Factors Affecting the Growth of Enterprises: A Survey of the Literature from the Perspective of Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises

This study is about the challenges and problems that entrepreneurs face during the growth of their enterprise. Not all firms grow equally, and very few enterprises find opportunities to grow and flourish. Growth of the firm may be restrained because of inadequate resources and the entrepreneur's low motivation. In this study, we advise entrepreneurs to hire experienced managers who can successfully take the firm forward on its evolutionary path. The growth phase is the time to structurally realign and establish more formal processes, structures procedures, communication and management control systems, and functional departments in all core areas, such as marketing and sales, finance and accounting, human resources, operations and production, customer service, information management, and administration. Entrepreneurs also need to enhance their skills and knowledge to make their enterprise a learning organization. Knowledge sharing and knowledge management should be given priority to encourage innovation and creativity. Entrepreneurial capital (social, human, and financial) should be used to address the problems of core competency, managerial capacity, availability of skilled workers, mobilization and access of resources, acquisition of external financing, and environmental and competitive pressures.