Development of Marketing Techniques in Women-Owned Enterprises through Credit and Training: A Perspective from SMEP Microfinance Bank Program in Nakuru Town, Kenya

Abstract

IntroductionThe SME sector is widely regarded as the driving force in economic growth and job creation in both developed and developing countries (White & Simas, 2008). Women play a very important role in the SMEs sector especially in the developing world where most of them are employed either in the agriculture sector or the SMEs (Ahmad & Arif, 2015). The number of women entrepreneurs is on the rise. Women-owned small and medium enterprises (SMEs) make significant contributions to the economies in which they operate. More women are starting businesses, but they still face challenges operating their businesses. In the SMEs sector, the women owned enterprises find themselves facing significant competition from male owned SMEs largely due to the social capital advantage that men have over the women in the market. Regardless of the positive outcomes, women are struggling to survive in the business environment given the challenges they face. Although laws and policies have attempted to create a favorable business environment for everyone, the actual changes have not yet been implemented (Cheng, 2018).The most significant barriers tend to be non-financial in nature, influencing the degree to which women-owned SMEs can formally access financial products and services and realize the growth potential of their enterprises. In comparison to men, women generally face a disproportionately larger number of challenges when applying financing (International Finance Corporation [IFC], 2014). Financial barriers include local financial conditions-such as a lack of collateral, inadequate financial infrastructure, or the high cost of funding-while non-financial barriers include the social and cultural norms underlying gender biases, as well as the tendency for women-owned SMEs to be smaller in size, and the limited access to business education opportunities and networks (Mandishaya et al., 2015). Women tend to face the greatest challenges in getting support, from lacking the relevant connections to needing financial access or emotional support. The support system is often expensive, forcing women to delay starting their businesses (Kumar & Kalyani, 2011). Some have to bootstrap their entrepreneurial ventures, rely on credit cards or raise capital on their own. Women's businesses are among the leading ventures that lack financial support (Cheng, 2018). It is also common for women to be denied loans because of gender and cultural biases-many institutions tend to fund male-owned businesses. They also need mentors and sponsors to guide them in this new path.Over the years, competition among SMEs has increased radically. Over the years, competition among SMEs has increased radically (Gunasekaran, Rai & Griffin, 2011). Competition is viewed as one of the major challenges affecting the performance of SMEs by majority of the SME owners/managers. In Finscope survey (2010), competition ranked as the