Impact of Incubation or Lack of it on MSMEs in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Of the 15% of Zimbabwean start-up businesses that survive beyond five years of operation in Zimbabwe, only two become big businesses. Incubation has been proven as a global best practice that helps to increase the success rate of start-ups. In Zimbabwe however, such interventions have been minimal and semi-structured with under-defined communication streams to the intended beneficiaries. This study sought to establish challenges faced by MSMEs especially in the absence of incubation. SMEs owners that have been running their companies for 1-7 years of operation were engaged through a questionnaire generated on Google forms. A random sample of 30+ respondents from all over the nation was taken from two business WhatsApp groups comprising active SME owners. Questions asked include company start date, whether or not it was incubated, challenges and opportunities faced. These challenges as defined by pioneers of SMEs hint on the reason for a high failure rate, while harvesting perspectives on the best suitable interventions by relevant stakeholders to cushion budding businesses from the pressure in the commercial sector. The responses from the study confirmed the percentage of MSMEs receiving incubation, the main challenges impeding their growth, areas where MSMEs feel there is need of incubation and the variation of needs for different commercial sectors.