The study investigates the motives that drive small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to go public through initial public offerings (IPOs) and evaluates the accomplishments of these motives over a specified period from 2013–14 to 2021–22. The study highlights the significance of understanding why SMEs choose to enter the public market and what they aim to achieve through this process. The authors employed the MNR Methodology, which is a statistical approach, alongside descriptive statistics for performance comparison. They also utilised a paired sample t-test to assess the statistical significance of findings. The examination of statistics of IPOs in the study reveals that the variations between prior and following IPO objectives such as improvement of liquidity, clearance of debt, and growth of business are not statistically significant. This implies that companies may not achieve their intended goals after going public, indicating a potential disconnect between expectations and outcomes. The findings imply that while SMEs may have specific goals when they opt for an IPO, the reality often falls short of these aspirations. This disconnect can furnish beneficial perception for stakeholders, including investors and policymakers, regarding the challenges faced by SMEs in realising their objectives after going public.