Analysis of success factors for women owned small businesses in Mahikeng, North West Province

Abstract

purpose of this study was to investigate the success factors for women owned small businesses in North West Province: Mahikeng. It is expected that the success factors will be of assistance to this growing concept of the Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs). This is particularly relevant to the economic development of the town of Mahikeng located in the North West Province. It is important to note that the SMME’s are the major contributors to the economy as they provide employment opportunities and build economic wealth; as a result a decline in poverty and improved employment is noticed. In order to succeed and prosper, the SMME’s need to establish a sound financial management function and the best strategy is to keep the existing enterprises sustainable. Consequently it is important to explore the success factors for the SMME’s. This paper reveals more insight on the success factors for the SMME’s. The data used in the study was collected by administering the structured questionnaires to women owned business within the North-West Province: Mahikeng. A random selection was used through a probability sampling method in relation to collection of data. The data was composed through the use of self-administration in a survey for the reason that there was difficulty in obtaining the population of the SMME’s in the study area. The analyses of results were based on a descriptive statistics that were arrived at through the use of a Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) tool. The results indicated that most of the SMME’s in the North West Province, Mahikeng, struggle to succeed in the business industry and some of the challenges that serve as a barrier were identified as lack of funding, less marketing strategies and unhealthy competition. The recommendations are made to women owned business in North West Province: Mahikeng.