PERCEIVED BARRIERS AND SUCCESS FACTORS OF FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS ENROLLED IN AN ENTREPRENEURIAL PROGRAMME

Abstract

The promotion of entrepreneurship and small business development as possible solutions to job creation is a high priority for the government of South Africa as it plays a vital role in economic prosperity. Specifically, the focus is on empowering women to become entrepreneurial. Entrepreneurship training is important during all levels of education, including at the tertiary level, but also to people who may not be enrolled in a university. The purpose of this study is to provide an analysis of topics pertaining to fourteen female entrepreneurs enrolled in an adult entrepreneurship programme presented by a South African University. The research methodology included a self-administered questionnaire developed by the authors and compiled from an extensive literature review. Analysis was done to identify the success factors deemed important by the respondents as well as perceived barriers to business success. The study revealed inadequate funding and finance and the inability to clarify business goals as the main barriers restricting the success of the business. In addition, customer care, quality of products or services and business skills were considered most favourable success factors. The results provide valuable insight into areas of concern as well as recommendations for further research and development in the field of female entrepreneurial growth and policy development

Keywords

• Female entrepreneurship, success factors, barriers, training and education programmes, South Africa

References

1. Abundant Entrepreneur. 2016. 5 Facts about women entrepreneurs that will surprise you. http://abundantentrepreneur.com/5-facts-about-women- entrepreneurs-that-will-surprise-you/, [Accessed: 24.8.2016].
2. Acs, Z.J., Desai, S. & Hessels, J. 2008. Entrepreneurship, economic development and institutions. Small Business Economics, Vol. 31, pp. 219-234.
3. Ahl, H., Berglund, K., Pettersson, K. & Tillmar, M. 2016. From feminism to
4. FemInc.ism: On the uneasy relationship between feminism, entrepreneurship and the Nordic welfare state. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Vol. 12, pp. 369-392. Aidis, R.A., Welter, F., Smallbone, D. & Isakova, N. 2007. Female entrepreneurship in transition economies: The case of Lithuania and Ukraine.
5. Feminist Economics, Vol. 13, pp. 157-183. Akhter, R. & Sumi, F.R. 2014. Socio-cultural factors influencing entrepreneurial activities: A study on Bangladesh. Journal of Business and Management, Vol. 16, pp. 1-10.
6. Alecchi, B.E.A & Radović-Marković, M. 2013. Women and entrepreneurship:
7. Female durability, persistence and intuition at work. Surrey: Gower Book, Routledge. Arokiasamy, A.R.A. 2011. The role of higher education in promoting entrepreneurship in Malaysia. Asian Journal of Management Research, Vol. 2, pp. 532.
8. Avnimelech, G., Zeleka, Y. & Sharabi, E. 2014. The effect of corruption on entrepreneurship in developed vs non-developed countries. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, Vol. 20, pp. 237-262.

