Strategic Planning, Business Innovation, and Market Adaptation as Drivers of SME Financial Performance: The Role of SMEs Owner–manager Gender in Zanzibar

Entrepreneurship research has long debated whether the financial performance returns to strategic practices differ according to the gender of the decision-maker who enacts it, and the accumulated evidence remains mixed. This study tests whether owner–manager gender moderates the effects of strategic planning, business innovation strategy, and market adaptation strategy on the financial performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Data were collected during the February–May 2026 fieldwork period from 350 SME owners and managers in Zanzibar, evenly divided between men and women (175 each), and analysed using bootstrapped regression with a permutation-based two-group comparison (5,000 permutations), preceded by a formal assessment of measurement invariance. In the pooled sample, strategic planning (β = 0.172), business innovation strategy (β = 0.236), and market adaptation strategy (β = 0.192) each significantly predicted financial performance (R² = 0.116). Business innovation strategy and market adaptation strategy showed no significant gender differences in their effects (permutation p = .747 and .864). Strategic planning showed a descriptively larger effect among women (β = 0.268, p < .001) than among men (β = 0.096, p = .194); however, the permutation test for this difference did not reach conventional significance (p = .079). The findings indicate gender-invariant financial returns to business innovation and market adaptation, while the relative importance of strategic planning for women warrants targeted investigation with larger samples. The study contributes gender-disaggregated evidence from an under-researched African island economy and supports gender-neutral innovation and adaptation training alongside further evaluation of structured planning support.