Strategies and Processes for Implementing Financial Analysis in Small Virgin Islands Retail Business

The early failure of startup businesses is a concern for many local communities, including the Virgin Islands, with about half of startups failing within the first 5 years of their life cycle. Besides the social and economic impact on communities, these failures have a personal effect on small business owners. Grounded in decision-making theory and the theory of financial management, the purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies and processes Virgin Islands retail business managers use to implement financial analysis for decision making to help sustain their operations. Data were collected using company records and semistructured interviews with 7 retail managers, who had developed successful financial analysis strategies. Keywords and narrative segments from the collected data were analyzed using methodological triangulation by integrating the findings from the review of company records and the semistructured interviews. Emergent themes from interviews and company records revealed 5 themes, including selection and retention of personnel, implementation of growth and development strategies, and the monitoring and evaluation of financial data, that contributed to business success