The Impact of Record Keeping on Sustainability and Succession of Micro and Small Enterprises

Abstract

This paper assessed the impact of proper record keeping on sustainability and smooth succession of family-owned businesses (FOBs) among the Igbos in Nigeria. Using a descriptive research design, we adopted both descriptive and inferential statistics to answer the four research questions and test the corresponding hypotheses. Primary data was collected from a sample of 768 respondents selected across the south-eastern states and selected commercial cities in other parts of Nigeria with the use of multiple sampling techniques. Result from logit model regression show that proper record-keeping has made significant impacts on the sustainability and smooth succession of FOBs in Nigeria. While the study noted that, numerous challenges still confront FOBs and acceptance of proper record keeping among the Igbo FOBs, this study's results confirm that any improvement in record keeping of the FOBs by one unit has an odd ratio of about 12.6, hence, FOBs will be about 13 times more likely to be sustainable and have smooth succession from generation to another generation. To this, we recommended that relevant FOBs stakeholders must ensure that enabling environments are created and enforced for proper record keeping.