Akeem Olanrewaju Ajani

The development of the nation’s economy is supported by the growing diversity and enthusiasm of interest among academics, particularly in the transforming procedures with an entrepreneurial orientation. The study investigates changing entrepreneurial-oriented practices and the performance of SMEs utilizing a cross-sectional survey amongst the four top grocery registered SMEs operating in Ikorodu local government division of Lagos State, Nigeria. The tool for gathering data is a questionnaire with two sections: bio-data and research questions. While 100 respondents formed the sample size proportionally selected from the study focus. Pearson correlation is the statistical tool for data analysis. The study reveals that creativeness and alleviation of business loss have a highly significant impact on SMEs performance; with pro-activeness having a weak, but positive relevance on SMEs performance. In conclusion, to further improve and optimize entrepreneurial orientation practices and adapt to future threatening changes, firms need to strengthen the desire for healthy competition, identifying and targeting the weaknesses of their competitors. It is recommended that more innovativeness should be sought after as guiding principles for capability and adaptability to handle the complexity of the ever-changing business surrounding, while involvement in risk-taking should be adopted with inevitable zeal and willingness to attain organizational growth and improved performance. Pro-activeness should be given adequate consideration to maintain and surpass existing performance as opportunities come but once. Despite study limitations, future researchers may need to enlarge the sample size and create awareness of research conducted on SMEs generally. Keywords: Change, Entrepreneurial orientation, Performance, Practices, SMEs.