Entrepreneurs� Managerial Skills as Determinants for Growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria

Existing studies manage to give an answer to the question of how different determinants affect growth; they largely fail to explain the underlying processes of why these determinants might affect growth. This study seeks to investigate entrepreneurs’ managerial skills as determinants for growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria. This was achieved by establishing the influence of entrepreneurs’ conceptual skills and determining the effect of entrepreneurs’ technical skills on the growth of small and medium enterprises in Nigeria. A survey research design was adopted. A full study of a simple random sample of 204 entrepreneurs in registered SMEs with Corporate Affairs Commission in Abuja, Kaduna, Kano, Ibadan, Lagos and Aba. Data was collected using questionnaire and analyzed using the SPSS software version 23. Linear regression was the tool used. The findings have shown that both the entrepreneurs’ conceptual and technical skills contribute to the managerial skills of the entrepreneurs which has brought about growth in SMEs in Nigeria. The study recommends that entrepreneurs should endeavour to acquire conceptual skills for strategic planning for the enterprise. And SMEs that are related to engineering and other technical orientations should ensure that entrepreneurs acquire such technical skills so as to leverage for the growth of their enterprise.