ROLE OF ENTREPRENEUR’S COMPETENCE ON GROWTH OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES

Abstract

The study endeavored to determine the role of entrepreneur’s competence on growth of small and medium enterprises. The specific objectives of the study were to; establish entrepreneur’s competence small and medium enterprises in Bungoma County, examine the growth of small and medium enterprises in Bungoma county and to determine the relationship between entrepreneur’s competence and growth of small and medium enterprises. The study used a combination of descriptive, cross-sectional and correlation research designs and data was gathered using a self-administered questionnaire on 201 SMEs. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The resource-based theory was used to guide this research. The study findings indicated that the grand mean for entrepreneur’s competence was low with a mean of 2.23 with a SD of 0.50. The implications of the findings is that SMEs operators in Bungoma county lack the prerequisite entrepreneurial skills and knowledge affecting their growth save for resource mobilization. It was also found that the grand mean for growth of SMEs was low with a mean of 1.96 and SD of 0.58. The implication of the findings was that SMEs were performing dismally affecting their graduation/transition to the next higher level. The study results also found that there was a significant relationship between entrepreneur’s competence and growth of SMEs with p. value 0.000. The study concluded that SMEs should embrace relevant competence skills to enable them operated growth oriented enterprises which can graduate to higher levels thereby contributing to improved social and economic life of the operators and the nation at large. The study recommended that owner managers of SMEs to attend trainings on resource mobilization and innovation so as to acquire adequate resource mobilization and innovation skills and differentiate themselves in the market place to grow their enterprises. The study further recommended that government to put in place entrepreneurship policy to nurture business startups through mentorship, motivation and attitude change as they walk through entrepreneurship journey. Keywords: Entrepreneur’s Competence, Growth, Small and Medium Enterprises

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