Abstract

This study explored women entrepreneurs who made a change from salaried employment to ownership of small and medium businesses. The study used a convenience sample comprising 153 women started their own businesses. The study focused on; first, the factors that cause women to leave employment for business ownership; second, their personal and entrepreneurial characteristics and; last, the challenges they faced during the transition from salaried employment to business ownership. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed by hand, email and fax.

The main factors identified to have spurred women to leave employment for business ownership were a need to achieve personal growth, independence and the economic payoff. Passion for the business, listening and communication skills, and self discipline were among the most common personal skills. The prime entrepreneurial skills that were indicated include confidence, leadership, creative thinking in problem solving, being efficient and effective in executing plans, entrepreneurial and business knowledge, being analytical, balancing skills between personal and business life, and flexibility. The challenges faced by the respondents were a shortage of professional staff, shortage of general staff, issues of development and growth, financial constraints due to high overheads and a lack of consultation advice from experts.

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