A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE CAUSES OF BUSINESS FAILURE IN NIGERIA AND THEIR POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

By

Author

Presented To

Department of Entrepreneur

This research work is on causes of business failure and possible solutions with a case study of Faith printing press, Uyo. business failure is when  a firm is suffering from either technical insolvency or bankruptcy or when it happens that a firms total revenue do not cover its total cost , this can be avoided by finding  solutions to business failure by way of managing recourses in a proper way. It is in view of this that a research work as this was undertaken.

 The research work contains five chapters, the introduction examines the historical background of the case study and so on and  also limitations of the projects were outlined. chapter two was centered on the literature reviews with a view of bringing out what business entails, its operations and impact on the society ,its mode of operations and why and how failure occurs in business enter prices. Population sample and sources of data collocation were the various methods of data collection adopted .such as desk research ,personal interview as well as questionnaires  

In chapter four presentation and analysis of data was shown in the write up. The data collected were analyzed and presented based on the research questions, which form the views and opinions of the respondents drawn.

In the final chapter, summaries and recommendations were made on the subject matter.

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

10   BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Business is absolutely a complex activity This is because it involves a lot of technicalities ranging from the task of planning to control of such plans in order to achieve the desire objectives of profit maximization It is in view of this, that this study is mainly centered on the floating of a business to a stage where it finds it difficult to keep it’s head above water

In the late 70s business was in its period of boom, the economy was doing well at that point in time and the exchange rate was appreciable within this period International trade was easy as a result of lesser trade restrictions and foreign exchange control

During this period, Faith printing press was a beneficiary of the prevailing policies such as the importation of papers and other printing materials These goods were usually tax free by the agencies concerned, as a result of the significance the government attaches to the publishing sector and the clearance procedures at the port were effective and efficient then

In the late 80’s as a result of the military take-over, various decrees and policies came into place The economy became unbearable for the citizens and their purchasing power became very low, thereby forcing business not to live up to their required billing What followed was that industries started operating on short run, and later businesses started folding up

The various trade restrictions, VAT policies on goods imported did not help matters The result effect of all these, was folding up of businesses Against the business affected was then within our locality the -Faith printing press The concerns shown people in the locality spearheaded an agenda to resuscitate the company and prevent it from total collapse

The process of doing this proved difficult due to the extent of funds require to source for foreign exchange needed for the importation of raw materials there were other problems that seem intractable But the people and company unite make persistence efforts to resuscitate the company but the more difficult problems that resulted, Motivated an interest to study the problems of business failure and the possible solutions

11   HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF FAITH PRINTING PRESS

Faith printing press is a sole proprietorship business It is own by Chief Gabriel O Faith It was established on 20th August 1969 and was situated at VVI Lagos/Keffi Street, Uyo

Faith printing press was set-up with the objective of providing the best quality printing jobs to customers at affordable prices and at the due appointed time At the early life of the press, it started with letterpress and binding machine Namely:  Adana, Letterpress Heidelberg and Cutting Machines

In the course of expansion, the press relocated to NC-3 Oshogbo Road, Uyo in 1979 The press increased its machineries by purchasing Rota prints, plate maker, camera, and kond During this period the press has increased its area of specialization from letter press to offset printing

In 1985, the press moved to J11 main street Badarawa Uyo and finally relocated to its permanent site VV 15 Nassarawa Road, Uyo in June 1993 in its present site, it has acquired additional machines such as multilith 1850,   Stitching machine, computers and Ruling machines

This organization is engaged in the publishing of companies Annual reports, text-books, invoices, Receipts calendars, invitation cards, Business cards etc Faith printing press is an organization worthy to be emulated, Judging by its achievement within the period of its existence The organization has render a lot of its services to prominent companies & government parastatals within this country, among them are: Nitel Headquarters- Lagos, National electric power authority Uyo, Uyo state water board, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Uyo, Bayero University Kano, Nice Top papers industries Uyo etc

Below is a sample of what Faith printing press Organizational chart should look like

Managing

Director

Press                                                        maintenance     

Manager                                                    manager/ engineer

                                        Production

Cashier

                                        Cashier                      Receptionist

        Lithographer           printing section             Finishing section

               With                   And                           And

        Apprentices                Apprentices                Apprentices

        Drivers                                                        Gate men                                               

12     STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Business entrepreneurs today are making a lot of efforts in order to make their investment a perpetual going concern Every means available at their disposal are being made available terms of capital base sophisticated equipments etc so as to meet-business demands and sustain the completive market environment

How ever inspite of these tremendous effort businesses are still failing and these are owing to various factors that pose myriads of problems

13   STATEMENTS OF HYPOTHESIS

The following hypothesis has been formulated to serve as a guide for this study:-

1          That efficient management of resources could not lead to business failure of _Faith printing press

2          That inefficient management of resource could lead to business failure in Faith printing press

14   OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

This study intends to achieve the following objective

i             To find out how Faith printing press should operate to avoid failure

ii            To examine the implications of government economic policies on the survival or failure of Faith printing press

iii          To find out and how to avoid business collapse with reference to Faith printing press

iv          To examine the use and control of resources in Faith printing press

15   SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study is significant in that its will also identify possible mistakes if any, which could lead to business failure

It will also point out possible solutions to business failure with reference to Faith printing press, Uyo It will be also investigate some important factors to be considered before setting up a business and those that will be implemented in the course of business

Finally, the study will be useful to the management of Faith printing press, Uyo as it will help in tackling the problems militating against the operations of the company

16    SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

This study is untaken to find out the fundamental obstacles of business failure and possible solutions for a sustainable economic development with a case study of Faith printing press Uyo The study is concerned in t