ABSTRACT

The research examined the profitability of selected small scale enterprises in Umuahia North Local Government Area, Ahia State Nigeria. The objective of this study were to; Identify the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents in the study area; examine sources of start-up capital, ownership structure of small scale enterprise, n the study area; analyze profitability of selected small scale (food service and poultry enterprise) enterprises in the study area; estimate the factors affecting income generation by small scale enterprise in the study area. Estimate factors influencing employment creation of selected small scale enterprises in the study area. Random sampling technique was employed in collecting data from sixty (60) respondents of selected small scale enterprises using structured questionnaires. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, net return analysis and multiple regression analysis. The study also revealed that at least 93.3% of the business owners read and write and attended a minimum of primary education. The proportion of graduates among the small scale business owners was also encouraging. The study further showed that small scale poultry enterprise was a profitable business venture in the study area. The Return on Investment was I. I 9 indicating that every one naira invested in the husiness yielded a net return of Nl.19. And that of food service business were quite high and encouraging to the enterprise. The estimated mean annual Gross Margin was N552029.2 while the estimated mean annual net profit was N229, 276.55. Each naira invested in food service business yielded N1.22k to the enterprise. The multiple regressions show that the coefficient of age of the business owner (2025.832) was positive and statistically significant at 5.0% alpha level. This implies that the older the age of the business owner, the higher the number of jobs und employment it will generate.