ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION AND SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES COMPETITIVE ADVANTANGE IN LAGOS STATE

There have been inconsistencies in the findings of academic researchers on entrepreneurial orientation and SMEs competitive advantage, which has demanded a further study.  The issue of inadequate access to finance, poor infrastructure, inconsistency with government policy, poor support (business development work), inadequate sales, too many taxes and obsolete technologies leading to massive failures of SMEs and its effect on the epileptic growth of SMEs in Lagos state, but also due to the problem from entrepreneurial orientation. The survey research design was employed in this study and the study relied on primary data. The targeted population of this study is 1,511 SMEs (wholesalers and retailers only), which were drawn from Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) in Lagos state. A snowballing sampling technique was used to choose 316 participant SMEs to which the questionnaires were administered, of which 243 questionnaires were returned. The hypotheses of the study were analyzed using multiple regression analysis. The results showed that pro-activeness, innovativeness, and risk-taking significantly improve the performance of SMEs in Lagos state. The study came to the conclusion that innovative, entrepreneurial-oriented businesses are more likely to lead their industry in innovations and carry out tasks in a way that better serves clients and increases the firm's power. In order to improve the performance of their companies, the study recommended that SMEs' owners and managers to be dedicated to process and radical innovation in their interactions.