Discovering Small Business Start up Motives, Success Factors and Barriers: A Gender Analysis

Abstract Starting a business can be a mind challenging and mentally torturing. However, understanding common start up problems and key success factors can help entrepreneurs get off the right path. This paper presents an insight into which male and female entrepreneurs differ in terms of motives to start business, key business success factors and the underlying obstacles. A questionnaire was designed to collect information on entrepreneurs’ profile and the respective measurement variables and analyzed using basic descriptive analysis and Chi Square test to capture gender differences in the opinions. Respondents of this study were selected among 150 participants of the Regional Conference on entrepreneurship in Pahang State. Findings indicate women are more likely to engage into business if their family matters are still can be prioritized, which is less likely to be a man issue. Meanwhile, men perceived innovation and risk taking activities are less likely to influence performance of their business than what women thought they should have to be. Further, it seemed more challenging for women to succeed in business without knowledge and skills competency compared to men. However, men found dealing with business malpractice posed a great challenge in business where women are less experienced with it. The findings of this study could serve as baseline information for current and entrepreneurs to be as well as for policy makers for purpose of outlining gender-based entrepreneurship policy and program.