Barriers to the Growth of Small and Medium Enterprises

Vianny Jeniston Delima
Lecturer, Department of Business and Management Studies, Trincomalee Campus, Eastern University, Sri Lanka. E-mail: jenistond@esn.ac.lk

The importance of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) to a country cannot be overstated since they are the engine that drives the economy. A slew of roadblocks hamper their growth. This study looks at the challenges small businesses face in Sri Lanka. Additionally, the study looks at the link between barriers and SME growth, with a view to finding the most crucial influencing element. A total of 100 SMEs were selected from 294 SMEs in Galle district. For the study, convenience sampling approach was employed. The correlation analysis revealed a strong negative but significant link between all obstacles and SME growth. According to the results of multiple regression analysis, all factors influence SME growth. Also, when all the hurdles to SME growth are taken into account, only financial and legal and government barriers substantially influence SME growth. In contrast, organizational and external barriers have no significant impact. The most influential element in SME growth is financial obstacles.

Introduction
A Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise (SME) might be either family-owned/operated or a sophisticated organization with several levels of ownership and management. SMEs are a source of employment, competitiveness, economic vitality, and innovation; they increase entrepreneurial capacity and expand professional skill sets. They also have the advantage of a broader regional presence, which contributes to better revenue distribution for the enterprise. Every country classifies SMEs differently, based on their level of growth. The characteristics used to define SMEs includes: the number of workers, turnover, and investment. SMEs are defined as having less than 250 employees. Additionally, turnover should be no higher than e50 mn per year, while the total liabilities must not exceed e43 mn. SMEs are generally considered to be the European economy's most valuable asset (European Commission, 2003).

According to the recently released National Policy Framework SMEs in Sri Lanka are defined as businesses companies that employ less than 300 people and their annual turnover does not exceed 750 mn. Microbusinesses are also seen as SMEs when referencing laws and regulations that pertain to this setting (National Policy Framework for SME Development, 2016).

The SME sector is considered to be an essential part of the country's economy. More than 90% of the establishments fall under this category, and it is estimated that SMEs provide 45% of the employment in the country. The SME sector includes micro, small and medium scale industries. Furthermore, it consists of around one million establishments employing around 2.25 million people (National Policy Framework for SME Development, 2016).

SMEs play an essential role in the economy by providing employment opportunities, promoting entrepreneurship and innovation, contributing to poverty reduction, developing endogenous skills and technology, increasing payment surplus, and stimulating other economic activities (Wijayarathne and Perera, 2018).

The contribution of SMEs to the economy has attracted the attention of academics and policymakers in both developed and transition economies. They are defined as the engine of economic growth and a contributor to employment generation, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, technological innovations, and economic and social development. Their role was highlighted, especially in transition countries, because of their fundamental ability to resolve some of the economic problems arising from the transformation process from a centrally planned to a market economy (Krasniqi, 2007).

There are many barriers to SMEs that hinder their growth. There are financial, organizational, legal and institutional barriers for SMEs. Further, the barriers are classified based on their degree of importance. Some of the key findings are that SMEs lack quality human resources, financial resources, good operating mechanisms, organizational skills, strategic planning and marketing, and tend to give importance to short-term benefits (Shah, 2017).

SMEs' contribution to Sri Lanka's economy is significantly more than in Singapore, Malaysia, and Japan. The failure of this sector has a significant adverse effect on the Sri Lankan economy. Therefore, it is essential to understand the performance of SMEs (Bandara, 2016).

There are many barriers to SMEs in the business world of Sri Lanka. The findings of previous studies identified financial barriers, organizational barriers, legal and government barriers, and external barriers. As a result, many of these SMEs have been folding up gradually.

Considering the importance of SMEs to the national economy, it is surprising that sufficient attention is not given to the SMEs. The study has been undertaken to examine the barriers to the growth of SMEs.

The Neluwa division in Galle District was selected for the study. According to a Neluwa divisional secretarial office report, 357 SMEs were established from 2015 to 2019, of which only 294 businesses are surviving. The study investigates the barriers of SME growth in this region.

