A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award the Degree of Master of Business Administration of Mzumbe University
The purpose of the study was to assess the influence of social network to small and medium entrepreneurs. The study was conducted in Ilemela municipal council - Mwanza. The targeted population involved small entrepreneurs, street venders, leaders of small entrepreneurs and leaders of street vendors in the respective area, thus making a total of 100 respondents who were obtained through purposive and non-purposive sampling techniques.
The study was guided by the following three research objectives: to identify the coverage of social network use among small entrepreneurs, to assess the contribution of social networks in improving SMEs business success, and to suggest the best use of social networks for improving small entrepreneurs’ financial capitals. The study employed social network theory and psychological ownership theory to recognize the influence of social network to small and medium entrepreneurs.
The study employed a mixed research approach using a case study design, because it provides an opportunity for one aspect of the problem to be studied in detail within a restricted time. Data were collected using interview, questionnaire and document review. Data were edited, classified, coded and tabulated using descriptive statistics. This process involved the use of computer Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft Word. In case of qualitative, the analysis procedures involved data screening and recording them to match the study interrogations.
The findings of this study shown that there was medium coverage of social network as it was much coverage in urban areas and little coverage in rural areas. Moreover, it was revealed that social network had great influence on SMEs business success. Along the same vein, the description of the results indicated that majority of SMEs used social network frequently for various purposes but mostly for business purposes.
Therefore effective and frequent use of social networks by small and medium entrepreneurs could bring meaningful changes to the small and medium entrepreneurs businesses and the transformation from unsuccessful to being very successful.