Entrepreneurial characteristics and competencies as determinants of business performance: A study on small enterprises in Mogadishu, Somalia

The positive results of organizational success, arising from effective entrepreneurship has led academic and managerial attention on concepts of entrepreneurial competencies and entrepreneurial characteristics in the recent decades. In Somalia particularly, the women have been found to be playing a significant role in the small business sector, despite the several financial, technical knowledge, and family-related challenges faced by them. The present research aims at assessing the effect of entrepreneurial competencies and entrepreneur's demographic and personal characteristics on business performance among initial stage entrepreneurs. Further, it also aims at identifying the major challenges encountered by the women entrepreneurs involved in Small business in Somalia. The study adopted a quantitative examination approach, and collected data from a total of 187 small scale entrepreneurs in Mogadishu, Somalia, through the use of a structured, closed-ended questionnaire incorporating the Likert Scale. The study utilized the Simple percentage analysis, and the Chi-square test as its primary data analysis tools. The data collected was further analyzed by using SPSS Software. The study results showed the significant positive relation between entrepreneurial competencies such as problem-solving, willingness to learn and take risks; opportunity focused and good communication skills, and entrepreneurial characteristics such as self-confidence, learning from failure, long-term involvement, and thrive on competition and the business performance. Further, the study also supports the claim that Somali women entrepreneurs make a significant contribution to the small scale businesses in Somalia. However, the survey results have further brought forward several major challenges which are faced by the Somali women and must be catered to as an urgency.