ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the process and importance of marketing planning. It is often contended that the formal marketing approach is inappropriate for SMEs, largely on account of their relative small size and sometimes informal structure (Blankson and Omar, 2002). Although SMEs are more flexible than large businesses, they tend to apply a more flexible and informal approach to their management systems. It is believed that the embedded attributes of SMEs militate against conventional planning but the reality is that a formal approach to marketing planning affords SMEs a sense of direction and focus. We begin our discussion by trawling through some of the broader issues that might impact the planning process in SMEs and then focus on the structure of a marketing plan.
