Fashion entrepreneurs with no formal fashion-related education or training are hereafter referred to by the acronym FEWFFET (fashion entrepreneurs without formal fashion-related education or training). Entrepreneurship provides a feasible means of employment in a country where national unemployment rates are alarmingly high. To succeed, entrepreneurs require business knowledge and skill to operate profitable and sustainable businesses. However, entrepreneurs who were previously disadvantaged often possess only low levels of education, limited qualifications and training. This applies to survivalist fashion entrepreneurs in the Sedibeng District Municipality (SDM) who produce various items of apparel and clothing. Over a third of these entrepreneurs are not formally educated in business management and may not possess the adequate knowledge to operate their fashion business successfully. The research aim was to investigate the uses and challenges pertaining to business skills amongst FEWFFET to determine their business skills training needs. The sample population included 105 black fashion entrepreneurs, operating micro, survivalist enterprises within peri-urban, resource-poor communities in the Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) of Sedibeng, Gauteng. A quantitative study using non-probability purposive sampling and snowball sampling was performed. Interviewer-administered questionnaires were conducted with respondents at fabric and haberdashery stores or within their home-business environments. The results indicated that respondents lacked business plan development skills and showed only moderate skills in finance and marketing. Respondents indicated business skills training needs for developing a business plan, conducting basic bookkeeping, determining correct product pricing, drafting quotations and invoices, developing a budget, conducting basic market research and advertising their products and services / National Research Foundation (NRF)

The micro-enterprise (MCE) represents by far the largest category of businesses in most industrialised economies but until now it has not been recognised as an important participant in the foreign market. Much has been written about how larger firms internationalise through the gradual acquisition of knowledge and resources, although there is a paucity of literature on how the MCE exploits international markets often despite the absence of such acquisitions. This thesis proposes that building a portfolio of relationships is critical in facilitating both market entry and subsequent outcomes. A more detailed investigation of this process helps reveal precisely how MCE internationalisation is largely a function of its specific relationship building efforts.Employing a multiple case study approach, in-depth interviews were held with founders and directors from seven MCE's, purposely selected from three main centres of commercial activity in New Zealand. Interview participants were encouraged to provide detailed longitudinal retrospections of their firm's internationalisation journey, with a particular emphasis on precisely how resource constraints were overcome during this process. All interviews were recorded and transcribed, and together with other confirmatory data sources, these formed the canon of evidence used for ongoing analysis and interpretation. The whole research process was an iterative one with observations made from earlier cases being challenged and refined through the consideration of data from subsequent cases.Several key findings emerged from this study. Firstly, internationalisation is of considerable significance to the MCE in that it expands product and market opportunities, improves operational competencies, and provides an outlet for the achievement of both financial and relational goals. Secondly, key relationships developed during this process include internal, manufacturer/supplier, distributor, support, EPO, and end-user types. Thirdly, MCE's gravitate towards adopting either a social exchange (characterised by trust, commitment and social norms) or transaction cost analysis (characterised by contractual mechanisms) approach to developing these relationship types. Critical to this finding though and previously unobserved in the literature, is that within the context of a social exchange or transaction cost analysis approach, governance (bilateral or unilateral/market) may be observed as a separate construct. Finally, the MCE adopting a social exchange approach overall achieves more robust international outcomes particularly in respect to increased cost efficiencies and new market opportunities.Although no statistical inferences can be drawn from the findings of this study, some important generalisations to theory can be made in respect to the manner in which small firm internationalisation is currently modelled. It is suggested that this research has begun to address the issue by proposing that the quality of relationships is central to the success of the smallest of internationalising concerns. Specifically, sequential knowledge, network, and resource based views, need to better incorporate the moderating role that the relational paradigm has on international progress. To this end it has been demonstrated that the precise underpinnings of the relationship can have a determining effect on both the rate and cost of international progress. Furthermore, managers may also benefit from these findings by improving both their relationship filtering and nurturing processes.

