The Impact of Regulatory Environment on the Effectiveness of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises: A Study of Selected Small and Medium Scale Enterprise in Owerri

This paper examines the impact of regulatory environment on the effectiveness of small and medium scale enterprises. The study employed a survey approach and used the questionnaire as its major source of data collection. In order to guide the study, two research questions and hypotheses that are consistent with the objectives of the study were raised. The population of study consists of 105 staff of selected five small and medium scale enterprises in Owerri. The researchers used purposive sampling technique to select 89 members of staff as the sampled unit. The mean score was the tool for data analysis, and from the findings, the researchers concludes that regulatory environment has significant impact on business competitiveness and innovativeness which were used to proxy effectiveness of small and medium scale enterprises. Based on the findings also, the researchers among others recommended that consultation between SME regulators and operators of SMEs can help address some of the harsh consequences of the regulatory environment.