An investigation on the constraints to the growth of small and medium enterprises in Zimbabwe: A case study of the Glen View Furniture Industry

Abstract

The study focused on investigating the constraints to the growth of SMEs in Zimbabwe, with the use of the Glen View Furniture Manufacturers as a case study. The study was conducted with a motive to ascertain how these constraints impact on SMEs' growth in the furniture industry to help them to come up with strategies that promote growth in sales, revenue and at the same time accumulating profits and accomplishing a competitive advantage. The first sub-objective of the study was aimed at determining if financial constraints affect the growth of the Glen View Furniture Manufacturing SMEs and the second objective was premised on ascertaining how marketing constraints affect the growth of the Glen View Furniture Manufacturing SMEs. The third objective was to establish how competitive constraints affect the growth of the Glen View Furniture Manufacturing SMEs, while the fourth objective which was on establishing the extent to which consumer-related constraints affect the growth of the Glen View Furniture Manufacturing SMEs. The study used the descriptive research design that adopted questionnaire and in-depth interviews as data collection methods. The participants for the study were selected using simple random and purposive sampling techniques. The sample size for the study was 121 participants. The findings of the study revealed that there was a positive correlation between financial, marketing, competitive and consumer-related constraints and the growth of SMEs in the furniture industry in Zimbabwe. These constraints affect the growth of SMEs in the furniture industry as their products could not match the quality standards of the bigger brands. This was further compounded by the non-availability as well as the high cost of acquiring information on global and other lucrative markets. Furthermore, the lack of technological innovation greatly affected the competitive drive of SMEs hence impacting on their ability to grow their business. In the light of the findings, it was revealed that changes in consumer tastes have impacted on sales generation hence minimizing the growth of the SMEs. The study thus concluded that that financial, marketing, competitive and consumer-related constraints greatly hinder the possibility of SMEs in the furniture industry to grow their businesses by limiting the sales, quality, innovation, revenue generation and the profits of the SMEs. Thus, the study recommends the need for SME credit finance by banks, SME cluster groups as an alternative for revenue generation and leveraging staff training and development. Apart from this, the study also recommends the Adoption of strategies by SMEs to market their products locally and globally. This may help facilitate growth in the sector