahmed. It is located in Aliganj, Fatullah, Narayanganj. It was started in 2005 and at
that time the owner’s brother also worked there, as a part-timer. The primary investment was
approximately 1 lakh taka only. As it’s a sole-proprietorship small business the investment was
lower.
Basically, Bismillah Store provides its services all over the area of Aliganj. The owner himself
does the ironing of clothes and for the laundry service he takes the help from another remote
service provider outside the area. Although there are 2 new stores in the area offering similar
services, “Bismillah Store” is still doing good compared to others. It’s because of its standard
quality services, timely delivery and affordable cost. The location of the store also gives an
advantage to the store as it is close to the main road, alongside a branch road and a Mosque. As
his brother left, Mostak Ahmed is the only one running the business now and he is doing a great
job. Customers are happy with the services he is providing for years which have created a loyal
customer base in the area.

Managerial Functions
Every function is essential in any kind of organization, even in a small business like “Bismillah
Store”. At first glance, it might appear that organization for a sole proprietor with no employees
there might be no need for standard managerial functions. But these functions are performed by
every organization to some extent. The managerial functions of “Bismillah Store” is stated below:

1. Planning: Planning means deciding in advance what needs to be done and how to do it. The
first and foremost function is planning. The planning function for “Bismillah Store” started when
Md. Mostak Ahmed thought of opening a small business. Among many alternatives, he choosed
to offer iron clothing and laundry services because he found out a problem in his area.
The problem was that the people of his area had to go the shop in other areas to take those services.
Md. Mostak thought of solving this problem of his area by opening a small business which will
offer laundry services and iron clothing all over the area of Aliganj. This problem statement was
essential to the decision making of his business.
The primary mission of his business is to provide iron clothing and laundry services to all the
people of his area while maintaining standard quality services, timely delivery and affordable cost.
2. Organizing: Organizing means determining what tasks needs to be done, how they will be done,
and who is to do them. At first glance, it might appear that organization for a sole proprietor with
no employees is a simple task. However, a sole proprietor often must wear many hats, requiring
him to become proficient at multitasking and time management. He also must be a self-starter, as
tasks won't be accomplished unless he performs them himself. If you operate a store, you need
someone to handle the customers. Without employees, that will be you. You will need to be
taking care of customers while managing other aspects of the business. If your store is open
seven days a week, you will have little time for anything else if you are operating the business.
If he has a staff of employees, he must organize and direct their activities. In “Bismillah Store” as
there are no employees, it’s up to Md. Mostak Ahmed to arrange and structure the activities to
accomplish the organizational goals. Collecting clothes, perfoming the services and delivering
them back to the customers, all these activities are singlehandedly done by Md. Mostak. Along
with these daily activities, he also has to take of his resources in the shop and maintain them.

3. Leading: Leading is the process which includes directing, motivating, resolving conflicts, and
any other actions involved in dealing with people. As there are no employees in “Bismillah Store”,
leading function doesn’t apply to his business.

4. Controlling: Management function that involves monitoring, comparing, and correcting work
performance. Because he is ultimately responsible for the performance of the business, the sole
proprietor typically controls all aspects of the organization. He must monitor progress and take
corrective action as necessary. He also must monitor spending and expenses and make changes to
activities that are limiting profitability.
As the sole owner of his business, Md. Mostak tries to provide standard quality services. He also
takes feedbacks from his customers to measure whether his actual performance is above or below
the standards and taking corrective actions accordingly.

Conclusion
Management is a process in which managers get things done by working with and through other
to achieve organizational objective in a changing environment. Management requires the
application of important functions, skills and roles to carry out the necessary activities in the
organization effectively and efficiently. The importance of these functions can’t be denied in any
organizations whether it’s a small, medium or a large enterprise. So, understanding each of the
function is essential to the managers of every organization.