Strategizing for Sustaining Small Business Enterprises in Nigeria (original) (raw)
Related papers
Strategizing for Sustaining Small Business Enterprises in Nigeria Doctoral Dissertation
ProQuest Dissertation Publication , 2018
Small business enterprises are important to the economic growth of Nigeria because small businesses makeup 97% of the economy and contribute 70% of the country’s job opportunity. Notwithstanding the importance of small businesses in the Nigerian economy, 80% fail within the first five years. Based on system theory developed by Ludwig von Bertalanffy, the purpose of this multi-unit qualitative case study was to investigate the strategies owners and managers used to sustain operations longer than first five years. Twelve senior managers of small businesses in Dutse Nigeria participated in an interview. Methodological triangulation of interview questions was used to collect the data. Review of transcribed data and member checking were used to affirm the validity, credibility, and reliability of the study. Ten dominant themes emerged as findings: managers with educational and professional qualifications, skills, and experience; written business and strategic planning; additional financing; commitment of owners; and improved working conditions and good employees manager rapport. Other findings include the use of word of mouth and maintaining a close relationship with top 20% and high spending customers; use of local FM radio stations, social media, and face-to-face contacts marketing; and the use of e-commerce and e-payment platforms. The findings also include the use of support services; and knowledge of seasonality, cutting cost, and financial discipline.Findings might be utilized by small business owners and managers to develop success strategies to sustain operations longer than first five years which might mitigate small business failure. Mitigating small business failure might contribute to the growth of Nigerian economy.
STRATEGIES FOR GROWING AND SUSTAINING SUCCESSFUL SMALL BUSINESSES
Many small business enterprises do not survive for more than 5 years after formation. The objective of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies used by small business manufacturing leaders in Lagos, Nigeria to sustain their businesses, using general systems theory as the conceptual framework. The sample comprised 3 small business leaders who have sustained their business enterprises for more than 5 years after forming in Lagos, Nigeria. The data were collected through semistructured, in-person interviews and the review of business feasibility and planning documents, handbills, and contract documents. The results from this study suggested preparation including research and strategic plans before the launch of a business idea, minimizing debt and overhead expenses, proper record keeping, skills, and expertise are essential for small business success. Small business leaders should do feasibility studies and business plans before committing resources for business ideas, in addition to keeping a record of activities of the business for strategic and tactical decision-making to sustain a successful small business enterprise. Successful business enterprises provide continued employment for the business leaders and their employees, and enhanced quality of life for the community.
Critical Challenges Facing Small Business Enterprises in Nigeria: A Literature Review
International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research (ISSN 2229-5518), 2017
Small business sector supports the Nigerian economy where it provides employment opportunity to most of its citizens. Despite its importance, most small businesses fail within the first five years notwithstanding the agencies established by Nigerian Government to support the sector. Most of the failure is due to numerous challenges facing the sector which borders of the success factors of small businesses. This paper identified the challenges based on the Lampadarious (2015) success factors framework to providing information for owners, managers, and researchers of small business success strategies. The paper identified fifteen critical challenges facing small businesses in Nigeria. The information will help owners and managers of small businesses to develop strategies to mitigate the challenges. Small business researchers will use the information to study challenges that are specific to the industry and investigate the strategies used by successful small businesses to mitigate the challenges. This paper might guide Nigerian government to develop policies that might reduce the external business environmental challenges of small businesses.
Establishing, Growing, and Maintaining Small Businesses in Nigeria
Small businesses are important to the growth of the Nigerian economy by employing more than 80% of the country's workforce. Despite the importance of small businesses to the Nigerian economy, there is a continuing decline in their establishment, growth, and maintenance. The phenomenological study revealed the interpretations of entrepreneurs of the central phenomenon on establishing, growing, and maintaining small businesses in Nigeria. Using the Moustakas's (1996) modified van Kaam method, data were collected through the interview with 25 business leaders from Jigawa State – Nigeria. Five leaders of small businesses from each of the following five sectors were interviewed: agricultural, construction, manufacturing, wholesale and retail, and transportation. The participants selected were from the five emirates of Jigawa State. The study revealed entrepreneurship activities including planning and identification of opportunities, appropriate leadership style, establishing and implementation of innovative and creative organizational culture, and constant and continuous learning organizations as major strategies of establishing, growing and maintaining small businesses in Nigeria. The study might help small businesses sustain operations in Nigeria which will result in creating jobs to grow the country's economy.
