A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of masters of Science degree in commerce (finance and accounting) in the school of business and public management at KCA University
According to (Fedahunsi, 1997) SMEs face many problems both at start up phases and their growth in many developing countries. Lack of proper skill and the inability to access credit has led to a high failure rate of SMEs in Africa that is approximately 85% in every 100 enterprises. There is limited information available on challenges of sustainability and its effects on the growth of small and micro enterprises in Kenya. Therefore, this study seeks to establish these challenges. A descriptive research design was adopted by the author where the population of interest in the SMEs were visited. A descriptive study’s main purpose is to find out the what, where and how of a phenomenon that is according to Cooper and Schindler (2003).The design provides quantitative data from cross section of the chosen population. The target population for this study was 1121 owners/entrepreneurs of SMEs in Gikomba market. 112 respondents were selected representing a population of 1121 possible respondents. The researcher used a questionnaire as the primary data collection instrument. The data was then be coded to enable the responses to be grouped into various categories. Multiple regressions analysis was carried out to determine the strength of the variable. The study found that lack of managerial training and experience affect the growth of small and micro enterprises. It was clear that the enterprises apply deployment of material and planning and that design of organization structure, coordination, deployment of finance resources and controlling activities and staffing. The study revealed that government policies and regulations affect the growth of small businesses. The study found that the enterprises encounter problems of raising capital, accessing finance and accessing credit. Majority of the businesses obtained startup capital from self-financing. From regression equation it was revealed that overall access to credit had the greatest effect on the growth of small and micro enterprises, followed by training while government policies and regulations had the least effect.
