Obstacles Faced by Selected Sole Proprietors in Their Small Business in San Isidro, Nueva Ecija

Abstract

Business owners must be prepared for the challenges and know how to overcome them. Thus, this study aimed to explore the challenges of sole proprietors in their small businesses, how those challenges affect their decision-making, examine their strategies for overcoming these obstacles, and how challenges affect their decision-making. The design selected for this research study was phenomenological research design and examined the experiences of 10 selected sole proprietors. The data gathering used in this study are research questions and voice recorders. The respondents of this study were the ten selected sole proprietors with a 1-year experience in the small business field and at least ten employees in San Isidro, Nueva Ecija. In this study, it addresses respondents' challenges when it comes to poor business sales. The respondents were also having problems with price increases of products because their price was too high compared to before. Also, the place of their business became a problem because of parking and unexpected events like creating new buildings. Decision-making was also affected because of those challenges. They are having difficulties making decisions due to the challenges they experienced. The coping strategies used by sole proprietors are reducing the number of employees, it can help decrease labor costs and prevent a lack of income when they’re having a poor business sale. Also, getting help from customers' feedback leads them to provide what they should improve in their business.

In conclusion, the challenges experienced by the sole proprietors were poor business sales, price increases, and place problems. Moreover, it was found that the challenges experienced by sole proprietors affect their decision-making, with respondents having difficulties. The most common coping strategies used by sole proprietors include reducing the number of employees and getting help from customers' feedback.