Factors Influencing Growth of Cereals Enterprises Owned by Women in Meru County. A Survey of Enterprises in Nkubu Town

Abstract

Cereals enterprises have been witnessing declining in performance, this has resulted to some of them running out of business. In every country entrepreneurship growth is being witnessed as a result of response to advancement in technology and global competitiveness. It is against this background that this study was undertaken in order to examine factors influencing growth of cereals enterprises owned by women in Nkubu Town in Meru County. The study was guided by the following specific objectives: To establish whether access to finance, access to infrastructure, and managerial capacity and entrepreneur innovation contributing to growth of cereals enterprises owned by women in Nkubu Town in Meru County. The study adopted descriptive research designs with owners of cereals enterprises owned by women in Nkubu Town in Meru County, Kenya a total of 104 owners, were presented using tables. Yamane’s’ formula was used to determine a sample size of 82 respondents. The study may be a key contribution to the existing literature and discourse in entrepreneurship growth practices among enterprises in the country. Among those who will benefit from findings in the present study include the academicians and researchers. The result indicated that, collectively access to finance has the highest positive influence on enterprise growth, followed by entrepreneur innovation, managerial capacity and access to infrastructure. The study also concludes that an individual’s‟ innovativeness affects enterprise growth and development of the business. Through innovations, cereal enterprises are able to deliver quality services to their customers that outperform their competitors. The study further concludes that poor infrastructure and high transport costs are often identified as a key constraint for enterprise development in cereal enterprises. Government policies and macro-economic variables (political factors, economic, competitive, global) that can influence or affect SME’S growth and performance.