Micro-Entrepreneurship in Niger: Factors Affecting the Success of Women Street Food Vendors

Otoo, Miriam; Ibro, Germaine; Fulton, Joan R.; Lowenberg‐DeBoer, James

doi:10.1080/15228916.2012.657937

Cited by 50 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 23 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Boohene (2009) used the RBV framework to investigate the relationship between gender, strategic capabilities and performance of small firms in Ghana, with results showing that gender of the owner managers directly influences business performance, resources and skills. Otoo et al (2012) also used the RBV framework to investigate factors affecting the success of women street vendors in Niger.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Generic Strategies and Firm Performance: An Investigation of Informal Sector Micro-Enterprises in Kenya

Mungai¹,

Ogot²

2017

IJBM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Micro-enterprises (MEs) have been shown to collectively be the largest employer in most developing countries thus playing a significant role in the countries economies. Using informal sector micro-enterprise furniture makers (wood and metal) in Nairobi, Kenya and based on Porter's competitive business strategies typology, this study sought to determine if the strategies employed by the informal sector MEs fit within the typology framework, and if membership within the strategic groups in the typology are a predictor of better business business performance. From the study, although membership within the two focus strategic groups of differentiation and low cost was confirmed, unlike studies done with medium and large enterprises, membership was not found to be a predictor of better business performance. Porter's typology may therefore not adequately capture the competitive business activities relevant to and directly by MEs, presenting an opportunity for research into the development of competitive business strategy typologies directly derived from their activities and therefore applicable to them.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Generic Strategies and Firm Performance: An Investigation of Informal Sector Micro-Enterprises in Kenya

Mungai¹,

Ogot²

2017

IJBM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…When women earn an income and control what they do with the money, their children are more likely to finish school, their families eat better and stay healthy, their communities thrive and entire nations are in a better economic position. (Otoo et al 2012) and South Africa (Siqwana-Ndulo 2013) point to the fact that during the last two decades women are increasingly becoming the primary economic providers of their families going out to markets to do business.…”

Section: Women-owned Informal Businessesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Motivational factors affecting informal women entrepreneurs in North-West Province

Henning

Akoob

2017

SAJESBM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Informal women entrepreneurs in the rural villages of North-West strive to progress from poverty to prosperity. There is a growing appreciation that the conditions that support women’s ability to start and grow ventures may be different from those that help men and therefore there is a need to examine the motivational factors affecting women’s enterprise development.Aim: The study aimed to identify the motivational factors of women in the Mahikeng area to start informal enterprises, the barriers they experience and their developmental business needs.Setting: The study focussed on informal women entrepreneurs in the rural villages of Mahikeng in the North-West province.Methods: In total, 80 face-to-face questionnaires were completed with women entrepreneurs. A principal component analysis of 15 items of the total questionnaire was performed on the data to determine which items could be reduced and transformed into new components.Results: ‘Destitute conditions’, ‘Entrepreneurial Spirit’ and ‘Passion for Product’ emerged as the three underlying motivational factors. The component ‘Destitute conditions’ was ranked as the most important reason for starting an informal business. The need to transcend impoverished conditions (a push factor) and the need for self-determination (a pull factor) were almost equally strong amongst the 80 participants. ‘Lack of financial and business skills’ was ranked as the biggest obstacle to keeping the business running. Ninety-one per cent of the women entrepreneurs reported that they had never received any training from the government or the private sector.Conclusions: Access to basic infrastructure, training, funding and business networks will enable self-efficacy behaviour of women entrepreneurs in the Mahikeng district to move beyond poverty. Recommendations included the establishment of a regional database of informal women entrepreneurs, the improvement of basic facilities and infrastructure and access to microloans as well as training by the formal sector.

show abstract

“…The great majority of micro-entrepreneurs live in subsistence conditions, meaning they barely have sufficient resources on which to live (Otoo et al, 2012). Their situation is characterized by, among others, inadequate infrastructures and a lack of support from formal institutions (Burgess & Steenkamp, 2006).…”

Section: The Social Capital Perspective On Entrepreneurship At the Bopmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It creates new insights into how global inequality can be reduced, which is one of the greatest challenges of our time (Narayan, 2014). Furthermore, because previous studies have observed that in developing and emerging markets women are overrepresented in micro-enterprises (Otoo et al, 2012;World Bank, 2012), we also draw implications for the gender debate in development (e.g., Kuada, 2009;Madichie, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Building on modest skills and operating with small sums of start-up capital (Otoo, Ibro, Fulton, & Lowenberg-Deboer, 2012), these microentrepreneurs sell in outdoors locations accessible from the street, targeting customers at the base of the income pyramid (BoP) (Prahalad & Hart, 1999). New middle classes are however arising that create new opportunities for these entrepreneurs (Dadzie, 2013;Ravallion, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Step-Change: Micro-Entrepreneurs’ Entry into the Middle-Class Market

Daouda

Ingenbleek

Trijp

2016

Journal of African Business

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

With upcoming middle classes in Africa, micro-entrepreneurs witness new opportunities that can potentially lift them out of poverty. Exploiting these opportunities requires entrepreneurs to make a 'step-change' away from the bottom of the pyramid to middle-class markets. This process hosts potential conflicts between informal-sector and formal-sector stakeholders as it requires both new resources and continued access to existing resources. By taking a strategic marketing perspective, this study labels and defines the phenomenon of step-change and offers an explanatory conceptual framework for it. The article draws implications for business development, the gender debate, as well as academic research.

show abstract

Micro-Entrepreneurship in Niger: Factors Affecting the Success of Women Street Food Vendors

Cited by 50 publications

References 23 publications

Generic Strategies and Firm Performance: An Investigation of Informal Sector Micro-Enterprises in Kenya

Generic Strategies and Firm Performance: An Investigation of Informal Sector Micro-Enterprises in Kenya

Motivational factors affecting informal women entrepreneurs in North-West Province

Step-Change: Micro-Entrepreneurs’ Entry into the Middle-Class Market

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About