Factors influencing performance of women entrepreneurs in kenya: a case of bungoma south

Abstract

For a country to achieve its development goals, women must be incorporated in the entrepreneurship activities. A lot of literature supports the role of women in economy building. This study sought to determine factors influencing the performance of women entrepreneurs in Bungoma south. The study was guided by the following objectives: To investigate the influence of levels of education on performance of women entrepreneurs; to determine the influence of property ownership on performance of women entrepreneurs; to investigate the influence of competition from well established enterprises on performance of women entrepreneurs and to assess the influence of domestic commitments on the performance of women entrepreneurs. A conceptual framework to show the relationship between the dependent variables and independent variables including all indicators was used in the study. A pilot study was conducted in the Kabula region which was not involved in the final study to avoid contaminating the final actual sample. The target population for this research included all the 12300 women entrepreneurs in Bungoma town, Bukembe, Kibabii and Mayanja, with a sample size of 370 determined from Krejcie and Morgan table and randomly selected. A descriptive Research design was used to allow researcher to gather information, summarize, present and interpret data for the purpose of clarification. Stratified random sampling was used where each location formed strata. Proportional allocation was used to compute the exact number of subjects in each location which was a correct representation from the strata. The received data was classified, summarized, coded, sorted and SPSS and excel softwares used in analysis. From this study, it was observed that although there is the possibility of women entrepreneurs operating business enterprises in the same capacity and magnitude as men, traditional roles and practices such as domestic commitments, low levels of education, lack of property ownership and lack of opportunity driven motive to start enterprises continues to influence the performance of women entrepreneurs negatively in terms of monthly income sales, profit margin and types of business enterprise.