Financial Literacy of Microentrepreneurs and its Effect on the Business Performance and Innovativeness: Empirical Evidence from India

Micro-entrepreneurs are the strategic assets of the nation, given their mammoth share in maintaining the socio-economic equilibrium and inclusive growth of the economy. Despite their contribution to India’s economy, they are still confronted with several on-ground hurdles, such as inadequate financial literacy among entrepreneurs, inaccessibility to affordable credit, financial mismanagement and lack of innovation. The extant literature has revealed that financial illiteracy and lack of innovation have raised pertinent concerns across the world, given the increasing rate of business failures. Nonetheless, the effect of financial literacy on organisational performance and innovativeness remains underexplored and fragmented. This study aims to examine the effect of financial literacy on the business performance and innovativeness of the micro-entrepreneurs in Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) in India. Primary data were gathered from around 302 micro-entrepreneurs registered in Delhi-NCR through self-administered questionnaires. Data analysis was conducted through SmartPLS 4 software. The results indicated that financial literacy significantly impacts business performance and innovativeness among micro-entrepreneurs. Therefore, the study advocates wider participation of policymakers, financial service providers and managers in designing tailored strategies aimed to enhance the financial education of micro-entrepreneurs.