Digital Marketing and Time Management skills as Key Drivers of Venture creation Success: Perspectives from SMEs Managers for business education students in Anambra State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigates the venture creation skills; digital marketing and time management as key drivers of entrepreneurial success, from the perspectives of SME managers in Anambra State, Nigeria. Guided by two research questions and four null hypotheses, the study adopted a descriptive survey design, sampling 544 SME managers from a population of 1,813 registered SMEs. Data were collected using a 20-item structured questionnaire, validated by experts, with reliability coefficients of 0.77 and 0.89. Mean and standard deviation were used for data analysis, while ANOVA tested hypotheses at a 0.05 significance level. Findings revealed that SME managers recognized digital marketing and time management skills as crucial for business education students' venture creation success. However, they differed significantly in their ratings of time management skills based on years of experience and business nature, while their views on digital marketing skills remained consistent. The study concluded that these skills are essential for fostering entrepreneurial success and self-reliance among graduates. It recommended that business education students should endeavor to actively apply acquired venture creation skills immediately after learning to ensure retention and future application