A Primary Diagnosis of the Limiting Factors of Doing Micro, Small and Medium Scale Businesses in Two Municipal Local Government Areas of Cross River State, Nigeria

This study sought to examine growth requirements of MSMEs based on primary data gathered from two local government areas in Cross River State -Calabar South and Calabar Municipality. The method of random sampling was used to select 3,660 respondents for the administration of structured questionnaire instrument for data collection. Data collected and analysed covered employment behavior, enterprise owners' demographics, enterprise type and sector, bankability, and accessibility to Business Development Support (BDS) services. Other information elicited was on business formalization, growth prospects of enterprises, and taxation. Information collected was analyzed and summarized using simple percentages.Findings show that in both LGAs, enterprises required capacity building in specialized technical, managerial and marketing fields for business startups. Interest charges by banks, ignorance, and poor access to loans were leading limiting factors confronting MSMEs in both LGAs. It was also revealed that low purchasing power, inadequate knowledge, large number of dependants, unfair tax system and insecurity were the leading de-enablers of enterprise growth. The study recommended the provision of Business Development Support (BDS) services targeted at budding microenterprise owners and aspiring entrepreneurs, especially women, the physically challenged and other vulnerable groups, and people living in communities with limited banking services.