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Article Title:
The Types of Small Businesses and the Communication Strategies Employed By Entrepreneurs in Eldoret Town, Kenya
by Florence N. S. Standa

Abstract:
Communication strategies for competitive advantage have become vital tools in development and establishment of small scale business enterprises in both urban and rural areas, to such an extent that it is hardly possible to set up and operate enterprises without the application of reliable and timely information on strategies of communication. The study investigated the types of small businesses and communication strategies used in the enterprises by the operators in Eldoret town. This study was a descriptive survey design. Stratified random sampling method was used to get 20 small business enterprises from which data was collected. Each small business comprised ten (10) persons, which made the total population to be two hundred persons. Observations, interviews, questionnaire, and also tape recorder and photographs were instruments used to collect data. Data analysis was in form of descriptive and inferential statistics. Chi-square method was used in discussing and interpreting the relationship in the data. It was found that many types of small enterprises are operating in Eldoret town. However, whereas communication strategies exist in the study areas, there is limited access to them by some traders; they are also inadequate and thus limiting the growth of their enterprises. The study recommends that SBEs in the new millennium must combine communication strategies? strength that their size provides with the agility that responding to external change demands. That SBEs must also demolish the complacencies while returning the communicating capabilities that bred past success. The study is significant as it provides information useful to business holders on how to improve their business language for competitive advantage. It also contributes to the already existing pool of knowledge in small-scale business by acting as a benchmark for similar researches in the field of communication.

Keywords: small businesses, communication strategies, entrepreneurs, Eldoret Town, Kenya.

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