ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILL BUILDING AS PREDICTOR OF MSMES SUCCESS IN OGUN-STATE, NIGERIA

Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) often constitute the cornerstone of economic development. Their success therefore is imperative to the economic growth and development of any nation. Despite this, most of the MSMEs owners in Nigeria could not record success in their businesses and the need to unravel the causative factors with a view to recommending practical strategies to correct the situation remains a pressing one. This paper therefore sought to explore entrepreneurial skill building as predictor of MSMEs success in Ogun state. This study used a descriptive survey research design. The population of this study comprised one thousand seven hundred and ninety-four (3,794) MSMEs owners/ managers in Ogun State, Nigeria. While the sample comprised (600) MSMEs owners/managers using Stratified random sampling techniques. Two research instruments were used to generate data for this study. They are: Entrepreneurial Skill Building Questionnaire (ESBQ) and MSMEs Success Questionnaire (MSMSQ).  The four null hypotheses were tested using Multiple Regression analysis at 0.05 level of significance.The results showed that business management skill had a significant influence on MSMEs success in Ogun State, F (240501) = 48.517, p < .05). Also, that creativity skill had a significant contribution to MSMEs success in Ogun State, F (654559) = 19.200, p < .05).  Meanwhile, environmental scanning skill had a significant contribution to MSMEs success in Ogun State, F (288590) = 33.149, p < .05). Additionally, business management skill, creativity skill and environmental scanning skill had significant composite influence on MSMEs success in Ogun State, F (243575) = 18.213, p < .05). This study concluded that entrepreneurial skill building had significant influence on MSMEs success in Ogun state. MSMEs owners /managers who have developed their entrepreneurial skill through training, workshop or further study will find it so easy to effectively manage the business and record success when compared to the owners/managers who lack those skills and failed to develop it. Therefore, this study recommends that entrepreneurial skill building should be emphasized among MSMEs owners/managers if they are to record success in their businesses. This will assist owners/ managers to put strategies that can bring about MSMEs success in place.