The study has two main aims, first, the development and validation of a survey questionnaire in the field of small business support; second the determination of Gauteng small business operators' perceptions about their small business support.

The importance of studying small businesses and small business support systems is realised through the background and literature of this study which suggests an enormous contribution of the small business industry towards the South African Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and towards the eradication of unemployment.

The following research methodologies were used in achieving the above objectives: An exploratory descriptive survey was used. The purpose of the exploration was to gain new insight into the relatively unknown research area of instrument development in the areas of small business support. A probability sampling method, that is a systematic random sampling, was used in the selection of 60 participants who are small business operators. Sampling was done from a population frame presented in a directory of small businesses registered with the Gauteng Chamber of Businesses.

Data collection was done through face-to-face interviews using the developed survey instrument. The developed instrument was intended to collect the following type of data: demographic data, data on small business activities and Likert scale data on small business support.

The validation of the questionnaire items presented in the Likert scale format was done using factor analysis, a statistical procedure for synthesising large amounts of data. The results of the factor analysis scale revealed that finance and accessibility of information are the most important factors of small business support systems. Questionnaire validation through the use of factor analysis acknowledged the limitation of using a small sample, which renders factor analysis results not fully reliable.

The determination of small business operators' perceptions on the importance of different support systems was done using Thurstone's Law of Comparative Judgement. The results of the Thurstone comparison are that access to information, training and skills development, are the most important support systems listed by the respondents.

Findings on the majority of respondents about business activities are:
· they sell their products in the local markets, were started before 1983, started their businesses with the intention of becoming their own bosses.
· they operate within the inner cities and employ 1 to 49 employees.
· they have not been trained on how to operate a small business but also do not think that training would enhance their managerial performance.
The main substantive findings of perceptions by the majority of operators about small business support are that:
· they favour in-service/on hands training and business partnerships.
· believe that finance is the biggest problem facing small businesses.
· view most financial institutions as unsympathetic towards their needs.
· consider independence as one of the most important activities within businesses.
· view product marketing as beneficial, but consider advertising media costly.

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