Abstract:
The study was carried out to assess constraints faced by women owned small and
medium enterprises (SMEs) in Tanzania,A case of Ilala district. The study was guided
by three specific objectives which were assessing individual characteristics
constraining Women owned SMEs in Ilala District , examining business factors
constraining Women owned SMEs in Ilala District and exploring the policy factors
constraints oriented to Women owned SMEs in Ilala District. This study was a case
study type. In this study the population of women SMEs from Ilala district were
employed as the key respondents. The study involved a sample size of 96
respondents.The research used purposive sampling technique and convenient in
obtaining the sample size. Using these methods in sampling were good so as to ensure
equal participation of different type of respondents to make the study more reliable and
valid.In this study, data was collected through questionnaires and interviews only. Also
both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used in data presentation . The
findings shows that on the individual constraints most of Women owned SMEs
have little experience on business , which affects the flow and management of the
business. Also it has been evidenced that most of entrepreneurs have no financial
management education, booking keeping and economics, This directly affects business
management. lastly under the individual factors it has been found that support
from the spouse is also a factor affecting women owned SMEs. Moreover on the
study shows that there are a number of business factors which affect women
owned SMEs. Like nature of the business is one of the factors , it has been found
most of the business are high risk business and are slow moving business which
leads to little money circulation in business as the result leads to business
failure. Also little profit margins leads to poor bunisness perfomance. The findings on
the policy factors constrain women owned SMEs found that the high interest charges
are perceived as a burden for entrepreneurs hence failure of women owned SMEs.
Furthermore the economic instability of the country is also a problem caused by low
money supply coupled with high inflation rate. Financial institutions in Tanzania
should ensure that there is enough training on financial management . Entrepreneurs
should be allowed to attend seminars in order to stay up dated with any changes made.
