The Impact of Government Policies on the Growth and Development of SMEs interprises in Bauchi State Nigeria

Every business or start-up was e-ray by the government official ranging from local, state and federal level in Nigeria. Therefore, for SMEs to operate it's a perquisite to follow the due process from registration by ministry of commerce and industry at state level and the various agencies responsible for registration. This challenge represents both widespread personal misfortune for individuals and a lost opportunity for critical national and global economic development. This study examines the challenges that affect the growth and development of small and medium enterprises in Bauchi state, Nigeria .The study was guided by an epistemological research philosophy adopting a positivist research paradigm. The research design was cross-sectional survey design using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The target population for this study was 754 registered small and medium scale owned enterprises registered with the Bauchi state government by December 2019 and the sample size was 172 respondents derived using Fisher's formulae. This study used a self-administered, closed, and open-ended questionnaire to obtain quantitative data. The study used descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, median and proportions using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24 and Microsoft Excel. Regression analysis and correlation analysis were used to determine the direction and strength of the relationship between the independent and the dependent variables.. The questionnaires were administered among the seventy (70) management staff members of the one hundred and seventy two (172) selected SMEs in Bauchi state Nigeria through purposive sampling method, and this was done personally by the researcher. Descriptive and inferential statistics was use to analyze and interpret the data use in this research. The study reveals that government policies is a major challenges that help SMEs to grow and achieve its stated objectives in global competitive environment. On same vain this study is so keen and motivated to established evidence on these challenges ascertain especially, in a context of current phenomena SMEs face in Bauchi state. Finally, the study will utilize the element of contingency theory, as these SMEs require sound institutional framework to mitigate these challenges. However, anecdotal evidence shows that SMEs in developing countries like Nigeria are faced with a lot of challenges that have hampered their growth in recent times. Among these challenges are: intermittent power supply, indiscriminate tax levies government policy, low accessibility to loans from financial institutions and inability to keep proper financial records. The study reveals that Government policies have a significant impact on the growth and development of SMEs in Bauchi State, Nigeria. Subsequently, the study recommends that management of SMEs should adopt good strategy in order to overcome these challenges.