Risk management practices and the purchase of insurance by SMES

Abstract

The culture of risk aversion constrains the growth of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) sector among low-income entrepreneurs. They respond reactively to risk by using risk avoidance or by transferring the risk. The purpose of this study was to establish whether SMEs mitigate risk through the purchase of insurance. As well as to determine the influence of business size, level of education of the owner, Recovery Plan and the knowledge of insurance products on the purchase of insurance by the SME owner. A sample of 322 SMEs in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Area South Africa was selected and 203 questionnaires were returned. The results showed that SMEs do not to mitigate risk through the purchase of insurance. The size of the business, level of education, having a Recovery Plan and knowledge of insurance products had an influence on the purchasing of insurance by SME owners/managers for their business.