Strong networks and relations of trust

Network involves a group of people who exchange information, experience and contacts for professional, business or social purposes. 
Shaw and Conway (2000) say that networks are important during the establishment, development and growth of small businesses. The network may include family members, or even friends, or professionals. Networks are of growing importance to SME's in any economy. Africans being notoriously social, networking becomes a vital tool for success of SME's; it becomes like ‘an inborn trait’ or an opportunity that comes by natural flow.

Networking involves distance. According to Tulus (2005) in an Indonesian perspective, he observes that clustering plays an important role in the growth of small businesses and governments should support it. Hence, close proximity is crucial to enterprise. From the context of Kenya, small enterprises like mitumba (selling of second hand cloths), we find the business clustered in one place. This is aimed at creating a closely-knit network that ultimately increases the inflow of customers.

According to SMEs Lecture Notes by Muteti (2005), forging linkages between enterprises and foreign multinational corporations can hasten SME development in developing countries like Kenya. Linkages can be classified as either forward or backward. For instance, multinationals may forge forward linkages with locals firms. One such linkage would be marketing outlets where multinationals outsource the distribution of brand new products.


a well organised network makes even the customers create a good over  view of the industry in cases where the network involves the clustering of businesses of he same kind.

Trust is something that is essential to SME's to enhance coexistence and growth of the individual firms in the industry and also in provision of services to the customers or the end  users.