The Growth of High-Technology SMEs in Their Start-Up Stages with Niche Theory

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in national economic development because of its flexibility and low cost. However, most of young high-technology SMEs grow up with much difficulty. For this reason, this paper discusses the growth of high-technology SMEs in their initial stages according to niche theory. First, niche theory and its derivatives, such as technological niche and enterprise niche, are introduced in this paper. Then, a concept of high-technology SMEs' niche in their start-up stages are given, and analysis the structures of high-technology SMEs' niche in these stages with internal and external ecological factors. Moreover, key attributes of high-technology SMEs' niche are introduced and their relationships are discussed. Finally, some strategies of niche-based high-technology SMEs are proposed for their start-up stage, by studying their ecological models and analyzing the composition of their niches.