The study examined the moderating role of entrepreneurial awareness on the link between
access to finance, market orientation, viable business plan and SMEs performance in the
telecommunication SMEs in Nigeria. The study was conducted using data collected from
telecommunication SMEs operating in Maiduguri and Yola using a structured questionnaire.
In the absence of officially registered telecommunication SMEs in the study area, the
convenient sampling technique was used in identifying 418 telecommunication SMEs. Simple
random sampling method was used to select the SMEs that participated in the study. The
data collected were analysed using SPSS 24 and Smart-PLS 3.0. The results revealed that
entrepreneurial awareness, market orientation and access to finance are significantly
related to SMEs performance, while there is an insignificant relationship between viable
business plan and SMEs performance. Similarly, there is a significant moderating effect of
entrepreneurial awareness on the relationship between viable business plan and SMEs
performance. Surprisingly, entrepreneurial awareness did not moderate the relationship
between market orientation, access to finance and SMEs performance. It is therefore
recommended that telecommunication SMEs should pay more attention to the access to
finance, market orientation and viable business
