Impact of Entrepreneurial Competencies, Innovation Types, and Digital Marketing Strategies on Ground Coffee Business Performance: A Case Study of West Lampung

Ground coffee has quite enormous economic potential in West Lampung. However, the coffee industry faces challenges maintaining and improving performance due to increasingly tight market competition. This research examines the impact of entrepreneurial competencies, innovation, and digital marketing on business performance, considering innovation as a mediating variable. Furthermore, it seeks to identify priority variables and indicators for enhancing the performance of ground coffee enterprises in West Lampung. Respondents in this research were 37 ground coffee entrepreneurs. Data analysis methods used are Partial Least Square (PLS) and Importance-Performance Map Analysis (IPMA). The findings of this research indicate that entrepreneurial competencies and digital marketing significantly impact the performance of ground coffee businesses in West Lampung. In contrast, innovation does not significantly impact business performance despite the positive influence of entrepreneurial competencies on innovation. Consequently, entrepreneurs should explore alternative, more effective strategies to foster business growth. To improve business performance, digital marketing strategies should be developed, including social media marketing, online marketplaces, and targeted advertising. Entrepreneurs can build content highlighting their unique taste by illustrating the production process, origin, and characteristic flavors. They can also showcase its quality through visually compelling photographs and videos demonstrating various preparation techniques.