Managing at the Margin: A Conceptual Framework of Nano-Enterprise Management, Collective Support, Survival and Real Graduation in Nigeria
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Abstract
Most Nigerian enterprises are very small, and since 2021, national policy has treated the smallest of them, those with turnover below ₦3 million and one or two workers, as a separate nano tier. Management research and support programmes often treat these ventures as miniature versions of larger firms, although their owners work under acute scarcity of capital, time and attention. This conceptual, theory-building paper integrates scarcity theory, evidence on management practices and business training in small firms, entrepreneurial bricolage and collective-action theory, and draws on the authors’ studies of cooperative membership and savings. Its specific contribution is a scarcity-based framework of nano-enterprise management that separates survival and income stability from real graduation to the micro tier, which is measured on turnover deflated to 2021 naira. Nine propositions, each with falsification criteria and boundary conditions, state that scarcity lowers the quality of management practices; those simple practices matter at least as much as conventional training for survival, and personal-initiative capability matters more for graduation; that bricolage protects survival but does not by itself produce growth; and that cooperative support helps where governance is sound and complements capability building. The paper concludes that short, simple support delivered through well-governed collectives is the most promising route to survival and graduation, although no proposition has yet been tested. It recommends that SMEDAN and development partners pilot and evaluate simple-rule and personal-initiative modules against conventional training and track graduation on deflated turnover.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Oforbuike Francis Nwachukwu, Akpan Ifeyinwa Gift, Udoka Stephen Otika, Ani Jude Ndubuisi, Taiwo Olabisi Abdulahi (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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