Critical challenges limiting small business performance in Nigeria: an exploratory investigation
Although small businesses have been globally acknowledged for their roles in enhancing economic growth and sustainability in many countries; yet, their impact on Nigeria's economy remains minimal. This paper sought to investigate the critical challenges limiting small business operations in Nigeria; thereby, contributing to the growing body of knowledge relating to factors influencing small business failure, particularly from the Nigerian perspective, one that has not received much attention in the literature. The study adopts an exploratory approach, via in-depth semi-structured interviews, to reveal that five critical challenges hamper the operations of small businesses in Nigeria, namely: limited access to credit, high cost of doing business, inadequate infrastructure, inconsistent economic policies, and corruption and multiple taxes. There is germane need for an effective SME-stakeholder engagement (policy makers, central bank, financial institutions, investors and SME associations) via a National SME Summit, to spearhead the development of a coherent master-plan for the sector.
Strategies to Sustain Small-and Medium-Sized Business Enterprises in Nigeria
2016
Strategies to Sustain Small-and Medium-Sized Business Enterprises in Nigeria by Matthias I. Chijioke MBA, Morgan State University, 1989 BS, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, 1986 Doctoral Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Business Administration Walden University December 2016 Abstract Eighty-five percent of all firms operating in Nigeria are small-and medium-sized business enterprises (SMEs) and contribute almost 55% to the gross domestic product (GDP) in Nigeria. Capital flight and other growth inhibitors pose threats to the sustainability of SMEs in Nigeria. This exploratory multiple-case study was to determine strategies SME leaders use to sustain business operations in Nigeria. The study participants consisted ofEighty-five percent of all firms operating in Nigeria are small-and medium-sized business enterprises (SMEs) and contribute almost 55% to the gross domestic product (GDP) in Nigeria. Capital flight and other growt...
Mitigating the Challenges of Small and Medium Enterprises in Nigeria
SEISENSE Journal of Management, 2019
Abstract Purpose- The purpose of the paper is to provide owners and managers of small businesses with necessary information about the challenges facing small businesses in Nigeria and present the possible tools, policies, and strategies to mitigate them. Design/Methodology- Using the multi-case qualitative study, managers of successful small companies narrated in an interview the tools, systems, and procedures they used to mitigate the identified challenges. The study answered the central question: what are the tools, policies, and strategies employed by managers of successful small businesses to mitigate the challenges facing their firms? Findings- The findings identified continuous government intervention and support to small businesses as a vital tool that reduced the challenges facing the sector. Practical Implications- The information found in this study can be used by small business managers to mitigate the challenges facing small businesses and reduce their massive failure in the economy. Mitigating the challenges facing small businesses in Nigeria will increase the number of successful small businesses, which will result in the reduced unemployment rate in the economy. A reduced unemployment rate in the Nigerian economy will increase the wellbeing of citizens, thereby reducing the unemployment rate in the economy.
Understanding and Overcoming Barriers to Small Business Growth: Nigerian Evidence
IJEBD (International Journal Of Entrepreneurship And Business Development)
Purpose: This study sought to understand the barriers hindering the growth of small businesses in Nigeria, and to investigate the various strategies small business owners and managers develop to overcome these barriers. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative research design using in-depth, semi-structured, face-face interviews was utilized to obtain the barriers to growth as well as strategies developed to overcome them by 15 sachet water company managers in Minna, the capital city of Niger State in North Central Nigeria. Findings: The major internal barriers to growth identified included unmotivated employees, lack of modern machinery, lack of storage capacity and poor marketing and distribution strategies, while the major external barriers included weather conditions, poor electricity, bad roads and competition. Strategies to overcome these barriers included creating a family atmosphere, hiring more workers, using alternative power and forming a union to control prices. Resear...
