Relevance of Innovation on Survival of Women-owned Business in Nigeria

Abstract

The paradigm shift of women involvement in entrepreneurial activities in developing countries has been a source of concern to organizational psychologies and researchers. Women owned businesses form a larger percentage of small businesses in Nigeria in recent times but the continuity and survival of such enterprises posed serious challenge. Most women owned businesses hardly survive beyond few years of incorporation. Thus, this paper examined the influence of innovation on the survival of women owned businesses. Specific objectives are to; determine the effect of product/service innovation on the market share; and examine the effect of process innovation on business reputation. A survey research design was adopted. Multi-stage sampling was employed in deriving the sample size. Structured questionnaire was used to elicit information from the women business owners in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. Regression analysis was used to analyze the data and it was found that; product/services innovation has effect on the market share with R2 value of 0.541 and process innovation influences business reputation with R2 value of 0.517. Hence, it was concluded that innovative behaviour has significant effect on the survival of women owned business since all of the variables used in the study are statistically significant. It was therefore recommended among others that innovative behaviour is required by entrepreneurs so has to be able to adapt, grow and survive in their dynamic business environment.