Effect of Risk Taking on Sustainability of small and medium enterprises performance in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya

The element of risk taking in entrepreneurial orientation reflects calculated and manageable risks. Risk taking is a dominant attribute of entrepreneurship as the higher the risk-taking orientation, the higher a firm’s sustainability. The study sought to establish the effect of risk taking and the sustainability of small and medium enterprises performance in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. Psychological / Trait Entrepreneurship theory was. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. The study population was 450 registered enterprises in Uasin Gishu City County. Simple random sampling was used to select 135 SMEs. Primary data was collected using questionnaires. The quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 26. Inferential data analysis was carried out to determine the relationship between the dependent variable and the independent variables using linear regression analysis. From linear regression model (R2 = .67.9) indicating that risk taking account for 67.9% of sustainability of small and medium enterprises performance in Uasin Gishu County. There was a positive significant relationship between risk taking and sustainability of small and medium enterprises performance (β1=0.862 and p<0.05). There was a positive and significant relationship between risk taking and the sustainability of small and medium enterprises performance. The study recommends that although, risk taking enhances sustainability of small and medium enterprises performance in Uasin Gishu County, there was a need to have an elaborate risk management procedure. The SMEs management should be preparing a risk register detailing the previous risk and how they mitigate future opportunities which may be explored by small and medium enterprises.