Factors that determine entrepreneurial behaviour: a study of small scale enterprises in Kisumu town

Abstract

This study is concerned with the factors that determine entrepreneurial behaviour. The study was aroused by the fact that whereas studies conducted in other countries have identified certain factors that condition entrepreneurial be~ haviour, no study appears to have been conducted in Kenya to find out the extent to which entrepreneurial behaviour of Kenyan Businessmen and women are conditioned by such factors. To achieve the objective, a sample of 50 entrepreneurs from Manufacturing, mercharndising and service subsectors - was selected from Kisumu town. Primary data was collected by the use of questionnaire. The entrepreneurial behaviours investigated were: risk-taking, innovativeness, Knowledge of results and individual responsibility, while the influencing factors included -formal education, training, experience, access to resources and motivation. Data was ana lysed using multiple regression and correlation analyses. The regression analyses revealed the following findings: 1. that motivation variable was significant determinant of risk-taking among the entrepreneurs interviewed, but it did not influence innovativeness, knowledge of results and individual responsibility 2. that the variables - formal education, training and experience were not significant determinants of risk-taking, innovativeness, knowledge of results and individual responsibility, while access to resources did not influence risktaking and innovativeness among the entrepreneurs interviewed. The conclusions reached was that most of the variables were not statistically significant determinants of any of the entrepreneurial behaviours analysed. except for motivation that had some influence on risk-taking.