An assessment of the financial management skills of small retail business owners/managers in Dr JS Moroka municipality

South Africa abandoned its apartheid system in 1994, which enabled the country to be integrated into the global economy. Due to the lack of global competitiveness, between 70 and 80% of start-ups fail within five years (Goosain, 2004:23). People lost their jobs and the unemployment rate escalated from 17% to 28% (Kingdon and Knight, 2003). Government increased its support to small businesses in order to stimulate economic growth and development as an alternative means of job creation. However, studies conducted to determine the performance of small businesses reveal that most of these businesses fail irrespective of the support they receive from government due to a lack of financial management skills. The study being reported here investigated which financial management skills owners/managers of small business have and which ones are lacking in order to recommend appropriate training interventions required to develop and improve the financial management skills of such owners/managers and ultimately the management of their businesses.A literature review was conducted regarding the small business environment, training interventions and financial management skills. Financial management skill sets relevant to small business were identified and listed for empirical research purposes. Empirical research was conducted on the target population within the indicated geographical area.The study confirmed that most small business owners/managers have limited financial skills. Recommendations will be put forward on the type of skills future training needs to focus on.