dc.description.abstract | This study sought to analyse the relationship between access to finance and business performance.The study also sought to identify the constraints faced by Kenyan women owned small business in accessing credit.
A survey approach in this study was adopted. The population of this study comprised of Women
owned SMEs based in Nairobi Central Business District. The exact number of female s mall
business owners is not exactly known, since some of them are in retail businesses that are not
registered. A convenience sample of 300 women randomly selected of which 244 were
interviewed. The collection of primary data was done by administering a semi- structured
questionnaire. However, respondents were able to give answers to open ended questions.
Questionnaires were administered to women owned SMEs using a drop and pick method. Data
was analyzed using statistical software SPSS, to produce descriptive statistics such as
percentages and frequencies, while the results were presented by using tables and charts.
The results show that, the businesses were able to hire more employees and increase turnover
Therefore the study established that access to finance impacted on financial performance of
SMEs. The study also found that the major constraints that businesswomen encounter in
accessing MFIs loans are lengthy process, lack of collateral, lack of education. lack of
information, culture barriers, and lack of government support. Other constraints were found to be
high interest rates, inadequate business skills, market for their goods, lack of credit and technical
constraints. | |