The economic vigor of many countries is due to the success of small businesses. In Brazil, Sao Paulo state concentrates more than half of Brazilian small businesses. Therefore, studies dealing with high or low performance of micro and small businesses are of great relevance. This study aims at presenting a quantitative and qualitative analysis of factors associated to premature mortality of micro and small businesses in the city of Sao Paulo. For the quantitative analysis of the sample, which is statistically significant, multivariate analysis was used. The main result of this investigation is that factors associated with mortality are mainly of strategic nature, contrary to the common belief that resource insufficiency is the main reason for the closing of small businesses. This result may contribute to guide public policies, entrepreneurs, and research funding agencies on the formulation of their strategies with regard to the development of managerial competencies and skills for the success of micro and small businesses in Brazil.
Business creation; Entrepreneur; Entrepreneurship; Micro and small businesses; Business mortality
