Challenges, barriers and policy development for South African SMMEs – does size matter?

This article provides an overview of the main initiatives undertaken by the South African government through policy development to assist small, micro and medium enterprises (SMMEs). The article considers SMME awareness and perceptions of these initiatives. Furthermore, SMME perceptions of the challenges, barriers and reasons for failure are analysed. Data obtained from the 2016 SAICA SMME study was used as a basis for the analysis of the SMME perceptions to establish if an entity’s size has any bearing on these. The findings indicated the size of the SMME does statistically affect their challenges, barriers and perceptions of the government.