Contact and Relations with the Market in Micro-enterprises

By Sophie Dubuisson-Quellier
English

CONTACT AND RELATIONS WITH THE MARKET IN VERY SMALL BUSINESSES

This article, which draws on a qualitative survey on forty very small businesses (VSBs) in Nantes and surrounding areas, reports on the ways in which these businesses apply relational techniques in their interactions with the market. The main operations involved in their work on the market are described: knowing the market, adjusting supply and demand, and recruiting new customers. The author highlights the contrast between those firms for which the market is an external condition, and those for which it is a reality that they help to create and that constantly needs to be reshaped. She proposes this as a useful approach for characterizing the role of telecommunication tools in very different contexts, in which they enhance VSBs' understanding of the market and their impact on it.

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Go to the article on Cairn-int.info