Problem Statement
There are around 500,000 small and medium businesses in Sri Lanka. Even though they are relatively small, SMEs play a significant role in the economy. The SME sector has been designated as a key strategic sector in the Government of Sri Lanka's (GOSL) overall policy objectives, and it is seen as a driving force for change in areas such as economic growth, regional development, job creation, and poverty reduction. The SME sector aspires to assist in transitioning economically depressed areas into thriving areas (National Policy Framework for SME Development, 2016).

SMEs play an essential role in the economies of both developed and developing nations. Because Sri Lanka is a developing country, SMEs are critical to the country's economic development. Furthermore, the function of new SMEs in the economy is critical since it handles concerns such as job creation, economic growth, poverty reduction, competitive market pressure, and general stimulation of the country's economy. SMEs are the backbone of Sri Lanka's economy, accounting for more than 75% of all businesses, 45% of employment, and 52% of the country's GDP (National Policy Framework for SME Development, 2016).

However, there are several obstacles in the way of SMEs in Sri Lanka. Financial, organizational, legal, and government hurdles and external impediments all have an impact on an SME's performance. These impediments are tied to the size of the enterprise. Undercapitalization is the most common cause of bankruptcy. Poor planning, rather than economic conditions, is frequently to blame.

According to Kuluppuarachchi et al. (2017), the failure rate of small businesses in Sri Lanka is as high as 45%, and the major hurdle is financial. Financial hurdles, lack of human resources, shortcomings in product and process technology management, corporate rules, fierce rivalry from inexpensive imports, and a lack of infrastructure are some of the difficulties faced (Dasanayaka et al., 2016). Inadequate financial resources, insufficient R&D, lack of skilled management personnel, lack of technical capabilities, an unduly perceived risk of innovation, and lack of time were identified as the most significant impediments to their organization (Kariyapperuma, 2012).

As a result, researchers have discovered that various hurdles to SME expansion exist. SMEs are wellknown for driving economic growth through job creation, technological innovation, GDP contribution, and other social and economic development (Krasniqi, 2007). It is critical to identify these impediments since they significantly influence Sri Lanka's economy.

A majority of small and medium businesses collapse within a few years after their inception. The unavailability of some resources for these firms in Neluwa division is one of the reasons for choosing this region for the study. There are documentation issues for obtaining loans, connectivity issues, lack of sufficient machines and electronic equipment, lack of workshops and training programs in the Neluwa division for SME development; some areas do not have enough water for their businesses; there are also problems purchasing raw materials and selling their products, transportation issues, and natural disasters such as floods. In addition, there is a dearth of fresh marketing strategies.

Researchers have looked at many hurdles that have affected people in the past, and the author chose to conduct this study to look at the present impediments. The aim of the study is to identify the constraints to the expansion of SMEs in the Neluwa division.

Objectives

• To identify the barriers to business growth of SMEs in Neluwa, Galle district;
• To examine the relationship between barriers and SME growth in Neluwa, Galle district; and
• To identify the most influencing factor in SME growth in Neluwa, Galle district.

Literature Review
In Sri Lanka, there is no universally accepted definition of SMEs. Different government organizations employ various criteria to designate small and medium-sized businesses. The factors include the number of employees, level of fixed investment, type of sector or industry, and whether formal or informal. This sector is referred to by a variety of terms in various sources. SMEs and cottage and small-scale industries are often used terms (Gamage, 2003).

In Sri Lanka, the SME policy framework identifies SMEs according to their staff count and yearly revenue. SMEs are defined as businesses with less than 300 workers and annual revenue of less than 750 mn. Microbusinesses are likewise considered alongside SMEs for any policy-related initiatives (National Policy Framework for SME Development, 2016).

Financial Barriers
One of the most significant impediments to small business growth is financial constraints. According to an adage, in order to make money, firms must be prepared to spend money. This may be especially difficult for small businesses since they may not have the funds to invest in R&D (Louis and Macamo, 2011).