As Taiwan government has been actively expanding the liberalization of trade tariffs (as recently the ECFA or FTA), the SMEs ( Small and Medium Enterprises ) in Taiwan are facing pressure from global competitions , and the financial turmoil in recent years that caused the economic depression had deepen the difficulty of new small business operation , so the government has to actively help these micro-enterprises to transform to survive . Also the researcher of this paper had a Cafeteria running experience, but while management was poor, then he decided to close his business, and in order to understand the business management knowhow for improvement, then this case will be treated as not only his own research themes, but also the industry success and failure stories to comparison, hoping to find in the food service industry key success factors. In the research process, this thesis project adopted practical case study to deploy the whole structure, and the research used qualitative and quantitative methods in study. At the same time it introduced document analysis, interviews and questionnaires in data collection to the design process and analysis. In which not only the study of Leidecker & Bruno (1984) and other scholars was embedded , but also the resource base view and the concept of knowledge management had been applied as critical success factors of the main dimensions, and still the methods by scholars Hofer and Schendel (1985) of identifying the critical success factors forming an expert questionnaire survey to determine the strength of the critical success factors in the industry, By removing some factors which experts partially disagree, then we developed a depth interview questionnaire from which we obtained conclusions by comparative study of two operating businesses. That is how we can find the critical success factors in the industry that an entrepreneur must pay attention to. By the results of the study, we found the importance of these key factors developed from the five main dimensions are quite the same . Somehow observing from the weight dimension, we found that personality is that most experts believe the key to food and beverage service success factors, however, the nature of industry and the organizations type also play an important role. While for the object of study, the owners of the two venture firms selling coffee and gelato have similar personality traits, and enough innovation power, but the considerable difference was in expertise and professional technical team, and operating standards and the allocation of resources, ability to control the operation .By the way the operation mode and the store location or if products meet local demands are also the reasons why the two restaurants can keep running and sustained profitability or not.

Cette thèse étudie le développement des micro entreprises au Vietnam. Nous cherchons d'abord à savoir quels sont les facteurs qui affectent l'offre de travail indépendant sur le marché du travail. En utilisant l'enquête sur le niveau de vie des ménages en 2004 (VHLSS04), enquête dans laquelle les informations sur l'emploi des individus et sur les entreprises familiales sont collectées, nous trouvons qu'un certain nombre de déterminants permettent de décrire le profil des travailleurs indépendants au Vietnam, parmi lesquels la différence de revenu attendu, le niveau d'éducation, l'âge et le secteur d'activité. Dans un deuxième temps, nous tentons d'identifier les déterminants de la performance des micro et petites entreprises. Nos résultats montrent que la hauteur de l'impact de différents caractéristiques des entreprises varie nettement en fonction de leur performance. Parmi ces facteurs, la taille, l'âge et l'emplacement de l'entreprise affectent significativement cette performance. Le troisième chapitre propose une recherche sur l'hétérogénéité des entreprise face à différentes barrières à la croissance. Les données indiquent que le degré de contrainte que les entreprises rencontrent dépend de leurs caractéristiques et de la nature de la barrière. La taille, l'âge, l'emplacement et la branche économique comptent beaucoup dans la détermination du niveau de contrainte. / This thesis investigates the development of micro enterprises in Vietnam. We seek to know what factors affect the self-employment supply on the labour market. Using data from the survey on household living standards in 2004 (VHLSS04) in which information on employment of individual and household businesses are collected, we find a certain number of determinants explaining the pattern of self-employed in Vietnam: earnings differentials, educational level, age and business sector. In the second chapter, we seek to identify the determinants of micro and small firm performance. Our results show that impact of different factors on firm performance varies significantly across its growth state. Among them, size, age and firm location matters a lot to firm growth. The third chapter aims at analyzing the heterogeneity of firms across different barriers to growth. Our empirical evidence reveals that the level of constraint met by firms depends on the firm characteristics and the nature of barrier to growth. Size, age, location and industrial sector constitute important determinants of constraint level.

