SMEs’ marketing skills challenges in South Africa
Authors
Van Scheers, Martha Louisa
Issue Date
2011-07
Type
Article
Language
en
Keywords
Marketing challenges , Lack of marketing skills , Business failure , Business measuring criteria
Alternative Title
Abstract
SMEs comprise over 90% of African business operations and contribute to over 50% of African
employment and GDP. SMEs sector has shown positive signs in South Africa, Mauritius and North
Africa. In South Africa, SMEs constitute 55% of all jobs. Research such as Bowler, Dawood and Page
(2006) and Phakisa (2009) reveal that 40% of new business ventures fail in their first year, 60% in their
second year, and 90% in their first 10 years of existence. It seems that a number of challenges have
been identified as contributing to the failure of SMEs in South Africa and worldwide. The research
problem of this study emanates from the current high business failure rate as well as marketing skills of
South African SME managers. The research investigates whether managerial marketing skills of small
and medium enterprises (SMEs) contribute to high business failure rate in South Africa. The research
established that lack of marketing skills of SMEs definitely contribute to high business failure rate in
South Africa. The study concluded that the lack of marketing skills has a negative impact on the
success of small businesses. The conclusion is that a positive correlation between lack of marketing
skills and business failure exists in South Africa. The challenge is to improve the marketing skills of
small business owners as small business is considered to be the panacea for South Africa’s
unemployment problems.
Description
Citation
Publisher
African Journal of Business Management
License
Journal
Volume
Issue
PubMed ID
DOI
ISSN
1993-8233