Drawing on the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm and the human capital theory (HCT), this study tested the direct influence of entrepreneurial competencies (i.e., attitudes, skills and knowledge) on the performance of small-scale enterprises (SMEs) operating in Northwest Nigeria. A total of 38 male SME owners (Mean Age = 40.53, SD = 5.94) and 17 female SME owners (Mean Age = 39.35, SD = 4.55) participated in pilot cross-sectional survey. The data collected from the entrepreneurs were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics 27. The results of the linear regression analysis surprisingly revealed that the relationships between skills (B = 0.18, SE = 0.19, p = 0.36), attitude (B = -0.09, SE = 0.16, p = 0.57), and age (B = 0.03, SE = 0.02, p = 0.11) are not significant. However, the relationship between knowledge and SME performance is significant (B = 0.77, SE = 0.21, p < 0.001), and also accounted for 65% of the variance in firm performance. This is consistent with the assumptions of the RBV and HVT that placed basic entrepreneurial knowledge as a key driver of firm performance. Thus, the study recommends strengthening entrepreneur capabilities to promote better performance among SMEs.