Perceived Influence of Business Environment on Small and Medium Scale Enterprises Success in Nigeria

The study examined the perceived influence of business environment on the success of small and medium-scale enterprises in Osun State, Nigeria. The main purpose of the study is to determine the influence of business environment on the success of small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs). The study adopted descriptive survey research design. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The population of the study comprised all registered small and medium scale enterprises in Osun State. Two hundred and fifty-five (255) owners/managers of small and medium-scale enterprises were sampled for the study through, proportionate, stratified and systematic random sampling techniques. The instrument for data collection was “Perceived Influence of Business Environment on the Success of SMEs” Questionnaire (PIBESSMEQ). A reliability co-efficient of 0.70 was obtained using Cronbach Alpha. Mean and standard deviation was used to answer the research questions while hypotheses were tested using analysis of variance (ANOVA) at 0.05 level of significance. Findings of the study revealed that business environment influenced the success of SMES to a high extent. Also, the study revealed that no significant difference existed in the influence of business environment on SMEs success in term of their location. Based on the findings, it was concluded that SMEs’ success could be better guaranteed with sufficient knowledge of the business environment. The study among others recommended that owners/managers of SMEs should always endeavor to increase their knowledge and skills to a maximum level in order to surmount challenges relating to business environment.