ENTREPRENEURSHIP TRAINING INITIATIVES AS PREDICTORS OF INCOMEGROWTH AND BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY AMONG SME MANAGERS INOSUN STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This paper examined entrepreneurship training initiatives as predictors of income growth and business sustainability among SME managers in Osun State, Nigeria. The research design used in this study was a correlation survey. Three local government areas (LGAs) in Osun State, Nigeria, were the subject of this study; Osogbo, Irepodun, and Olorunda were chosen because of their high levels of commercialisation. According to SMEDAN, it targets 2,383 registered SME owners and managers in the state. The Raosoft formula (2004) was used to calculate the number of SME owners/managers with a margin of error of around 8.0%. A simple random sampling approach was used to choose 150 SME owners/managers from the target population. The primary instrument for gathering data was a structured, personally administered questionnaire. The instrument was validated by experts and likewise subjected to test of internal consistency using Cronbach Alpha Method and an overall co-efficient value of 0.79 was obtained. Regression analysis was used to run the analysis testing it at 0.05 alpha level. The findings demonstrate that entrepreneurship training initiatives exert a moderate but significant influence on income growth. The finding also revealed that entrepreneurship training initiatives strongly and significantly predicted business sustainability among SMEs in Osun State, Nigeria. It was recommended that Policymakers and SME development agencies should institutionalize continuous and structured entrepreneurship training rather than one-off interventions