SMEs Growth Influencers: An Exploratory Study on the Impact of Entrepreneur Character Traits on SMEs Growth in Ghana

Abstract

Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) play vital roles in the economic growth, employment generating, and poverty reduction in both developed and developing countries. An improvement in the sector will therefore have positive impact on the lives of the people. Several factors may lead to the improvement and growth in SMEs, but the concentration of this research work, was to find out the impact of the characteristics of an entrepreneur on the SMEs growth in some selected Regions of Ghana. It also explains why there exist disparities in the performance of entrepreneurs in the sector. The study used questionnaires, interviews and observation in data collection among 500 sampled entrepreneurs in selected Regions of Ghana. The data was analyzed by employing statistical tools such as factor analysis, correlation analysis and subsequently ordinal regression model was fit to the data to reflect the objectives of the study. The results showed that, there were generally a weak positive correlations between SMEs growth and factors such as innovation, team building and competitive aggressiveness of entrepreneurs. However, there was a moderate negative correlations between SMEs growth and the need to achieve as well as calculated risk taken. Moreover, all the five factors; innovation, need to achieve, calculated risk, team building and competitive aggressiveness of SMEs were statistically significant in the model. Therefore these factors are all relevant characteristics which contribute to the growth of SME firms.