Measuring the effectiveness of the women entrepreneurship programme on potential, start-up and established women entrepreneurs in South Africa

Abstract

The Women Entrepreneurship Programme (WEP) was developed after a need had been identified for such a training intervention. The WEP provides entrepreneurial and business management training to women entrepreneurs. This empirical paper measures the effectiveness of the WEP after the respondents had been through the training intervention. The sample consists of 180 women entrepreneurs, where 116 respondents form the experimental group and 64 respondents the control group. Factor analysis is presented and several statistical tests executed to present the statistically significant differences between the two groups in the sample. The findings highlight the WEP delegates' acquisition of new entrepreneurial skills and knowledge. Furthermore, the respondents reported an increase in the number of employees, turnover, productivity and profit. It was statistically proven that the WEP is effective in training potential, start-up and established women entrepreneurs in South Africa. JEL J16, M13

Women entrepreneurship in South Africa: Understanding the role of competencies in business success

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“…Opportunity entrepreneurs are those who discover or identify an opportunity or gap in the marketplace and embark on the entrepreneurial journey to fill that gap (Botha, Nieman & Van Vuuren 2007). By contrast, necessity entrepreneurs embark on the journey out of a need to survive because of a lack of employment, have reached the peak of their careers (glass ceiling) or lack the necessary qualifications to work for other firms.…”

The Macroeconomic Landscape of Post-Apartheid South Africa: A Critical Review of the Effect of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) Program on the Success of Female SMEs Operators

“…Small businesses contribute approximately 57% to the South African GDP, and are responsible for approximately 61% of South African employment, showing that SMMEs have only grown in importance over the years (Abor and Quartey 2010). Women-owned businesses have been on the rise also, thereby stimulating a surge of scholarly interests in women entrepreneurship in South Africa (Botha 2006;Irene 2016). …”

A Cross-cultural Assessment of the Competency Needs of Women Operating in the Context of SMMEs in South Africa

“…Generally, researchers have identified numerous difficulties that plague SMEs and hinder their performance. Smaller firms and female operated firms have an even higher failure rate (Botha, 2006) and are likely to be more affected by environmental changes than larger firms (Man and Lau 2005). According to Stokes (2006, p. 325 This raises an important question, "how do these SMEs' best cope in an uncertain and dynamic environment?"…”

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