Despite the need for extra finance to support their development and expansion, many businesses face a critical lack of money. A substantial 53% of entrepreneurs say they have trouble getting the money they need for their enterprises. When compared to small entrepreneurs (46%), this ratio is somewhat higher among micro-entrepreneurs (54%) than small entrepreneurs (46%) (Advocata Institute, 2020). The high cost of borrowing, comparatively high bank charges, high collateral requirements, and a lack of outside equity and venture capital are among SMEs' financial impediments (Bartlett and Bukvic, 2001).

Larger firms with an excellent credit history, significant collateral, and on-time loan payments are frequently favored by banks. Entrepreneurs may also be hesitant to seek outside assistance from venture capitalists or others for fear of losing control of their business (Bartlett and Bukvic, 2001).

External financing might come from the owner's resources or outside sources such as loans or grants from government agencies. On the other hand, tiny business owners' resources are typically restricted, especially for young and small enterprises. As a result, banks will be required to provide external sources of credit to growth-oriented small businesses seeking to expand. For several reasons, not all small businesses have access to external financing. Economists generally agree that capital markets are inefficient for small company financing (Krasniqi, 2007). When it comes to bank funding, SMEs, particularly very young and small enterprises, have a tough time acquiring the collateral or guarantees that banks want, as SME financing is frequently seen as hazardous (Rizos et al., 2015).

Organizational Barriers
Internal obstacles, also known as organizational hurdles, include factors like management capacity and competency, skills and knowledge, and the firm's goal, among other things. A startup may be well run by just a few people, but as the company increases in size, additional personnel will be required to cover the gaps (Bartlett and Bukvic, 2001). Differences in people's opinions about the discontinuity or failure of small firms are not driven by differences in years of work experience, age, or qualifications, and hence these characteristics have a significant influence on small company failure (Al-Ghamri, 2016). A wide variety of competencies, including knowledge, skills, and personal attributes, are viewed as entrepreneurial and valuable to entrepreneurs. Lack of entrepreneurial abilities in a business owner can lead a firm to fail, especially at the starting phase (Thevrajah, 2015). Company owners must understand the business lifecycle and be able to determine which stage their company is at. While the business owner can handle general administration of the company at first, as the company grows, more people will be needed to fill the various jobs (Bartlett and Bukvic, 2001).

Legal and Government Barriers
When it comes to the expansion of SMEs, complicated laws, rules, and regulations can be major roadblocks. It might be an inefficient tax system or a slew of discriminatory legislative laws aimed at small businesses that stifle their capacity to expand (Bartlett and Bukvic, 2001). A lack of legislation that promotes the growth and development of SMEs can also stymie a company's expansion plan (Smorfitt, 2008).

Studies have pointed out that insecure government policies resulting from frequent policy changes can significantly impact SMEs' operations and, as a result, entrepreneurship growth. Many SMEs have been forced to close due to insecure government policies (Nyarku and Oduro, 2018). Bureaucracy, an uncertain policy climate, unfavorable customs and trade rules, restrictive monetary and credit policies, corruption, exorbitant tax regimes, and workforce and labor restrictions have negatively impacted SME growth. It is clear that SMEs must have adequate legal and regulatory structures to prosper (Nyarku and Oduro, 2018).

External Barriers
The external environment comprises factors such as economic variables and markets, crime and corruption, labor, and infrastructure (Sitharan and Hoque, 2016). In a comparative study of Nigeria and the UK, Ihua (2009) pointed out that externally related issues such as bad economic conditions and insufficient infrastructure hampered the expansion of Nigerian SMEs.

Regardless of size, failure to nurture worldwide markets may be a fatal mistake for modern firms. Enterprises must perceive themselves as businesses without boundaries to be successful. Going worldwide may put a small business under much stress (Sitharan and Hoque, 2016). Economists have long contested the existence of entry barriers, which vary depending on market competition and the industry.

