Abstract
Small business entreprises and entrepreneurs face numerous challenges that include lack of managerial skills, financial challenges, lack of credit, lack of access to markets, usable technology, low production, lack of interest by employees, and inadequate institutional support. The paper presents various literary perspectives on small business incubation in South Africa, the state of innovation-oriented business environment and the significance of small business incubators for developing and promoting SMEs and entrepreneurship in South Africa. Business incubators provide a good platform for the convergence mechanisms for supporting knowledge-based enterprises, both before and after their incubation. Overall, it is worth noting that business incubators do not replace entrepreneurial initiatives, but create better conditions for entrepreneurship. Furthermore, the increasing number of business incubators in South Africa shows that the right kind of business environment is increasingly being acknowledged as an important factor contributing to the success of SMEs, entrepreneurship and the local economy. Conclusions and future studies are proposed. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n23p264
Highlights
Small businesses face numerous challenges that include lack of managerial skills, financial challenges, lack of credit, lack of access to markets, usable technology, low production, lack of interest by employees, and inadequate institutional support (Kongolo, 2010)
This paper explores literature on small business incubation in South Africa, the state of innovation-oriented business environment and the significance of small business incubators for developing and promoting small to medium enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurship in South Africa
South Africa only came on board in 1995 when the first form of a business incubator was developed by the Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC) to facilitate small business development in townships and contribute to SMEs sector growth (Buys & Mbewana, 2007)
Summary
Small businesses face numerous challenges that include lack of managerial skills, financial challenges, lack of credit, lack of access to markets, usable technology, low production, lack of interest by employees, and inadequate institutional support (Kongolo, 2010). SMEs function as the source of new enterprises, new innovative products, dynamic applications and flexible business forms (Tambunan, 2011) In the process, they help meet the socio-economic needs; and form the zoning plans for the distribution of employment and income within the economy (Hackett & Dilts, 2004) thereby increase the citizenry spending power and propping economic growth (Dubihlela & Dhurup, 2013). South Africa’s SMEs are acknowledged as having a significant role to play in achieving a variety of objectives such as poverty alleviation, employment creation, increased incomes, economic growth, and economic empowerment (Ghobakhloo, Arias-aranda & Benitez-amado, 2011) For this purpose, this paper explores literature on small business incubation in South Africa, the state of innovation-oriented business environment and the significance of small business incubators for developing and promoting SMEs and entrepreneurship in South Africa. Many of the existing initiatives are non-commercial and aimed at rendering a service to industry
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
