The constructs influencing performance of family business, small and medium business in Nakuru town, Central Business District, in Kenya

Abstract

Performance is one important cmstructs regarding business strategy in today's increasingiy competitive market. The concept has been received with much consideration ad attention from both disciplines that is academic and p:·actioners. Far .ily business management shou.d recognize and improve tlose things that can affect the.r business not to attain its goals. Perform mce plays a major role in winning market share and development a sustainable competitive advantage. The purpose of the :.:udy was to determine the constructs influencing performance of family business, small and medium bu iness in Nakuru town, Central Business District, in Kenya. The study was carried out amongst small and medium family businesses in Nakuru town, Central BusinessDistrict, in Kenya. In order to accomplish this, the study was guided by the following research objectives to determine the extent to which education background influences performance of family business, to establish how demographic factors (age,sex,marital status) influences performance of family business, to examine how the level of business experienee influences performance of family business, to asses how availability of capital influer ces performance of family business and to explore the extent to which cor mitment influences performance of family business small and medium family businesses in Nakuru town, Central Business District, in Kenya. The study adopted the descriptive research survey design. This study targeted the total of 1009 small and medium family businesses in Nakuru towr , Central Business District, in Kenya. Using the probability sampling technique, stratified random sampling in the selection of the study sample to which was 278 (According to Krejcie and Morgan 1970, sample size table). Data was collected frcm family business, small and medium businesses by use of questionnaires containing structured and semi-structured questions; and focus group discussion with top management of ten (10) randomly selected family small and medium fa.ni'y businesses. Data collected was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0 and Microsoft Excel Software 2007 .Descriptive statistics (frequencies and percentages) and Pearson's Product Moment Correlations were computed. T11(:findings were presented in the form of tables for easier interpretation. The study findings revealed that: Education Background uf family management did not significantly influence performance of family business; Demographic factors (age, sex, marital status) did not significantly influence performance of family business; availability of capital significantly influenced performance of family business; business experience had an influence on the profit increase in 201: experienced by most firms; while commitment of owners towards the business influenced the performance of family business to large extent. Following the study recommended that: The Government of Kenya should consider increasing budgetary allocations for supporting youth owned ';MEs, considering the fact the largest proportion of SME owners are youth; organizing and implementing training programmes geared at enhancing business skilis, financial management skills and sales and marketing skills for SMEs; and giving incentives to SMEs who perform better; and that the S:\1Es owners and management should consider joining or forming business associations / network>. It is hoped that the finding of this study will 'provide essential information to business management; small and medium , family businesses to enable them find ways of boosting performance in business sector.