Date of Conferral

2018

Degree

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.)

School

Business Administration

Advisor

Michael Lavelle

Abstract

Small firms struggle to survive competition with limited resources, and about 50% of start-up organizations fail after 5 years. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore the strategies some beauty salon owners in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States use to access financial resources to support growth for longer than 5 years. The conceptual framework for the study was the resource-based view theory of the firm. Data were collected from 6 beauty salon owners who had succeeded for longer than 5 years. Semistructured face-to-face interviews and review of archival and transcript data yielded data saturation in combination with member checking. Data analysis was conducted using methodological triangulation with keyword-in-context analysis, comparison analysis, and content analysis. The 4 emergent themes from the study were personal savings, formal education and professional training as keys to funding, funding strategies, and small business challenges in acquiring funding. Findings from this study may contribute to social change by providing best practices and funding strategies that leaders of small- to mid-sized enterprises may use to access funding to ensure business survival for longer than 5 years. In addition, the findings in this study may reduce small business failure rate, increase sales revenue for the government, and increase employment in the region.

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