A Qualitative Investigation into Causes of the Failure of Necessity-driven Retail Micro-SMEs in Harare, Zimbabwe
Authors
Murape, Onward
Issue Date
2023-08
Degree
MSc in Management Practice
Publisher
Dublin Business School
Rights holder
Rights
Abstract
Business failure is a topical issue in academic circles as it represents the negation of the desired good which is business survival, growth, and contribution to the economy. It gains greater currency when the concerned ventures are necessity-based as they partly constitute the bracket of biggest contributors to economies. With a particular focus on retail ventures, this study aims to establish why failure is happening in this sector. Through a qualitative study that employed semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis to collect and interpret the data, the analysis showed that a combination of 12 factors is precipitating the failure of these ventures. These are ignorance of trends, lack of collaboration with competitors, lack of business and management skills, lack of strategy, lack of creativity, high operational costs, market saturation, low demand, economic stability, competition, and restrictive legislation. These factors show that the concerned retailers fall short of being true entrepreneurs.