The Unique Selling Propositions of Small and Medium Enterprises and Their Influence on the Level of Covid 19 Impact on These SMEs

An online survey was conducted to explore the extent to which unique selling propositions are used as a strategic objective in SMEs strategies and the extent to which these USPs influence the level of Covid 19 impact of these SMEs. 72% of the participants (CEOs, CFOs, owners, presidents of mainly German and USA SMEs) named “develop or sharpen a USP” as one of their strategic goals but with varying intensity between small and medium companies. The most frequent named USPs were leaders in: technology, customer orientation, speed, flexibility, quality and innovation with a difference between small and medium companies. The amount of 29 categories and the high amount of combined USPs show that most SMEs develop specific individual USPs to differentiate themselves from their competitors. However, 53% of small and 34% of medium-sized enterprises still have the potential to improve their competitiveness and crisis resilience by developing a USP. A direct dependence of the level of the Covid 19 impact on the utility of a USP as a strategic goal was not demonstrated.