Abstract: It is generally accepted that SMEs are becoming increasingly important in terms of employment, wealth creation, and the development of innovation. However many problems encounter SMEs and as a result, many firms perform dismally and fail to grow. In addition it is generally known and accepted that there is a high mortality rate of SMEs within the first two years. Given this high failure rate, it becomes vital to research the factors required to enable the SMEs to survive and indeed progress to the growth phase of the organizational life cycle.