Small-Scale Enterprises in the Informal Sector in Nigeria

Situation and problems of small companies in Nigeria from the
perspective of the owners.

Topics: location and area of business of the company; founding year
and founder; type of source of financing and amount of financial aid
received in company founding; largest problems at start of business and
selected solution strategies; judgement on progress of business and
reasons for this evaluation; year of largest and smallest business
success and changes introduced since; judgement on current business
situation as well as its duration; size of product spectrum; detailed
information on the four major products; type of purchasers and origin
of customers; changes in the customers; detailed information on tools
and machines primarily used; storekeeping; possible length of
production with materials on hand; changes in storekeeping in
comparison with the past year and type of difference; exchange of
equipment and tools with other businesses in the vicinity; sole
ownership of business or number of partners; personal partnership in
other businesses; monthly business expenditures for materials, wages as
well as electricity and water; amount of monthly income for good and
bad business times; amount of investments up to now; value of the
business in case of sale; preferred source of financing; giving
customers credit; passing on work to other companies or jobs received
from other companies; detailed information on number of employees;
employment structure of workers in the company, trainees and family
members at selected times during company existence; average time worked
each week by employees; intended new hiring; amount of monthly income
for a full-time worker; problems in the search for workers and trainees
as well as reasons for these difficulties; length of their training and
later employment of trainees; later business founding by trainees and
their number; detailed information on company problems and judgement on
them in comparison to the previous year as well as type of selected
solution strategies; planned company expansion in this year; assumed
problems from a company expansion and possible solution strategy;
government aid received and type of this aid; association membership;
association goals and aid received from association in solution of
problems; founding year of association; reasons for non-membership in
an association; possession of bank account and type of bank account;
accounting; preference for employment in formal or informal sector;
information on use of a certain sum of money for private or business
purposes.

Demography: year of birth; regional origin; ethnic group; size of
household; education level; employment in industry or in the government
sector before company founding; occupation of father.