Start-up Awareness and Access toFinance: The Case of South African SMEs

Start-up entrepreneurs in South Africa do not move from the stage of existence and survival to growth to maturity/ In order for Start-up businesses to have a competitive advantage, they have to grow beyond the survival stage and keep on growing. Despite the availability of external finance, access to finance from banks has been identified as the main challenge to the establishment and growth of SME Start-ups in South Africa. The aim of this study is toinvestigate the determinants of start-up awareness to improve access to finance from banks by Start-up entrepreneurs in Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa. Data was collected through self-administrated questionnaires from a random sample of 253 respondents being members of the Chamber of Commerce in the capital city of one of the largest provinces in South Africa.The results from inferential statistical analysis revealed that start-up awareness factors such as conducting a feasibility study, finding a good location, knowing the amount of seed capital needed, developing a business strategy, a business plan, and business model as well as the source of seed capital, are significant determinants of access to bank financing by start-up entrepreneurs.Thus, entrepreneurs should understand the determinants of Start-up awareness in order to improve their ability to access bank finance.