Competition as a Barrier for Sustainability of Women Owned Small and Medium Owned Enterprises in Kenya (A Pointer to Overcoming Poverty Challenges in Kenya and the Region)

The study sought to investigate competition as a barrier for sustainability of women owned SMEs in Kenya. The study employed desk top research. Small and medium owned enterprises have been recognized as a major source of global economic growth and women entrepreneurs have been acknowledged to play critical roles for bringing their ideas and capabilities towards successful achievement of the SMEs sustainability. Prior research has indicated that women face stiff competition and social constraints that limit their ability to sustain their businesses in Kenya. This research not only helps the Government to identify appropriate women entrepreneurs, but also leads the Kenyan women entrepreneurs in developing sound competitive skills and capabilities in doing businesses which might help them to create and sustain successful business ventures so as to help achieve Kenya’s vision 2030 which is based on the economic, social and political pillars with Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I) as their foundation so as to create a knowledge-based economy.40%,30.7% and 30.3% of the respondents agreed that advertisement techniques, rivalry between men and women and market survey(factors of competition) respectively influenced sustainability of women owned SMEs to a very great extent. It was recommended that Women entrepreneurs should realize that in the present competitive economy, it is important to have competitive strategies to counter men in business.