dc.description.abstract | The purpose of the study was to examine the determinants of performance of small scale
enterprises owned by women in Mabatini village, Mathare slum. The objectives of the
study were To examine how access to capital determines performance of small scale
enterprises owned by women in informal settlements. To establish the influence of
availability of markets on the performance of small scale enterprises owned by women in
informal settlements. To examine how role conflict determines performance of small
scale enterprises owned by women in informal settlements. To assess how levels of
education determine performance of small scale enterprises owned by women in informal
settlements. The research design that was used was cross sectional descriptive research
design. It was chosen because it provides data on the entire population and allow the
researcher to collect numerous information on the subjects of study at once. This research
design was better than others because one can record data without manipulating it and
will allow the researcher to compare many variables at the same time. The target
population was women who own businesses in Mabatini village, Mathare slum with a
sample size of 168 women. The sampling procedure that was employed was purposive
sampling. This was used to identify the women who own businesses. Stratified sampling
was used in the identification of the various businesses women engage in. The research
instrument that was used was a questionnaire structured on the variables under study. The
researcher used descriptive and multi variate and Regression Analysis. In conclusion,
89.3% of the respondents got their start-up capital from personal savings, households,
friends and relatives, inheritance, NGOs, this implies that as much as credit is available,
majority still cannot afford interest rates charged by banks and micro finance institutions,
therefore, there is need to this affordable to enable small micro enterprises access credit.
On access to markets,78% of the traders felt that use of technology would improve their
business. Therefore, traders should join hands with MFIs so that these skills are imparted
for their businesses to perform better. On role conflict, 55.3% of the respondents felt that
having a family affected the performance of the business and being that 47.6% of the
respondents solely take care of their families could further explain why the respondents
felt that having a family affects the business due to time constraints. On levels of
education, 69% of the respondents said they had books of accounts thus they were able to
track on the performance of the business and 81.5% of the respondents agreed that using
books of accounts can assist an entrepreneur track the performance of the business. The
researcher recommends that to fight poverty in Kenya, the regulators of micro finance
institutions should have a policy that will regulate the rate of interest charged as the
women entrepreneurs felt that the interest rates were too high and hence most could not
afford to take loans. Areas for further research would include a study that would establish
the number of traders in the informal sector in the informal settlements. This could also
be categorized per trade. Studies that would establish the trainings needs of traders of
informal businesses so as to help improve performance of their businesses | en_US |