Factors affecting business success of small & medium enterprises (SMEs)

The objective of this study was to identify determinants of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) business success in an underdeveloped country like Bangladesh. The intention of this study is to provide the understanding of how people should start their business by looking at all the factors affecting business success hence help to reduce the risk of failure and increase chances of success in starting a business for SMEs. Findings of this study are useful for entrepreneurs and policy makers of the country. The study examined six factors that influence the SMEs business success. These factors are: characteristic of SMEs, management and know-how, products and services, the way of doing business and cooperation, resources and finance, and external environment. The theoretical framework has been drawn out and questionnaire was designed based on the factors chosen. The data collected were analyzed by using SPSS program which provides relevant analysis such as reliability analysis, frequency analysis, regression analysis, one-way ANOVA and T-test. Six hypotheses were developed to study the determinants of Business Success of SMEs in Bangladesh. The entire hypotheses were successfully tested with SPSS and four hypotheses were accepted. The regression analysis result shown that the most significant factors affecting business success of SMEs in Bangladesh were products and services, the way of doing business, management know-how and, external environment.