An Assessment of the Marketing Strategies for the Survival of Small-scale Businesses in Kontagora Local Government of Niger State

An Assessment of the Marketing Strategies for the Survival of Small-scale Businesses in Kontagora Local Government of Niger State.

ABSTRACT  

This study was carried out to assess the strategies for the survival of small-scale businesses in the Kontagora Local Government Area of Niger State.

Six research question and three hypotheses were postulated to guide the investigation. Structured questionnaire, dichotomous in nature was the main research instrument. The stratified sampling method was used to select 72 small-scale businesses from 10 business types.

Data were analyzed using simple percentages and the three hypotheses were tested using the chi-square test of statistics.

The study revealed that; there is a significant relationship between market segmentation and the maximization of a firm’s competitive advantage; price adjustment does not significantly influence the profitability of the small-scale businesses, and that reactive strategy is negatively related to the success of small-scale businesses. 

INTRODUCTION  

Although specific statistical may not yet be readily , there is hardly any that business employing less than fifty full-time employees dominate the Nigerian economy today, not only in terms of their sheer but also in terms of volume of employment. They dot every nock and cranny of every city; even in the rural areas, they predominate.

With every limited growth and employment in the large-scale business sector and dwindling employment opportunities in government, the various levels of government in Nigeria have continued to encourage young school levers and a large number of young and not-so-young people who have been retrenched in recent times to seek self-employment.

The kind of business described above is small-scale business which Osaze (1986) describes, as “(a business) which is owned, managed, controlled by one or two persons, his family influenced in decision making, has an undifferentiated organizational structure,

has a relatively small share of the market and employs less than fifty people”. The history of the industrial revolution in developed and developing countries have shown that Small-scale businesses are the driving force of industrial development.

The attention of national governments all over the world have therefore focused on funding and supporting them through the creation of enabling environment. Expanding an understanding of small-scale business,

Adamu (2005) explains that a major characteristic of Small-scale businesses worldwide is that they are generally managed by their owners either as sole proprietorships or partnerships and are also largely local in their area of operation.

They depend on internal source of capital and are relatively small size within the industry. The relative importance of the small-scale business differs considerably from one type of business to another. The major areas of business enterprise activities are in manufacturing, distribution of products and rendering of services some of which may involve the use of products. 

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