Role of growth support programs on performance among micro and small enterprises: A case of Anza entreneurs limited

Abstract

The study was to determine roles of growth support programs on performance of micro and small enterprises with a focus of Anza Entrepreneurs Limited (Anza) in Tanzania. The research objectives were to find out the role of financial sector deepening program in enabling enterprises access financing and meet their financial needs to enable their performance; to establish the role of business development services program performance; and to determine the role of business sector program support on performance of micro and small enterprises. The study used descriptive design. Data collection was through use of questionnaire and interview guides. The target population involved the entrepreneurs (n=210) accessing services from Anza. The study used stratified probability sampling in the selection of respondents (Anza clients) who have obtained or have been accessing growth supporting programs. Descriptive statistics presented by frequency tables were used to analyze and present the data from questionnaires. In particular, the researcher used SPSS software package version 25.0 to generate frequency tables as means of presenting data. The findings of the study were that financial sector deepening program provided ability to access formal financial services, has enabled business access financing through grants or crowd funding, has enabled business be ready for financing in commercial way like through bank facility, it has provided low cost financing through lower interest rates and It has enabled the business roll out its strategic plan and meeting milestones with sufficient working capital. Also, on the business development services program it was found that the program it creates awareness on and experiences on how to grow and expand business strategically, it has enabled business identify target market and strategically position my business, business has expanded to new markets or customer base has increasing, business has received trainings and services which were relevant for strategy roll-out and Presence of donors distorts the market by providing free services. Finally, on business development program support, it was found that employees received trainings which were relevant to my enterprise and strategy roll-out. The program enabled participating entrepreneurs better improve management structures and an effective governance, enabled proper record keeping and documentation for good tracking of trends to monitor milestone realization, enabled generation of financial statements necessary for due diligence purposes. Therefore, the key research recommendation includes the need to expand these programs to include many others who may not access current Anza program because Anza is based in Moshi and may not be able to support more than the 200 MSMEs at a time. Additionally, government and development agencies need to be involved in providing these programs.