THE IMPACT OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT SKILLS ON BUSINESS GROWTH

Abstract

This study was on the impact of business development skills on business growth. Three objectives were raised which included: To ascertain the impact of business intelligence skill on the growth of business, to ascertain the impact of sale skill on the growth of business and to find out the impact of management skill on the growth on business. A total of 77 responses were received and validated from the enrolled participants where all respondents were drawn from selected businesses in Ibadan. Hypothesis was tested using Chi-Square statistical tool (SPSS).

Chapter one

Introduction

1.1Background of the study

Micro and small businesses (MSEs) are thought to play an important role in job creation, poverty reduction, and economic development in many countries throughout the world. In both industrialized and developing countries, MSEs play a critical role in sparking and maintaining economic growth and equitable development( Lawrence & Lawrence Stella, 2014; Maurice, 2012). According to a survey done by Lawrence and Maurice in Botswana and Malawi in 2012, Eritrea, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe all emphasized the importance of the MSE sector, particularly in terms of employment creating and earning money are two different things.

Given the current economic issues that many countries face, encouraging more entrepreneurial activity has emerged as a top priority for many national governments. Many researchers have highlighted the importance of business to economic development (e.g., Davidsson et al, 2006), and it is now widely acknowledged that education and training opportunities play a key role in cultivating future entrepreneurs and developing the abilities of existing entrepreneurs to grow their businesses to greater levels of success (Henry et al, 2003). According to the European Commission (2008), the aim of business education and training should be to ‘develop entrepreneurial capacities and mindsets’ that benefit economies by fostering creativity, innovation and self-employment. Indeed the role of SMEs in terms of growth, competitiveness, innovation, and employment is now substantially embedded in the activity of the European Commission with the publication in June 2008 of the ‘Small Business Act for Europe’ and the ‘Entrepreneurship 2020 Action Plan’ in January 2013. The concept of an entrepreneurial Europe, which promotes the creation and development of innovative businesses, has led many of the EU Member States to strengthen their SME policies since academics, politicians, and policy makers increasingly acknowledge the substantial contribution that entrepreneurship can make to an economy (Bruyat and Julien, 2001).

More globally, governments across the world are increasingly recognising the positive impact that the creation of new businesses can have on employment levels, as well as the competitive advantages that small firms can bring to the marketplace (Scase, 2000). Moreover, while entrepreneurship provides benefits in terms of social and economic growth, it also offers benefits in terms of individual fulfilment, with entrepreneurship now breaking through the barriers of class, age, gender, sexual orientation, and race. However, because the relationship between entrepreneurship and economic growth is quite complex, many different approaches to encouraging entrepreneurship have been applied by a wide variety of agencies, with enterprise policies varying from country to country. Additionally, some commentators (e.g. Storey, 1994) believe that it is just a minimal group of enterprises germinating rapidly who provide the real increase in jobs and therefore it is these firms which policy makers should be converging upon. But identifying how small businesses can be transformed into growth-orientated firms remains elusive and despite the magnitude of research on growth firms, researchers remain uncertain regarding why some firms grow and others do not when originating from similar circumstances

Statement of the problem

The phenomena of scarce skills stems directly from the political history of the country where the majority of the population was excluded from reasonable access to fair opportunities such as education, freedom of movement, and freedom of association. In addition, over the past two decades of democracy, in an attempt to “bridge the gap” in relation to scarce skills, education policies were updated which favour throughput over meritorious achievements which, in turn, adversely impacted literacy-levels across the board. This has resulted in poorly equipped people entering the business world, including entrepreneurs and employees of SMMEs. Hence, using the above as a basis, the inference can be made that if basic business skills are developed in Nigeria, it may have a positive influence on the attainment of their business objectives in the foreseeable future

Objective of the study

The objectives of the study are;

1. To ascertain the impact of business intelligence skill on the growth of business
2. To ascertain the impact of sale skill on the growth of business
3. To find out the impact of management skill on the growth on business

Research hypotheses

The following research hypotheses were formulated

H0: there is no impact of business intelligence skill on the growth of business

H1: there is impact of business intelligence skill on the growth of business

H0: there is no impact of management skill on the growth on business

H2: there is impact of management skill on the growth on business

Significance of the study

The study will be beneficial to students and the business owners. The study will also give a clear insight on the impact of business development skills on business growth. The result of the study will be of huge benefit because it will educate us on the business skills that can take business from one level to other. The study will also serve as a reference to other researcher that will embark on the related topic

Scope and limitation of the study

The scope of the study covers the impact of business development skills on business growth. The study will be limited to selected business owners in Ibadan

Research of this type is limited by these problems: 1. Time: Time factor is one of the limiting factor that affect this project work. That is the time limit allocated to complete this work is very short and does not allow for detailed investigation of the factors wanted by the researcher. 2. Insufficient literature material: The greatest hindrance is the unavailability of sufficient literature material for this work to effectively carryout the research and this has been a major constraint to the researcher. 3. Finance: In a project work like this, finance is one of the constraints that limit this research work. As a result of this, the researcher has to limit to available finance.  4. Poor response of workers(respondents): The response of the people during the interview was very poor and they responded very poor to the questions asked to them, some are incompetent to speak on such issues on the question or they will wont the answer to such questions as they think it is confidential. With this information was not let out easily, these result created a lot of complexity in the are of gathering information and made it more difficult for the respondents in getting vital information for this project.

Definition of terms

Business development: Business development entails tasks and processes to develop and implement growth opportunities within and between organizations. It is a subset of the fields of business, commerce and organizational theory.

Business skill: Business skills are skills that help people understand the consumer and organizational behavior and use this information to promote the success of the company. Business skills are often considered soft skills and may include team management, leadership and communication skills

Business growth: Business growth is a phenomenon that occurs when business owners, employees and outside factors influence the success of a company. A business grows when it expands a customer base, increases revenue or produces more product

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