Abstract:

Family businesses, most of which fall within the small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) are at the centre of growth in most developing countries including Cameroon and provide employment to many jobseekers. These businesses face so many challenges ranging from initiation, management, and their lifespan. Given the importance of this sector and its contributions to the economy of Cameroon, the worry is the fact that most of these family businesses in Cameroon close down when their initiators die, leaving many people unemployed. This study seeks to answer the question “what are the factors responsible for the sustainability of family businesses in Cameroon?” Given that this was an exploratory research, we made use of a survey-based approach which enabled us to investigate and analyze the factors that affect sustainability of family-owned and managed businesses in Cameroon. This study also proposed measures that can be put in place by both the policies makers and owners of family businesses to ensure their sustainability. This study was carried out in the Northwest and Southwest Regions of Cameroon where through purposive sampling some thirty family businesses were studied with the use of questionnaires to some workers and interviews with the owners of these businesses.  The study made use of both qualitative and quantitative research methods. We made use of the SPSS 17 and Stata 14 software programs for our analysis. Descriptive statistics was used to summarize the sampled opinions of the respondents. Results from this study will enlighten stakeholders concerned with family businesses on the extent of sustainability and its configuration across business size as well as its determinants.