Magister Artium - MA / The micro-enterprise sector, although associated with mostly informal businesses, shows promise of potential and transitioning to more formal businesses. With this in mind, the South African government recognizes that prioritized sectorial development is needed to stimulate growth particularly in the micro-enterprise sector. Considering that evidence reveals growth and development in small business practices being closely related to the use of different forms of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), if and when strategically applied. Therefore recognizing the importance of ICTs the South African government has embarked on various technology related initiatives to facilitate needed growth and development. Despite this, entrepreneurs in the micro-enterprise sector demonstrate a low uptake of ICTs for their business operations, including the use of mobile technologies which are the most common form of ICTs available to micro- entrepreneurs. Many previous studies have investigated the adoption and use of mobile technologies in the microenterprise sector, but despite this a low uptake of mobile technologies still exists. For this reason, this study investigates and empirically determines the factors influencing the adoption and use of mobile applications for micro-enterprise operations in South Africa, using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model as a lens. The research population comprised a group of micro-entrepreneurs who all are users of a common mobile application (mentorship-movement application). The main aim of the investigation was to determine (i) the factors influencing the adoption and use of mobile applications for micro- enterprise operation, (ii) if the experience gained and their satisfaction associated with using the mentorship-movement application will influence their behavioural intention to use other mobile applications for business. The study was conducted objectively and used hypothesis testing as the means of investigation. Data was collected through the use of a survey questionnaire. The findings of the study indicate that ii | P a g e performance expectancy and effort expectancy positively influences the micro-entrepreneurs behavioural intention to adopt and use mobile applications for micro-enterprise operations. The findings also observed that social influence has no impact on the micro- entrepreneurs’ behavioural intention to adopt and use mobile applications for business. Facilitating conditions and behavioural intention were found to positively influence the use behaviour of the micro-entrepreneurs when it comes to adoption and use of mobile applications for business. Moreover, the findings confirmed that experience and satisfaction in using one mobile application does not influence the behavioural intention of the micro-entrepreneurs to use other mobile applications for business. The factors which have been found to bear influence on the adoption and use of mobile applications amongst micro-entrepreneurs in South Africa have implications for both policy and practice. In particular, the findings of this study may be used to inform the design of the various programmatic interventions which seek to improve outcomes of the micro-entrepreneur sector. This includes interventions by the Department of Small Business Development and that of the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA).

Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / The micro-enterprise sector, although associated with mostly informal businesses, shows promise of potential and transitioning to more formal businesses. With this in mind, the South African government recognizes that prioritized sectorial development is needed to stimulate growth particularly in the micro-enterprise sector. Considering that evidence reveals growth and development in small business practices being closely related to the use of different forms of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), if and when strategically applied. Therefore recognizing the importance of ICTs the South African government has embarked on various technology related initiatives to facilitate needed growth and development. Despite this, entrepreneurs in the micro-enterprise sector demonstrate a low uptake of ICTs for their business operations, including the use of mobile technologies which are the most common form of ICTs available to micro- entrepreneurs. Many previous studies have investigated the adoption and use of mobile technologies in the micro- enterprise sector, but despite this a low uptake of mobile technologies still exists. For this reason, this study investigates and empirically determines the factors influencing the adoption and use of mobile applications for micro-enterprise operations in South Africa, using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model as a lens. The research population comprised a group of micro-entrepreneurs who all are users of a common mobile application (mentorship-movement application). The main aim of the investigation was to determine (i) the factors influencing the adoption and use of mobile applications for micro- enterprise operation, (ii) if the experience gained and their satisfaction associated with using the mentorship-movement application will influence their behavioural intention to use other mobile applications for business. The study was conducted objectively and used hypothesis testing as the means of investigation. Data was collected through the use of a survey questionnaire. The findings of the study indicate that performance expectancy and effort expectancy positively influences the micro-entrepreneurs behavioural intention to adopt and use mobile applications for micro-enterprise operations. The findings also observed that social influence has no impact on the micro-entrepreneurs’ behavioural intention to adopt and use mobile applications for business. Facilitating conditions and behavioural intention were found to positively influence the use behaviour of the micro-entrepreneurs when it comes to adoption and use of mobile applications for business. Moreover, the findings confirmed that experience and satisfaction in using one mobile application does not influence the behavioural intention of the micro-entrepreneurs to use other mobile applications for business. The factors which have been found to bear influence on the adoption and use of mobile applications amongst micro-entrepreneurs in South Africa have implications for both policy and practice. In particular, the findings of this study may be used to inform the design of the various programmatic interventions which seek to improve outcomes of the micro-entrepreneur sector. This includes interventions by the Department of Small Business Development and that of the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA).

Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS) / This research describes the current situation of small and micro enterprises (SME) in Western Namibia, its problems and constraints, but also its potential for growth and its capacity for absorption of the unemployed particularly in the informal sector. The thesis addresses a set of problems, especially regarding research in the region, impact of apartheid rule on SMEs as well as lack of business acumen on micro level and the new government SME support strategy which is ignoring traditional differences in business practices on macro level.

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) introduced tax incentives for the small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) in 2001. These incentives were introduced to assist small business in stimulating economic activity, creating jobs and alleviating poverty. This policy decision is not unique to South Africa. Many other countries offer incentives to small businesses for a variety of reasons, which may differ from country to country. However, it is generally understood that small businesses often face challenges which require the State to intervene in the form of tax incentives. South Africa operates on a global economic platform. It is imperative that its efforts are comparable against those of its counterparts so that it can assess its situation and be able to channel resources in the right direction. This study uses a qualitative systematic literature review to compare the tax incentives offered to SMMEs in South Africa and Australia .Australia has been chosen because it is a developed country and also because it has a mature and simplified legislation. The findings of this study show that South Africa has provided good incentives, particularly in the area of attracting small businesses into the tax base but once these small businesses are in the base, there is nothing to ensure that they grow. On the other hand, Australia has not done much to bring small businesses into the tax base, but it provides good incentives, sufficient to enable business growth for those already in the system. One of the challenges faced by many small businesses is cash flow resources. This study has found that Australia’s tax incentives empower small businesses in the area of cash flow, as compared with the situation in South Africa. Future research studies should investigate the extent to which the respective small businesses are aware of the tax incentives available to them. That is, it must be established how far each country has gone in ensuring that small businesses are familiar with all the incentives at their disposal. / Die Suid-Afrikaanse Inkomstediens (SAID) het belastingaansporings skemas vir die klein, medium en makro-ondernemings (KMMOs) in 2001 ingestel. Hierdie aansporings is ingestel om die klein besighede te help om ekonomiese aktiwiteite te stimuleer, werk te skep, asook om armoede te verlig. Hierdie beleidsbesluit is nie uniek aan Suid-Afrika nie. Menige ander lande bied aansporings aan die klein ondernemings vir ‘n verskeidenheid van redes. Alhoewel hierdie redes kan verskil van land tot land, word dit algemeen verstaan dat klein ondernemings dikwels uitdagings ervaar wat vereis dat die staat ingryp in die vorm van belasting-aansporings. Suid-Afrika werk in ‘n wêreldwye ekonomiese platform. Dit is noodsaaklik dat Suid-Afrika se pogings met die van sy eweknieë vergelyk word om sodoende die huidige situasie te evalueer en in staat te wees om hulpbronne in die regte areas beskikbaar te stel. Hierdie studie maak gebruik van ‘n kwalitatiewe sistematiese literatuur oorsig om die belastingaansporings in beide Suid-Afrika en Australië vir KMMO’s te vergelyk. Australië is gekies weens die feit dat dit ‘n ontwikkelde land is en ook omdat dit oor goed ontwikkelde en eenvoudige wetgewing beskik. Die bevindinge van hierdie studie toon dat Suid-Afrika goeie belastingaansporings het, veral op die gebied om die klein ondernemings in die belastingbasis in te trek, maar wanneer hierdie klein ondernemings in die basis is, is daar niks in plek om te verseker dat hulle verder groei nie. Aan die ander kant, het Australië nie veel gedoen om klein besighede in die belastingbasis belastingbasis in te bring nie, maar Australië bied goeie voordele wat tot besigheidsgroei lei vir diegene wat reeds in die belastingsbasis ingeskakel is. Een van die uitdagings van baie klein besighede is kontantvloeibronne. Hierdie studie het bevind dat, Australië se belastingaansporings, die klein ondernemings se kontantvloei bevorder in teenstelling met die posisie in Suid-Afrika. Toekomstige Toekomstige navorsingstudies moet die mate waartoe die onderskeie klein ondernemings bewus is van die belastingaansporingsskemas wat beskikbaar is, ondersoek. Dit wil sê, daar moet vasgestel word hoe ver elke land gegaan het om te verseker dat kleinondernemings vertroud is met al die moontlikhede tot hulle beskikking. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Taxation / Unrestricted

