CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
The growing population of small businesses and startups, and the increasing rate of ‘crashing out’ or liquidation of such businesses has become an issue of concern in an already harsh national economy. The small businesses in no small measure contribute to the development of the nation’s economy as they not only provide avenues for entrepreneurs to spring up, but they serve as employers of labor; thus reducing the level of unemployment in the economy.
Given the aforementioned benefits, it will thus be important to ensure the sustainability of the small and medium scale enterprises.
In spite of the fact that SMEs have been regarded as the bulwark for employment generation and technological development in Nigeria, the sector nevertheless has had its own fair share of neglect with concomitant unsavory impacts on the economy. In a seminar titled “Career Crisis and Financial Distress- The Way Out”, the General Manager of Enterprise and Financial Support Company Limited, Mr. Oluseyi Oluboba, identified in his paper the following as the main problems of SMEs, which are however not insurmountable: low level of entrepreneurial skills, poor management practices, constrained access to money and capital markets, low equity participation from the promoters because of insufficient personal savings