Determinants of firm performance among women entrepreneurs in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the northern region

Firm performance in SMEs is deteriorating in Malaysia. Many SME are drawn to measure firm performance in their business because it affects their monthly and annual profit or loss. Women entrepreneurs from SMEs in the northern region must increase their performance in managing the business. Firm Performance can make women entrepreneurs improve their management skills. The term firm performance refers to the ability of a company to achieve effective and efficient results in order to experience development and make progress. A quantitative method was adopted in this study, and responses from 381 respondents that were chosen from the list of members of Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia in the northern region were used. Therefore, Partial Least Square (SmartPLS) will be used to evaluate the research data. Finally, this study can be applied and extended to determine the determinants of financial literacy on firm performance in other countries. Moreover, the results will show how firm performance had an impact in providing job opportunities as well as promoting the economy of Malaysia and fulfil firm performance according to the SMEs’ desires.