Entrepreneurship skills and SMES performance in Uganda :

Abstract

The study sought to examine the effect of entrepreneurship skills on SMEs performance in St. Balikuddembe market- Kampala central division. The study was guided by the study objectives that is to say, to find out the effect of human relation skills on SMEs performance, to find out the role played by business management skills on SMEs performance and to examine the relationship between technical skills and SMEs performance in St. Balikuddembe market A cross section research design was used and both primary and secondary data was collected in which qualitative and quantitative techniques were utilized. The study involved a sample of 63 respondents drawn from a study population of 75 respondents among the SMEs in St. Balikuddembe market. Statistical Package for Social Scientists was used to analyze the quantitative data to develop tables. The findings from the study revealed that, most of the entrepreneurs in St. Balikuddembe market lack entrepreneurship skills yet it is important for entrepreneurs to develop all necessary skills required for setting and effective running of the enterprise in order to contribute meaningfully to the development and self-reliance of the business so as to improve on business performance. The results also revealed that there is a strong relationship between entrepreneurship skills and SMEs performance as revealed by Pearson correlation as r=.7872, p=0.01 which is significant. The recommendations of the study included that; SMEs should try their level best to be innovative simply because it will lead to application of new ideas in the business. Entrepreneurs in St. Balikuddembe market should try to develop all necessary skills required for setting and effective running of the enterprise in order to contribute meaningfully to the development and self-reliance of the business so as to improve on the performance. SMEs should save their money which may later be reinvested to improve the performance of the business. The managers should also create a fertile platform for human resources to get empowered and take over various challenging initiatives that as a result allows and reflects efficiency in their business paradigms.