9. Ball, S. 2005. The importance of entrepreneurship to hospitality, leisure, sport and tourism.https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stephen_Ball8/publication/
10. _The_Importance_of_Entrepreneurship_to_Hospitality_Leisure_Sport _and_Tourism/links/5672f41b08aedbbb3f9f7622.pdf [Accessed: 2.9.2016].
11. Bird, B. & Brush, C.G. 2002. A gender perspective on organizational creation.
12. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Spring Issue, pp. 41-65. Botha, M. 2006. Measuring the effectiveness of the women entrepreneurship programme, as a training intervention, on potential, start-up and established women entrepreneurs in South Africa. (PhD Thesis). Pretoria: University of Pretoria.
13. Botha, M., Nieman, G. & Van Vuuren, J. 2007. Measuring the effectiveness of the women entrepreneurship programme on potential, start-up and established women entrepreneurs in South Africa. South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences, Vol 10, pp. 163-183.
14. Brush, C.G. & Cooper, S.Y. 2012. Female entrepreneurship and economic development: An international perspective. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Vol. 24, pp. 1-6.
15. Carter, N.M., Henry, C., Ó Cinnéide, B. & Johnston, K. 2006. Female entrepreneurship: Implications for education, training and policy. London: Routledge.
16. Chimucheka, T. 2014. Entrepreneurship education in South Africa.
17. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, Vol. 5, pp. 403-416. Collins, H. 2010. Creative research: The theory and practice of research for the creative industries. London: AVA Publications.
18. Estrin, S. & Mickiewicz, T. 2011. Institutions and female entrepreneurship. Small business economics, Vol. 37, pp. 397-415.
19. Fleishman, A. 25 Jan. 2012. Significant p-values in small samples. Blog: small-samples/, [Accessed: 18.8.2016]. Go4Funding. 2016. Some entrepreneurs.
20. About-Women-Entrepreneurs.aspx, [Accessed: 24.8.2016]. http://www.go4funding.com/Articles/Entrepreneur/Some-Facts- about women
21. Goldman Sachs. 2016. 10 000 Women’s project. http://www.goldmansachs com/citizenship/10000women/#, [Accessed: 24.8.2016].
22. Grant, R. 2013. Gendered spaces of informal entrepreneurship in Soweto, South
23. Africa. Urban Geography, Vol 34, pp. 86-108. Gwinner, C. 2006. Infosurv White Paper. 5-point vs. 6-point Likert Scales. Atlanta: Infosurv.
24. Hatala, J. 2005. Identifying barriers to self-employment: The development and validation of the Barriers to Entrepreneurship Success Tool. Performance
25. Improvement Quarterly, Vol. 18, pp. 50-70. Herrington, M. & Kew, J. 2013. GEM 2013 South African report: Twenty years of democracy. University of Cape Town, Cape Town South Africa.
26. Herrington, M. & Kew, J. 2016. Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. South African report 2015/16. Is South Africa heading for an economic meltdown? University of
27. Cape Town, Cape Town South Africa. Herrington, M., Kew, J. & Kew, P. 2010. Global Entrepreneurship Monitor.
28. University of Cape Town, Cape Town South Africa. Herrington, M., Kew, J. & Kew, P. 2015. 2014 GEM South Africa Report: South
29. Africa: The crossroads – a goldmine or a time bomb? University of Cape Town, Cape Town South Africa. Huarng, K., Mas-Tur, A. & Yu, T.H. 2012. Factors affecting the success of women entrepreneurs. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Vol. 8, pp. 487-497.
30. Iacobucci, D. & Micozzi, A. 2012. Entrepreneurship education in Italian universities: Trend, situation and opportunities. Education & Training, Vol. 54, pp. 673-696.
31. Iakovleva, T., Solesvik, M. & Trifilova, A. 2013. Financial availability and government support for women entrepreneurs in transitional economies: The case of Russia and Ukraine. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol. 20, pp. 314-340.
32. Isaacs, E., Visser, K., Friedrich, C. & Brijlal, P. 2007. Entrepreneurship education and training at Further Education and Training (FET) level in South Africa. South
33. African Journal of Education, Vol. 27, pp. 613-629. Johnson, S.L., Freeman, M.A. & Staudenmaier, P.J. 2015. Manic tendencies are not related to being an entrepreneur, intending to become an entrepreneur, or succeeding as an entrepreneur. Journal of Affective Disorders, Vol. 173, pp. 154
34. Kamberidou, I. 2013. Women entrepreneurs: We cannot have change unless we have men in the room. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Vol. 2, pp. 1
35. Kaushik, S. 2013. Challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in India.
36. International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research, Vol. 2, pp. 8. Kelley, D., Brush, C., Greene, P., Herrington, M., Ali, A. & Kew, P. 2015.
37. Special report: Women’s entrepreneurship. Massachusetts: Babson College. Kelley, D., Singer, S. & Herrington, M. 2016. 2015/16 Global report.
38. Massachusetts: Babson College. Khosla, A. 2015. Women entrepreneurship issues and challenges. Global Journal for Research Analysis, Vol. 4, pp. 17-18.
39. Lekhanya, L.M. & Mason, R.B. 2014. Selected key external factors influencing the success of rural small and medium enterprises in South Africa. Journal of
40. Enterprising Culture, Vol. 22, pp. 331-348. Majocchi, A., Bacchiocchi, E. & Mayrhofer, U. 2005. Firm size, business experience and export intensity in SMEs: A longitudinal approach to complex relationships. International Business Review, Vol. 14, pp. 719–738.
41. Martins, S. 2004. Barriers to entrepreneurship and business creation. European
42. Entrepreneurship Cooperation, pp. 1-49. McClelland, E., Swail, J, Bell, J. & Ibbotson, P. 2005. Following the pathway of female entrepreneurs: A six-country investigation. International Journal of
43. Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, Vol 11, pp. 84-107. Meyer, N., Meyer, D.F. & Molefe, K. 2016. Barriers to small informal business development and entrepreneurship: The case of the Emfuleni Region. Polish
44. Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 13, Nr. 1, pp. 121-133. Mitchelmore, S. & Rowley, J. 2013. Entrepreneurial competencies of women entrepreneurs pursuing business growth. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol. 20, pp. 125-142.
45. Nicolaides, A. 2011. Entrepreneurship: The role in higher education in South
46. Africa. Educational Research, Vol. 2, pp. 1043-1050.
47. Rahmatullah, M. & Zaman, F. 2014. Female entrepreneurship in Bangladesh:
48. Constraints, motivation and success. Bangladesh e-Journal of Sociology, Vol. 11, pp.65-77. Remenyi, D., Williams, B., Money, A. & Swartz, E. 1998. Doing research in business and management: An introduction to process and method, London: Sage.
49. Satell, G. 2013. 4 ways in which technology is transforming business, technology-is-transforming-business/#768d7c371514, [Accessed: 29.8.2016].
50. Schindehutte, M, Morris, M. & Brennan, C. 2003. Entrepreneurs and motherhood:
51. Impacts on their children in South Africa and the United States. Journal of Small Business Management, Vol 41, pp. 94-107. Swanepoel, E., Strydom, J.W. & Nieuwenhuizen, C. 2010. An empirical analysis of a private company’s corporate social investment in SMME development in
52. South Africa. Southern Africa Business Review, Vol. 14, pp. 58-78. Toma, S., Grigorea, A. & Marinescua, P. 2014. Economic development and entrepreneurship. Procedia Economics and Finance, Vol. 8, pp. 436-443.
53. Valla, S. 2001. Barriers facing female entrepreneurs: A study in the Gauteng
54. Province. South Africa. (PhD Thesis). Johannesburg: University of Johannesburg. Von Broembsen, M., Wood, E. & Herrington, M. 2005. Global Entrepreneurship
55. Monitor. South African Report 2005. University of Cape Town Centre for
56. Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Cape Town, South Africa. West, D.M. 2012. How mobile technology is driving global entrepreneurship. 9.2016]. http://www.brookings.edu/governance.aspx Accessed:
57. Zapalska, A.M., Brozik, D. & Zieser, N. 2015. Factors affecting success of small business enterprises in the Polish tourism industry. Original Scientific Papers, Vol. 63, pp. 365-381.