Export experience and financial performance of small and medium enterprises

The aim of the article is to illustrate that export experience of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has a statistically significant effect on financial performance. This may seem obvious, but similar studies done elsewhere have shown conflicting results. The study’s findings also show conflicting results in the three single-item performance measures used, namely, sales, profits and savings. Data from a sample of 144 exporting SMEs were collected using a structured questionnaire. Export experience is measured by years exporting, and financial performance covers a period of three years. A Chi-square test was used to measure the effect of experience on performance. Results show that export experience had a statistically significant effect on sales and profitability, but not on savings. They also show that performance in sales and profitability increased with export experience. It is, therefore, recommended that appropriate interventions to improve exports, should take export experience into account.

Keywords: export experience, performance, SMEs, sales, profitability, savings, Southern African Development Community.
JEL Classification: L25