Thesis (MBA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / In today‟s post-modern era, the role of women-owned small businesses in economic development is inevitable. Women are willing to act in business and contribute to the nation‟s growth. However, most women in small businesses face a wide variety of challenges both in starting and in growing their business ventures. Some of the challenges relate to lack of skills and an environment that is not favourable to women small business owners. Thus, a study was conducted in Lepelle-Nkumpi local municipality in Limpopo Province. The aim of the study was to investigate the challenges faced by women-owned small businesses in the Lepelle-Nkumpi local municipality, Limpopo Province of South Africa. The study used a qualitative research method to collect data. Fifteen (15) individuals participated in the study; twelve (12) of the participants were women who owned small businesses in the municipality and three (3) of the participants were officials working in the LED unit. Participants in the study were chosen purposively because of the knowledge that they possessed. Semistructured interviews were used in the qualitative study to collect data. The study discovered that some of the challenges included lack of skills and training, lack of access to finance, lack of marketing strategies and inadequate resources. Thus, the study recommended that the municipality should provide need-based training for small business owners.

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / This study examines the effects of acquisition reform on Women-Owned Small Businesses (WOSBs) and Small Disadvantaged Businesses (SDBs) who contracted with DOD during the 1990s through 2002 timeframe. Review and analysis of DOD data for fiscal years 1992 through 2002, an analysis of websites and acquisition literature, and interviews with DOD contracting and small business specialists provided the basis for this study. It identifies acquisition reform legislation enacted in the 1990s that has had a direct impact on WOSBs and SDBs and examines the charge that the practice of contract bundling has negatively impacted the ability of small businesses to win DOD contracts. An analysis of contract bundling data from the Small Business Office of Advocacy, Congress and DOD demonstrates that the data is insufficient and inconsistent to prove or disprove that contract bundling is negatively impacting small businesses. However, DOD data for fiscal years 1992 through 2002 indicates that DOD contracting with WOSBs improved consistently, particularly after enactment of the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act (FASA) of 1994 which mandated that the federal government, inclusive of DOD, award five percent of total yearly procurement dollars to WOSBs. / Civilian, United States Army