Growth barriers may also be tied to the market environment in which businesses operate. Low demand for a product, availability of raw resources, difficulty in exporting, public procurement laws, and late payment of bills by corporate clients and the government can stymie a company's growth (Bartlett and Bukvic, 2001). In four central urban locations in South Africa, Venter et al. (2003) discovered that macroeconomic challenges such as inflation, interest rates, and unemployment were the key variables negatively influencing small company success.

The Relationship Between SME Growth and the Barriers
Barriers to SME growth have a negative link with SME growth. Firm size was negatively associated with firm growth, and the presence of institutional and financial obstacles delayed expansion (Bartlett and Bukvic, 2001). The econometric findings imply that business size and age are inversely related to firm growth. Furthermore, the presence of business environment constraints such as tax burdens, unfair competition, and insufficient finance limits the growth of SMEs (Krasniqi, 2007).

The coefficients of SMEs and SME growth show a weak negative relationship between the number of professionals and small business growth, as well as a weak positive relationship between small business growth and staff training (Louis and Macamo, 2011). When sales levels are kept constant, small business development is negatively associated with lack of financing, market challenges, and regulatory issues. According to Gill and Mand (2013), when the family is kept constant, the data demonstrated that shortage of money and regulatory barriers are negatively associated with small business growth.

Louis and Macamo's (2011) study revealed that the coefficients demonstrate a weak but negative association between the number of professionals (graduates and postgraduates) and the growth of small businesses, as well as a positive but weak relationship between small business growth and staff training to boost growth. A significant negative association has been discovered between the amount of funding constraint and the company's size, implying that smaller companies face more severe financing issues than more prominent companies (Wang, 2016). The findings suggest a statistically significant but modest negative association between small business development and financial availability (Louis and Macamo, 2011).

The Impact of SME Growth Obstacles
Access to capital, tax rates, tax administration, corruption, a poorly educated labor force, competitiveness in the informal sector, and political instability appear to be critical challenges that severely impact SMEs (Rehman et al., 2019).

One of the primary hurdles to SME innovation was a lack of financial resources (Ndesaulwa et al., 2017). Entrepreneurs may be hesitant to seek outside assistance from venture capitalists or others for fear of losing control of their firm. As a result, small businesses struggle to develop since it is difficult to obtain financial aid to help them expand, and as a result, they stagnate or collapse (Louis and Macamo, 2011).

If businesses refuse to adapt, they will continue to function in the same way, resulting in loss of consumers or retention of a small number of customers who are unaware of the changes, leading to stagnation and/or decline (Louis and Macamo, 2011). Overall profitability, overall volume of sales, number of workers, value of capital assets, overall line of goods, stock of raw materials, sales inventory, and image of the company are all likely to suffer as a result of the challenges or impediments that SMEs face (Osathanunkul, 2010).

According to a survey by Amaradiwakara and Gunatilake (2017), various issues such as financial deficiency have hampered the growth of SMEs in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, the degree of education of the business owner directly influences the growth of SMEs. The survey found that most Sri Lankan SMEs have limited access to the foreign market and focus solely on the domestic market, which has hampered their growth. Despite their importance in the Ghanaian economy, SMEs have significant financial restraints in their operations, hampering their development and reducing their ability to drive the national economy as envisaged (Ackah and Vuvor, 2011). The entrepreneurs behind the fastestgrowing companies perceive government laws and policies as the biggest roadblocks to their success.

Bureaucracy, social security payments, corporate taxes, personal income taxes, fiscal policy, and labor legislation, in that order, are the governmental interferences that have the most significant detrimental influence on businesses. It indicates that government regulations have a minor influence on SMEs' performance (Varothayan and SareenaUmma, 2015).

Conceptual Framework
The conceptual framework is an essential part of the research. It mainly shows the combination of two variables. These two variables can be identified as the independent variable and dependent variable (Figure 1).

Data and Methodology
The term research design refers to a strategy that outlines how, when, and where data will be collected and processed to answer a research question or test a hypothesis (Wambui, 2015). This study employed qualitative and quantitative data analysis methods to identify the hurdles to SMEs' growth. The data was gathered through a questionnaire (see Appendix).

