Evaluating the relationship between financial applications and entrepreneurial success in identified companies

Abstract

Financial applications can be defined as any financial management tool that help businesses to make financial decisions such as budgeting, cash flows, capital investments, accounting records and forecasting. These financial applications can take a form of simple excel spread sheets to complex computerised systems depending on the size of the business. The purpose of the study was to evaluate whether a relationship exists between these financial applications and entrepreneurial success. In this study, entrepreneurial success was considered to be the ability of generating positive income, the ability to expand and create employment and the ability to survive economic meltdown. To accomplish this, a questionnaire survey was conducted. Four hundred and twelve (412) questionnaires were distributed to entrepreneurs across South Africa. One hundred and forty one entrepreneurs responded (141). The results reflected that there is a strong positive relationship between financial applications and entrepreneurial success. However it was established that there is a lack of support from stakeholders such as funding institutions and the government in training entrepreneurs on awareness, knowledge and usage of financial applications. It is recommended that the stakeholders prioritise financial applications training for entrepreneurs if the country wants to experience economic growth.