The influence of entrepreneurial attributes and social networks on the growth of women owned enterprises

Abstract

This study was about The Influence of Entrepreneurial attributes and Social Networks on the Growth of Women Owned Enterprises. It sought to establish the relationship between the levels of entrepreneur’s attributes exhibited by proprietors of women micro and small enterprises and social networks and the growth of women-owned enterprises. It was carried out to address two questions: a) What is the relationship between entrepreneur’s attributes and growth of women enterprises? b) To what extent do entrepreneur’s social networks affect growth of women enterprises? A zero correlation analysis of the variables was done to measure the relationship between the entrepreneur’s attributes and enterprise growth. The findings from the study are as follows:

There here is no significant relationship between entrepreneurial attributes and growth. This implies that in the sample surveyed, entrepreneurial attributes of these women do not influence growth of their businesses. What is clear here is that there are other factors that could possibly greatly influence growth of enterprises. However, this is unlikely to mean that the business owner’s attributes are not necessary for the growth of the business.

The relationship between social networks and growth was found not to be significant too. This can possibly be explained by the fact that many of the women studied are not very active in the networks. It may also be explained by the fact that the women studied work more often on part-time basis. This study further suggest that future research on the Small Business Strategy as related to their performance should be carried out and should examine more carefully the influence of business styles, strategies, and cultures on women-owned businesses.