Business Planning as Growth Strategy on Micro and Small Businesses in Meru Town, Kenya

Abstract

Planning has been cited as an important function of any business organization, whether large or small. Previous studies have revealed a link between planning and growth of SME.  However, there has been no evidence to correlate the growth of the small business to their planning management. Empirical evidence is that small scale business planning as a growth strategy has remained a mirage. Descriptive survey research design was used where several small scale businesses were interviewed. Data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings indicated that small businesses in do regular planning, involve employees in planning, and encounter challenges in their planning practices. But few of them adopted integrated formal planning systems, with Majority of the firms facilitating the flow of information manually. The findings indicate respondents undertake industry analysis before planning and that there is an association between planning horizon and business planning.