Impact of Innovation on the Entrepreneurial Success in Selected Business Enterprises in South-West Nigeria

This study examined the impact of innovation on the entrepreneurial success in selected business enterprises in SOUTH-WEST Nigeria. The paper dwelt on the extent to which the selected enterprises innovation effort affects the quality of their product as well as the company image. Five manufacturing companies in the Food and Beverages line were selected using purposive sampling method because of their contributions to economic development of Nigeria while the respondents were selected through stratified random sampling technique. Survey research design was used in carrying out the study. Both primary and secondary data were used in the study. Primary data were collected through the administration of questionnaire while secondary data were garnered from Annual Report and Accounts of the companies. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Hypotheses were tested at 0.05 significant levels with the aid of parametric student t-test. The results revealed that there is a positive relationship between innovation and product quality as well as a positive relationship between innovation and good corporate image and that both of them significantly affect entrepreneurial success. The study recommends that business enterprises should engage more on innovation of their production process to improve their product quality and even enhances good corporate image. This will help them to sustain their position in the face of stiff competition.