Survival Strategies and Operational Success of Small Scale Businesses in an Era of High Fuel Price in Nigeria

The study examined the relationship between survival strategies and operational success of small scale business in the era of high fuel price. The study has four specific objectives, four research questions and four hypotheses. The study adopted a census-based correlational survey design. The population of the study comprised twenty-four (24) selected registered small-scale businesses operating within the region, from which a total of ninety-six (96) respondents were drawn making the finite and manageable without sampling. Data for the study were collected using a structured questionnaire on a five-point Likert rating. The instrument was face and contented validated by three research experts whiel the reliability of the instrutment was determined using the Cronbach’s alpha statistics that yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.76. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics for the demographic information and research questions while inferential statistics was employed using Spearnan Rank correlation coefficient at 0.05 level of significance to test the hypothsis using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The result obtained revealed that there is a strong positive relationship between survival strategies and operational success of small scale businesses. The findings clearly establisded that the relationship between cost cutting measures and customer retention in an era of high fuel price reveals a strong and statistically significant association between the two variables; while cost cutting measures have a strong and statistically significant relationship with adaptability amongst other findings. The study concludes that operational success in an era of high fuel price is largely dependent on the ability of small-scale businesses to embrace efficiency-driven strategies and innovative energy solutions. The study therefore recommends among others that Small-scale business owners should prioritize the implementation of structured cost cutting measures, business operators are encouraged to invest in alternative energy sources, managers of small-scale enterprises should adopt flexible and adaptive business models that allow for quick responses to economic fluctuations, particularly those associated with fuel price volatility