Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p>The financial health of minimarts is increasingly imperilled by working capital management inefficiencies, yet comprehensive empirical evidence addressing this nexus within Tanzania's retail subsector remains sparse. This study examined the influence of inventory management, cash management, and accounts payable management on the financial health of Tanzanian minimarts, operationalised principally through sales growth and composite financial ratios. Adopting a descriptive quantitative research design, the study employed stratified random sampling to select four hundred minimarts from a licensed population of two thousand. Structured questionnaires and secondary financial records spanning five years provided the primary and secondary data respectively. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the three working capital management constructs jointly explained forty percent of the variation in financial health. Inventory management and cash management emerged as statistically significant predictors, whilst accounts payable management demonstrated a positive but less definitive association with financial performance. Correlation analysis confirmed that all three constructs were positively and significantly interrelated, underscoring the value of integrated working capital management approaches. The findings carry practical implications for minimart proprietors, policymakers, and financial institutions seeking to strengthen the operational resilience and sustainability of small retail enterprises in Tanzania and comparable developing economy contexts.</p>