Relationship between Peer Mentorship and Growth of Small and Micro Business Enterprises in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya

Abstract

The paper empirically investigates the relationship between peer mentorship and the growth of small and micro business enterprise. The study was guided by three specific objectives: establish the relationship between peer interaction and the growth of small and micro business; establish the relationship between peer role models and the growth of small and micro business; establish the relationship between peer mentorship setting and the growth of small and micro business. Relational mentoring and Kram's mentor role theory grounded the study. Target population of the study comprised 4000 small and micro businesses operating in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. The study employed explanatory survey research design. Random sampling technique was employed to determine the sample size. A questionnaire was used to collect data from 300 respondents. Data was analyzed by use of descriptive and inferential statistics; specifically, multiple regressions were used to test the hypotheses. The results revealed that peer interaction significantly influenced growth of small and micro business. Likewise, peer role model was also significantly associated with the growth of small and micro business. However, peer mentoring situation was found to be insignificant. The paper recommends that entrepreneurs and mentors should identify critical peer mentorship strategy, which can help in creating sustainable growth of small and micro business. The paper further recommends that mentors should involve mentees in deciding peer mentorship strategies beneficial to both parties. The study suggests that future researchers can investigate the phenomenon of small and micro business growth by adopting longitudinal and comparative approaches in a different setting.