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The contribution of entrepreneurship through vibrant small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the national economic and social development of a country has been widely acknowledged (Goel & Jones, 2016; Peters et al., 1999; Valliere & Peterson, 2009). In view of its increasing importance, success of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has been of interest to many researchers, international organizations, and policy makers and therefore has become the subject of a great deal of analysis. Research has shown that success is closely connected to factors such as political environment, government, infrastructure, technology etc. Cooper (1985) reported three factors responsible for entrepreneurial development and success at the grass root level. These are background factors such as family influence, skills and knowledge, the incubator organization i.e. the organization where the entrepreneurs were employed prior to starting their own business and environmental factors, e.g., infrastructure, political environment, access to capital, role of government, etc.
The benefits that entrepreneurial activities through small and medium enterprises (SMEs) provide for economic development have long been acknowledged and are well recognized (Procházková & Straka, 2017). Consequently, the performance of the SMEs sector is closely associated with the economic growth of the nation. SMEs are considered the engines of economic growth in developing countries (Islam et al., 2011). Most governments in numerous emerging economies across the world have realized the important contribution made by SMEs towards achievement of sustainable growth, employment generation, innovation and poverty reduction and overall development (Jasra et al., 2012; Nyathi et al., 2018). Numerous programs have been designated to support the entrepreneurship and SMEs by government of different countries to provide assistance and financial supports (Keh et al., 2007). However, irrespective of countries, SMEs face high failure rate in their first five years (Valliere & Peterson, 2009). There is rising evidence in literature that the main problem for SMEs in developing countries is not their small size but their remoteness, which hinders access to markets, as well as to information, finance and institutional support (Mead & Liedholm, 1998; Swierczek & Ha, 2003). The number of factors prevents them from realizing their full potential as entrepreneurs, where they could make significant contribution to society. These factors relate to the characteristics of entrepreneurs, psychological traits, finance, capitalization, marketing, technology, social network, gender, government policy issues, and management and performance of the firms. While several of these challenges are in inherent to many countries, a few of them are more severe in some regions (Stokes & Blackburn, 2002).
Specially, researchers have shown interest on the factors associated with enterprise success for sustainable entrepreneurship. Sustainable entrepreneurship is a concept that links sustainable development with entrepreneurial activities (Schaltegger & Wagner, 2008). Research on sustainable entrepreneurship through SMEs has attracted wide interest following global developments that emphasis sustainability in addressing environmental and social issues (Googins & Escudero, 2014). Indeed, researchers have suggested the integration of sustainability management and business practices among entrepreneurs to contribute to sustainable development (Tilley & Young, 2009; Parrish, 2010). Sustainable entrepreneurship is in harmony with entrepreneurs striving for profit as well as improving local, global, environmental and social conditions (Rohani, 2013).