2018
Small businesses are vital economic catalysts in developing nations because of their flexibility and innovative capacity to propel business activities that lead to economic development, especially in nations with significant unemployment rates, low levels of income distribution, and regional and local development challenges. However, small businesses in developing nations such as Nigeria are failing in their quest to achieve success and have an impact on the economy because of certain barriers. Therefore, this thesis aims to examine the influence between barriers to the success of small businesses in North West Nigeria from the perspective of owner-managers. Design The research framework used emanated from a systematic literature review, where forty-one concerns that contribute to the creation of a barrier were identified and used to develop a conceptual framework that grouped the concerns under eight common barriers: infrastructure, education, finance, regional culture, regulatory and corruption, strategic management, entrepreneur lifestyle, and enterprise operation. The framework was empirically investigated using a mixed method, which incorporated the quantitative and qualitative approaches. The mixed method was used to avoid common bias and to provide clarity to the survey from an individual perspective. To provide a detailed understanding of the barriers associated with the success of small businesses from the perspective of ownermanagers in North West Nigeria, a survey questionnaire of 518 owner-managers of existing small businesses identified through a registered list from SMEDAN, was used to validate the developed conceptual framework and formulated hypotheses. Following the quantitative phase, face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with selected ownermanagers of failed/closed small businesses, through snow balling, to explore their experiences and beliefs with regards to barriers to small business success. v M. S. Suleiman 2018© Findings and implications The study found that there was a significant negative correlation between all the identified barriers and the success of small businesses. Findings suggests that concerns contributing to the creation of infrastructure, strategic management, regional culture, entrepreneur lifestyle, education, and regulatory & corruption, finance, and enterprise operation barriers, reduce the chances of small business success in North West Nigeria. Additionally, findings shows the ranking of barriers by owner-managers based on their perception of the barrier that has the most influence on the success of their businesses. Additionally, findings shows the level of influence the barriers have on success, which is either low or medium. Based on the findings, the initial conceptual framework was developed into an improved systemic diagram, to show the ranking and influence between the barriers as they reduce the chances of success for small businesses in North West Nigeria. The improved systemic diagram could serve as a guide to inform future decision-making by small business stakeholders towards improving the success of businesses. Particularly, it will improve the understanding of owner-managers that for the business to succeed, they need to understand the barriers and how they can be linked to influence the chances of success. For example, having financial discipline and proper records (enterprise operation) could improve the chances to access credit (finance). Further, findings from this research drew other significant implications that could be used to appreciate the impact of specific policies and measures on other elements, such as government support targeting specific areas for allocation/improving of resources that could improve the chances of small business success. In addition, financial institutions can use the findings to assess the performance of small businesses before extending loans. Originality and value This study is based on empirical evidence and it is the only study to the best of the researcher's knowledge in the context of Nigeria that explore in a systematic way the barriers to the success of small businesses from the perspective of owner-managers. This study adds to our understanding of the barriers to small businesses by developing an improved systemic vi M. S. Suleiman 2018© diagram showing the influence between barriers to the success of small businesses based on the perspective of owner-managers. The improved systemic diagram could be modelled in other contexts to develop bespoke diagrams and simulation models that would help in examining the barriers hindering the success of businesses. vii
This study examined the impact of socioeconomic characteristics on the performance of small-scale enterprises in the study area. It also identified the salient impacts of socioeconomic traits on the development and expansion of small-scale enterprises in the country; established the productive prospects of progressive small-scale enterprises in the study area. The study was carried out in Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria where copies of structured questionnaire were purposively administered on selected respondents. Evidence from the study shows that socioeconomic characteristics of small scale entrepreneurs tend to influence the performance and productivity of Small Scale Enterprises in Nigeria. Further analysis shows that gender, age and educational qualification had significant influence on the performance of the selected small-scale enterprises in the study area. The paper suggests integrated approach to the development of individual entrepreneurial capacity and promotion of sustainable small-scale enterprises.