Raw Data.xlsx

The sample considered for the study consisted of founders/owners and managers of small businesses operating in the various industrial sectors in South Africa. Data were collected from this sample set using self-administered questionnaires. Approval was secured for the use of a database comprising South African small businesses drawn from various small business hubs, national small business directories, and Government small business support agencies. The choice of quantitative methodology is consistent with the objectivist ontological and positivist epistemological disposition of the current study. The study made use of survey methods to facilitate the generation of answers to research problems and questions, the determination of what research objectives could be met, as well as the trends shaping the phenomena being studied. Effectuation was measured using a 13-item scale developed and validated by Chandler et al. (2011). Small business performance was measured according to a multi-dimensional and subjective scale developed in the study by Zahra et al. (2002).