Barriers to entrepreneurship: assessing NMBM school leavers for business enterprise
- Authors: Qumza, Thabang Vuyo
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Young adults -- Employment -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Youth development -- South Africa , Entrepreneurship -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:8943 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1011804 , Young adults -- Employment -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Youth development -- South Africa , Entrepreneurship -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: In plight of the country‟s high unemployment, poverty, and income inequalities, there is an urgent need to address these issues by converging toward entrepreneurship. World-wide, it is acknowledged by both government and academia that entrepreneurship soothes and remedies socio-economic ills. It creates employment, wealth, alleviates poverty, increases tax base, balances income disparities and accomplishes social stability. With the high youth (18-34 year age) unemployment looming at 73 percent and a low South African total entrepreneurship rate at 8.9 percent; this study attempts to investigate the barriers that hinder school leavers from engaging in entrepreneurship. The research investigates critical entrepreneurial factors including entrepreneurial character and behaviour, entrepreneurial knowledge and skills, managerial knowledge and skills, knowledge on legal aspects of a business, sourcing of finances, and entrepreneurial background and orientation. The primary objective was met through the investigation of the secondary objectives. This was accomplished through a questionnaire survey, composed with multiple choice questions and closed questions measured on a Likert scale. The questionnaire was constructed based on the literature reviewed from various sources including books, dissertations, journals, government reports, newspapers, magazines, internet, television and radio broadcasts (interviews and news). The study discovers that learners are inhibited by various factors from engaging into business venturing. The list of barriers identified was: A discouraging entrepreneurial background (heritage) – parents had low levels of education and were not entrepreneurial, Weak entrepreneurial character and behaviour, Lack of entrepreneurial exposure and work experience, Learners lack financial skills and computer skills, Families lack savings to financially support their business start-ups, Limited knowledge on the legal aspects regulating a business, Limited knowledge on sourcing finances (angel and venture capital investors).
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- Date Issued: 2011
Triggers and barriers to youth entrepreneurship in the Eastern Cape South Africa
- Authors: Chindoga, Lynety
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Youth development -- South Africa , Entrepreneurship -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Young adults -- Employment -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/25948 , vital:64636
- Description: To realise the dream of the African Renaissance and a better life for all South Africans, the entrepreneurial energies of all people, including children, should be harnessed to contribute towards economic development, job creation and poverty alleviation. Entrepreneurship creates wealth and results in economic prosperity for a country. However, in South Africa, entrepreneurship still remains a dream yet to be realised. This is supported by the findings of Maas and Herrington (2006), who identified entrepreneurial activity in South Africa to be very weak as evidenced by a low Total Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) rate. Youths are not engaging in entrepreneurial activity and are making the bulk of the unemployed in South Africa. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the perceived triggers and barriers to youth entrepreneurship in South Africa. Two sets of questionnaires were self- administered to high school students and university students. The respondents which consisted of three hundred and twenty three university students and two hundred and fifty six high school students, were selected using simple random sampling method. Five point Likert scale was used to measure the responses. Descriptive as well as inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. The results indicated that youth entrepreneurial intention is low in South Africa. The results also indicated that students perceived mainly extrinsic rewards, market opportunities as well as intrinsic rewards as the three top triggers towards entrepreneurial intention. Independence/autonomy and capital were also regarded as triggers to entrepreneurial intentions. The barriers to youth entrepreneurship included lack of capital, skill and support as well as lack of market opportunities and risk. The study recommends that in order to encourage youth entrepreneurial intentions, government and all stakeholders should ensure that all the perceived triggers are made available. In addition, the barriers to youth entrepreneurship should be minimised. , Thesis (MCom) -- Faculty of Management and Commerce, 2011
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- Date Issued: 2011