There has been a great amount of research on the marketing of start-up (venture) companies in and out of Korea but there has been little research on the start-up companies in the technoparks created to support and foster start-up companies.
Korean te...
There has been a great amount of research on the marketing of start-up (venture) companies in and out of Korea but there has been little research on the start-up companies in the technoparks created to support and foster start-up companies.
Korean technoparks have carried out Business Incubation since 1999 and has uncovered and fostered more than 1000 start-up companies. However despite this quantitative result, when we look at the business performance of start-up companies in technoparks in various parts in Korea, we can see there are increasing numbers of start-up companies which have failed and have gone bankrupt. The biggest reason start-up companies are facing these difficulties is because they have emphasized technology rather than a market-focused mindset and because they have not established systematic marketing plans. I have looked at this from a theoretical perspective.
This study takes this into consideration and has evaluated the marketing of companies in the 8 technoparks in Korea and suggests measures for improvement. As a result of the research on the marketing of start-up companies in the technoparks, many problems were uncovered.
First, in case of most start-up companies in the technoparks, they did not correctly establish a marketing concept. Second, most have focused on technology developmentand are have not focused on a department in the company which will be in charge of the marketing. Third, the CEO or the technology developer is directly in charge ofmarketing and thus a non-professional in marketing is in charge of marketing. Fourth, lack of education in marketing is low. Fifth, marketing plans and strategies for each growth level is low.
Also in the case of start-up companies in the technoparks,due to the short history of technoparks, lacking service minds of agencies in charge of corporate support in the technoparts and lacking expertise, the start-up companies in the technoparks are not getting substantial business management support such as marketing support.
In order to solve these problems, first we need to enhance the understanding of marketing so that all employees can recognize the concept and the importance of marketing. Second, with the increasing competition between the companies, strengtheningmarketing education for employees is essential. Third, we need to form an organization in charge of marketing in the start-up company and foster experts for marketing efficiency. Fourth, we need to breakdown the market and designate target markets and form consistent marketing plans in order for early dominance of the main market. Also there needs to be firm will and established missions established by the start-up companies in the technoparks. The performance of the agencies for corporate support needs to be strengthened. Development of marketing taking into consideration the characteristics of each growth stage and sharing the marketing cases of successful start-up companies and promoting this to other companies is also important.
The meaning of this research is as follows.
First, I hope that the results of this research will be an opportunity for start-up companies, technopark corporate support agencies and research institutions to recognize the importance of marketing. Also I hope they will realize the importance of product manufacturing centering on customers and also the need for systematic marketing plans.
Second, I hope that the results of this research are a guideline to the start-up companies in the Korean technoparks in establishing marketing plans and strategies. Third, this research was not on the existing start-up companies but the start-up companies in the technoparks which were fostered by the Korean government (Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy) as a location strategy to foster the success of the start-up (venture) companies. Thus this research evaluated their marketing performance. Fourth, this research is meaningful since we can know how much corporate support programs which have been established for marketing and business growth of start-up companies are realistically helping the start-up companies in the technoparks. Based in this research, we will be able to find a new direction on how the technoparks can solve these problems when incubating start-up companies in the future.