Acta Universitatis Danubius. Œconomica, Vol 14, No 5 (2018)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of training opportunities offered by supporting institutions on the start-up and growth of Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs). This paper adopts a comparative, quantitative research approach and highlights the perceptions of the Lesotho and South Africa’s SMMEs vis-a-vis training opportunities provided by local supporting institutions. Findings reveal that entrepreneurs in Maseru, Lesotho mostly rely on self-learning, while most entrepreneurs in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa acquired entrepreneurial skills through attending training lessons offered by the supporting institutions. Although the findings reveal that there is a positive correlation between providing training and relevance of the training to the current needs of SMMEs, only fewer SMMEs in Maseru indicated that the training was relevant to their needs. In Pietermaritzburg, slightly above half of the respondents indicated that the training received is relevant to their business needs. The findings further reveal that there is a significant effect of receiving training on business growth. The respondents who did not receive any training had the lowest overall business growth while those who received training from the government have the highest overall growth. In light of the findings, this paper recommends monitoring and evaluation of the training services and involvement of SMME owners in the design of the training programs to ensure that the training opportunities are relevant to the current needs of the SMMEs.