Business Planning Practices Among Micro-Entrepreneurs in Plateau State

This study investigates the business planning practices of micro-entrepreneurs in Plateau State, North Central Nigeria, examining the extent to which small business owners engage in formal and informal planning activities and the relationship between planning practices and business survival. Business planning is widely cited as a determinant of enterprise performance and survival, yet empirical evidence on the actual planning behaviours of micro-entrepreneurs in the Nigerian context, where informality dominates, is limited. The study employs a descriptive survey design, recruiting 220 micro-enterprise operators from three business clusters in Jos, Shendam, and Pankshin, representing diverse economic activities including food processing, retail trade, and artisan services. A structured questionnaire assessed the nature, frequency, and formality of planning activities, as well as business age and perceived performance. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Spearman rank correlation. Findings reveal that the majority of sampled micro-entrepreneurs engage in some form of planning, predominantly informal mental planning rather than written documents. Fewer than 20 percent maintain any form of written business plan, and fewer than 10 percent have a documented financial projection. However, informal planning frequency correlates significantly with business longevity, suggesting that planning habits, even in their informal manifestations, contribute to survival. Education level is the strongest predictor of planning formality. Recommendations include the development of a simplified, Hausa and Berom language-accessible one-page business planning template distributed through Plateau State's market associations. Keywords: business planning, micro-entrepreneurs, Plateau State, business survival, informal planning.