The study's sample consisted of 100 small and medium businesses in Neluwa, Galle district. Convenience sampling is also used to create the sample for the study. Results and Discussion
Reliability and Validity
The reliability and validity of data were also statistically measured. Reliability refers to the consistencies, stability, or dependability of the data. Cronbach's alpha reliability test was employed to assess the validity of the questionnaire (Sekaran, 2007).

The SME growth dependent variable has two items (sales and market share of the business) and an alpha score of 0.874, indicating that it is very reliable. When calculating the reliability test on these parameters, there are four independent variables under barriers to the development of SMEs. The following are the findings of this investigation.

Financial hurdles (0.863), organizational barriers (0.905), legal and government barriers (0.690), and external barriers (0.695). SME growth, financial hurdles, and organizational barriers all have Alpha values more than 0.7, whereas legal and government barriers and external barriers are extremely near to 0.7 (Table 1).

Descriptive Statistics
Descriptive statistics is the fundamental component of gathering data. In sample data, there are variables as dependent and independent variables. The descriptive analysis represents

Correlation Analysis

Pearson correlation is a factual method that demonstrates the relationship between variables. It is carried out to determine the relationship between independent and dependent variables. It helps to interpret the strong point of the relationship between variables. The correlation coefficient can range between +1 or -1.

There is a strong negative relationship between financial barriers and SME growth because the correlation is -0.678. The amount is above -0.5 and there is a significant relationship because the p-value is less than 0.01 (p < 0.01). When comparing organizational barriers with SME growth, it has a -0.614 correlation that is above -0.5. It implies a strong negative relationship between these two factors because the p-value is less than 0.01 (p < 0.01). There is a strong negative relationship between legal and government barriers and SME growth because the correlation is -0.594, the amount is above -0.5 and the p-value is less than 0.01 (p < 0.01). External barriers and SME growth have a strong negative relationship because the correlation is -0.541, the amount is above -0.5 and that has a significant relationship (p < 0.01) (Table 3).

Multiple Linear Regression Analysis
Multiple regression analysis can be used to explore the relationship between one continuous dependent variable and a number of independent variables. Multiple regressions are based on correlation, but it allows a more sophisticated exploration of the interrelationship among a set of variables (Sekaran, 2007). The relationships are analyzed using correlation coefficient and the result was evaluated according to the following categories.

Table 4 shows the model summary of regression analysis. Regression analysis of coefficient (R) 74.2% (0.742) affects all barriers to SME growth. Value of the explanatory power (R2 ) shows the degree to which the variance of the dependent variable is explained by independent variables. Looking at R2 , it can be concluded that 55% (0.55) of the variance of SME growth, is explained by barriers to SME growth. Accordingly, adjusted R2 depicts that 53.1% (0.531) of the variation in SME growth is explained as variation in barriers to SMEs.

Conclusion
SMEs play a critical role in developing economies and this study identifies several barriers which affect the SMEs in Sri Lanka (Delima and Pushpakaran, 2016). Small firms confront various financial barriers, organizational barriers, legal and government barriers, and external barriers. According to the correlation analysis, all these barriers have strong negative relationships with SMEs growth. According to regression results, all factors influence SMEs' growth. Also, when all of the obstacles to SMEs' growth are taken into account, only financial and legal and government barriers have a substantial influence on SMEs' growth (55%), whereas organizational and external barriers have no significant impact. The most influential element in the growth of SMEs is financial obstacles.

This study suggests that SMEs face many financial difficulties due to a lack of awareness or insufficient collateral and these businesses should maintain positive relationships with loan sources by assessing the appropriate credit options to finance their capital. Further, entrepreneurs should acquire the necessary skills and information for their firm and a thorough understanding of business administration and marketing in order to manage the organizational barriers. To remove the legal and government barriers, the government should create an atmosphere that is conducive to conducting business by reducing taxes and formulating appropriate policies for the expansion of SMEs. To overcome the external barriers, entrepreneurs must be able to compete successfully against their external rivals. The infrastructure in Sri Lanka needs to be improved to expand the SMEs growth.

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