| dc.description.abstract | The Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Sector has continued to play an important role in the Kenyan economy. The sector‟s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has increased from 14% in 1993 to about 20% in 2007. Many entrepreneurs have limited ways to grow their business into large enterprises. There are many constraints hindering their growth , so it is important for an entrepreneur to fully understand all financial constraints. The purpose of the study was to identify the financial constraints hindering growth of SMEs in Kamukunji District. A quantitative, descriptive design was used to study sixteen types of businesses in five locations of Kamukunji District.Structured questionnaires were used to collect the data from 100 businesses.Business owners completed all the questionnaires that included background, growth and financial constraints of the businesses. The findings identified cost, capital market and capital access as the highest contributing factors to constraining SMEs growth into large business enterprises. Further findings indicated that profits and sales were the factors that were found to influence business growth. This study expands our understanding on the implications of cost, capital market, capital access, profits and sales to business growth. The results will guide microfinance institutions to coming up with better loan facilities to these SMEs, and to the government, better planning and providing of information to small and medium enterprises. | en |
