The Impact of Formal and Informal Social Networks on Business Growth: The Tunisian Business Women's Case

Abstract

A large number of studies dealing with entrepreneurship have emphasized the significance of social networks for entrepreneurial activities at the level of creation, survival and development of the business. Despite the increasing importance of this concept for entrepreneurship as a whole, however, a few studies address the impact of the nature of social networks on the growth of the businesses launched by Tunisian women during the growth and development phase. The focal point of this paper is to analyze the impact of informal social networks with strong ties and formal social networks with weak ties on the growth of the businesses started by Tunisian female entrepreneurs. In this context, a quantitative study is conducted on a sample of 71 Tunisian women entrepreneurs. The results are satisfactory. In other words, they show the extent to which the formal social networks with weak ties (the supporting organizations and entrepreneurial associations) influence more strongly the business growth than the informal social networks with strong ties (family and friendly environment). So, it can be deduced that in the phase of growth and development of female businesses, formal social networks are more likely to increase and further the business growth.