This work was grounded on the theory of the resource-based view (RBV) and the five competitive market forces to identify and analyze the determining factors for the operational performance of small service providers, showing the facilitators and barriers to an improved performance. The systematic literature review (SLR) was used as a research method to identify the main determinants and a case study to explore how small businesses address these determinants in their operational performance. In this context, this study was carried out with four small oil and gas service providers, which work in partnership with the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service in the State of Rio de Janeiro (SEBRAE/RJ). As SLR results, innovation and market orientation were identified as the main determinants often related to the performance of small businesses in services. The key facilitators identified were quality, human capital, and product/service innovation while limited resources and disqualified employees were identified as the main barriers. Thus, in the analysis of the results of the case studies, it was observed that competitiveness and market growth are the driving forces for innovation activities, so market orientation becomes necessary for companies to target their actions in a strategically assertive way and, with innovation, organizations aim to improve their performance generating competitive advantages by offering new services.