The purpose of this study was to identify the factors affecting the business success in small and medium sized
enterprises in Thailand. A major implication for the findings is that these findings will able to give better
understanding for entrepreneurs and business owners in addressing the factors which will significantly affect the
business success in SME. The study of the factors affecting business success of SMEs is critical in understanding
the business continuity and growth hence help supporting economics development within a country. The results
of this study can also be used as reference for anyone who is interested to start their own business which will
provide insights into decision making in staring a business and also for any companies which are interested to
continue to sustain and grow.
To achieve business success, many factors should be optimal simultaneously, since SMEs success is a
multidimensional phenomenon. Both firm-internal and firm-external factors affect firm success. Entrepreneurs in
successful SMEs and those in failed SMEs thought that pretty much the same factors are the most important for
business success, and held the same views on the factors to be avoided in business. The research has looked into
characteristic of SMEs, management and know-how, products and services, customer and market, the way of
doing business and cooperation, resources and finance, strategy, and external environment.
The results show that customer and market, and resources and finance played an important role in ensuring the
SMEs business success in Thailand. Innovative product, quality, cost, reliability, and services are the key
strategic dimension in business success. Innovative product gives added value to the customer and it is important
to achieve a suitable balance between product quality and costs. Small-business owners must have a missionary
zeal about their products or services, be willing to be personally involved in it, be willing to stick with the
business, be able to define the market clearly and pay attention to details and proactiveness. Beside that,
companies must compete based on their strength and specialization which is classified as cost leadership,