EFFECT OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP TRAINING ON SUSTAINABLE SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES GROWTH: A CASE OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN NAIROBI CITY COUNTY

Abstract

SMEs are facing tremendous competitive challenges and threats to survive despite being at the centre stage in the economic development of many countries. Studies indicate that three out of five fail within the first few months of operation and over 60% fail each year while most do not survive to their third anniversary. The Government of Kenya Sessional paper Number 2 indicated that entrepreneurs venture into business without the vital skills to start, survive and grow their businesses and that lack of basic skills in business management and entrepreneurship was a major drawback in the growth and development of the SMEs in Kenya. Despite this being the case, very few studies have focused on entrepreneurship training and SMEs growth. There is an inadequacy of research that focuses on the aspects of entrepreneurship training and small and medium enterprise growth. The current study established the effect of entrepreneurship training on sustainable SME growth with a focus on SMES in Nairobi City County with a key focus on financial management training, marketing skills training, human resource management training and strategic management training. The study adopted a descriptive survey design guided by crosssectional research design. The target population of the study included 30252 SMEs in all the 9 sub counties in Nairobi County. Stratified random sampling was applied in carrying out the study. The sample size was 400 SMEs. Primary data was collected using a questionnaire. A multiple linear regression analysis model was used to test the hypotheses and link the variables. The study findings indicated that financial management training, marketing skills training and strategic management training had positive and significant effect on sustainable growth of SMEs while HRM training had a positive but not significant effect on sustainable growth of SMEs.