Abstract:
Small and Medium Scale Entrepreneurs (SMEs) have been fully recognized by governments
and development experts as the main engine of economic growth and a major factor in
promoting private sector development. SMEs are considered as the crucial segment in
developing countries during several decades ago. The Small and Medium Enterprise
(SME) segment is the key segment to fuel economic growth, wealth creation and create
employment of the country. In Sri Lanka, SMEs are approximately contributed for the
national production by 1%. Therefore, it has identified the importance of accelerating the
growth of SMEs in order to gain sustainable development in the country. Accordingly t
it must be needed to empower the SME business ownerships towards starting up new
ventures while expansion of existing businesses. The objective of this survey was to identify
the critical success factors that are affected for the successfulness of entrepreneurs. The
research was employed in Matara district and target population was registered SMEs at
the Small Enterprises Development Division (SEDD), Matara District secretariat by 2012.
Number of 75 SMEs was selected as the sample using random sampling technique. Both
Primary data and secondary data were used for the survey, a semi structured questionnaire
was used as a tool for collecting primary data and books and related journals were used for
secondary data purposes. According to the survey, it has revealed that financialcapacity
and owners’ independency are the mostly affected factors for the entrepreneurial success.
Education and experience are affected in a little for the entrepreneurial success in Sri
Lanka. Eventually the researcheres emphasis the intervention of government and any
other responsible policy formulation bodies towards creating sustainable small business
culture within Sri Lanka by providing proper assistance to strength the possible success
factors of entrepreneurs.