OWNER-MANAGER STRATEGIES

In recent years small businesses have contributed to countries economies throughincreased production and turnover. Growth in small businesses can play a key role inadding value for the economy because growth stimulates employment and wealthcreation which contributes to national employment growth and increased output. Thesmall business owner-manager and employees in a growth business also achieve asense of self-fulfilment and independence.The world is constantly changing as a result of globalisation, increased competition,industry consolidation and technological advancements. Many small businesses areexperiencing significant growth problems and are unable to grow beyond microbusiness stage because they do not have the resources to grow in the ever-changingenvironment. Owner-managers are still in search of greater assistance to grow smallfirms and pinpoint factors which guide growth and success. The purpose of thisresearch was to determine the internal factors that contribute to small businessgrowth and understand the growth strategies that can be applied to grow beyondmicro-business stage.In-depth interviews for three case studies were conducted. It was found that thereappears to be a pattern for growth beyond micro-business stage. It seems thatgrowth beyond micro-business stage can be achieved when there is a positiveinfluence of the internal growth factors on the business. It was also found that thereare many small business growth strategies that can be applied to counter balancethe negative influences of growth. The research should be of value to ownermanagersseeking insight from what is necessary to achieve growth and whatstrategies to employ for business growth.