Social-economic factors affecting small business performance among chisokone marketers in Kitwe district of Copperbelt Province, Zambia

Globally, marketers are increasingly recognized as important drivers of economic growth and are widely accepted as key aspect of economic dynamism. Small businesses are a driving force not only for economic growth, but also poverty reduction through job creation. Industrialization and economic growth come from small businesses that grow to big industries. Therefore, the study aimed at assessing socio-economic factors affecting small business performance among Chisokone marketers in Kitwe district of Copperbelt province, Zambia. The study employed both the qualitative and quantitative methods and a descriptive survey design that sampled council members for Kitwe district and Chisokone market marketers. Data was obtained from the respondents by means of interviews and questionnaires. Frequency tables, graphs, figures and pie-charts were used to analyze the qualitative and quantitative data. Data was also analyzed by the use of softwares; Statistical Package for Social Sciences (version 26) and Microsoft Excel (version 16). The results showed that most respondents had a strong feeling that there were factors affecting business growth in a negative way such as SMEs financing. The findings also revealed that majority of SMEs (53%) were not legally registered. Many businesses fall under sole proprietorship and the main source of finance or capital is from the family and friends. 77% of SMEs stated lack of collateral which hampers business operations resulting in unwillingness for banks to finance them; 63% lacked business management experience and 85% lacked technological advancement to enhance the overall performance. Despite marketers’ willingness to do business, crucial social economic factors such as access to finance, market demand and infrastructure are lacking. The study therefore recommended that sustainable policy interventions or technical support should be provided by government or non-governmental organizations to ensure small scale sustainable business growth.