Factors determining the performance of rural microenterprises in Cambodia – A micro level study

It is widely known that the performance of microenterprises is influenced by several socio-cultural and demographic factors and attitudes of the entrepreneurs, including management capability, marketing factors, the firm and the business environment. Considering this, the study attempts to examine the extent to which the management functions, marketing factors and personal characteristics of the entrepreneurs influence the performance of the rural microenterprises in Cambodia. The empirical results of the study show that the performance of the microenterprises in terms of sales and profits was dependent on the planning, organizing, directing and controlling functions of the management. It is also revealed that the sales and profits of the enterprises were highly dependent on the marketing factors such as the quality of the product as well as promotion. The result further shows a high positive association between the personal characteristics of the entrepreneurs such as the age of the entrepreneur when the business started, and the sales as well as the profits of the microenterprises. The implication of the study is that the owners and managers of microenterprises should give importance to the factors determining the performance of their enterprises and develop suitable strategies to compete in the market.