Women entrepreneurs play increasingly important roles in job creation and sustainable economic growth in developing economies, including sub-Saharan Africa. While Nigeria has made progress in closing gender gaps in women’s employment rights, financial inclusion and access to resources remain challenges for many women who seek to start and grow businesses. Barriers to venture creation are particularly problematic for women entrepreneurs living in rural Nigeria. Yet, few studies have examined women entrepreneurs’ access to capital in the context of rural Nigeria, including the perceived value of informal lenders and government support programs. This thesis informs the literature by reporting on women entrepreneurs who own and operate retail micro-enterprises in rural, South-West Nigeria, specifically Atakunmosa West, Osun State. The study findings demonstrate the value and limitations of informal lenders, such as Ajo and Esusu, in bridging institutional voids in banking practices and technology-enabled money services. Drawing on the social feminist and resource-based theory, the study advances a conceptual model of the gendered context of financial inclusion and considers the implications for research and policy.

Det finns oändligt med beslut som företag och dess ledning ställs inför varje dag. För att företagen ska lyckas väl och nå sin högsta lönsamhet är det viktigt att bra beslut fattas. För att göra det kan redovisningen och dess information få en viktig roll vid beslutsfattandet. Det finns ett teoretiskt tänk vilken roll redovisningsinformationen bör ha, dock är frågan hur det fungerar i praktiken. Är redovisningsinformationen av användning för ägarna och ledning vid beslutsfattande? Ovanstående fick vårt intresse och viljan att se hur redovisningen används i praktiken och undersöka hur användbar redovisningen uppfattas vara vid beslutsfattande. Tidigare forskning visade på att det fanns ett problem i SMF-företag, där ägare och ledning inte får redovisningen användbar vid beslutsfattanden och därmed blev vårt fokus i studien utifrån de företagen. Vi undersökte om faktorer som utbildning kan ha en påverkan på hur ägarna och ledning använder sig av redovisningsinformationen. Vår studie tillämpar en kvalitativ metod och genomfördes genom sex intervjuer med respondenter från olika företag. Från vårt empiriska material kunde vi se att redovisningsinformationen upplevs vara användbart för ägarna och företagsledningen vid beslutsfattande, dock fattas inte besluten enbart från den rationalitet som teorier kan antyda att det borde göras. Ägarna och företagsledningen försöker använda redovisningen som fakta vid sina beslutsfattanden men vid vissa tillfällen faller besluten mer på intuition. Vi kunde även se att ägarna och företagsledningen främst använde sig av extern redovisning samt att faktorer som utbildning kan ha en positiv inverkan på användandet av redovisningsinformationen hos ägaren och ledningen. / There are countless decisions that companies and their managers face every day. For the companies to succeed and reach maximum profitability, making good decisions is essential. To do that, accounting information can have an essential role in the decision-making. There is a theoretical idea of what role accounting information should have, but the question is how well it works in practice. Is the accounting information of use in the decision-making process? The following made us interested in seeing how accounting is used in practice and investigate how useful accounting information is perceived in the decision-making process. Earlier studies identified that a problem in SME companies was that owners and managers do not find the accounting information useful while making decisions. Therefore, our study focuses on if factors such as education influence owners and managers use of accounting information. The study applied a qualitative method and was implemented by six interviews with respondents from different companies. From our empirical material, the accounting information was found to be useful in the decision-making process. However, the decision made, cannot be described as rational as theories suggest it should be. Most owners and managers try to use accounting as facts in their decision but on some occasions, the decision is based more on intuition. We could also draw the conclusion that the accounting used most was external accounting and that factors such as education can have a positive effect on the owners and managers use of accounting information.