Effects of business owner’s personal attributes on the growth of small and medium enterprises in Nakawa Market.

Abstract

The study showed that one of the most important roles of the growth of SMEs in a country is the contribution they make to the development of that country's economy. There is a strong link between the performance and growth of SMEs thus this study was an examination of the influence of the small business owner’s personal attributes on small business success. Specifically, the study reviewed the relationship between the small business owner’s demographic characteristics, individual specific traits and religious beliefs on the success of their small business. Previous work in this area has not specifically considered the individual personal characteristics of the small business owner and most have only used the survey method in their studies. Our study used a mixed methods design with a sample of 60 respondents. Data was collected using structured questionnaires and an interview guide and analysed both qualitatively using the content analysis approach and quantitatively using descriptive statistics of frequencies and inferential statistics of Pearson chi-square and Pearson's correlation coefficient analysis. The study found that the demographic characteristics and religious beliefs of the small business owner had a significant positive relationship with the success of their small business, while the individual specific characteristics of the small business owner had a weak positive relationship with the success of their small business. Results from the hypothesis testing showed that all the personality factors accounted for 46.5% of the variance in the growth of business (R2=.465, F (5, 54) = 9.37, p < .05) significantly. The results for the second one indicated that all the personality factors accounted for 49.1% of the variance in the business performance (R2=.491, F (5, 54) = 10.41, p < .05) significantly. This revealed that personality traits of business owners have a significant impact on the growth of SMEs and Business Performance. The results and findings are broadly consistent with previous research literature on personality traits and SME growth. The aim of the research was to determine the impact of personality traits of business owners on SME growth and business performance. The results of the research show that only four of the five traits have a significant impact on SME growth (Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness) and only three of the traits have a significant impact on SME growth (Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness). Therefore, Nakawa business owners should try to develop traits that will increase financial turnover over time, which will lead to the growth of SMEs and also improve the economy of the country.