Abstract:
Micro and small enterprises are becoming an important area of emphasis for many developing in
general and to Ethiopia in particular, primarily for their immense potentials as a source of
employment particularly for women, given that there are a number of factors that affect their
performance. However, women entrepreneurs in micro and small scale enterprises face a wide variety
of challenges both in starting and in growing their business ventures in the country in general and in the
study area in particular. The objective of this study was to identify factors affecting the performance of
women entrepreneurs in micro and small enterprises in Burayu Sub City, Oromia Regional State,
Ethiopia. The study used descriptive and explanatory research design. The study used stratified
random sampling. In order to collect data related research questions, closed ended questionnaires
were employed in the study. The total sample size was 114 respondents. The data analysis was
performed using descriptive statistics. The study found that women entrepreneur’s performance in
micro and small enterprises were constrained by economic factors, sociocultural factors and
regulatory factors. In addition, the severity rank test result indicated that economic factors are sever
than policies and regulatory factors followed by sociocultural factors. Therefore, banks should
improve access to finance through offering better lending terms and conditions and collateral l
requirements in order to increase women entrepreneur’s performance in micro and small enterprises
