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SMEs - Does colonialism impact on entrepreneurialism
Written by: Dr. Rob SmorfittArticle Overview: Can Africa blame colonialism for it's lack of entrepreneurial success
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Free Download - SMEs – SMEs struggling in South Africa. Why? By Dr. Rob Smorfitt |
SMEs - Does colonialism impact on entrepreneurialism
This is always a hot topic. However, Africa cannot lay claim to being the only continent that was colonised by the colonial powers of the day.
In effect the USA and Canada were colonised by the English and the French respectively, the Far East was also fairly well colonised.
I have listed below the global competitiveness rankings of a number of countries who were all colonised at one time or another.
Singapore 7
Hong Kong 12
Malaysia 21
South Africa 46
Botswana 76
Kenya 99
Tanzania 104
Zambia 122
What this clearly shows is that there is no superficial pattern to it indicating that colonialism was the cause of the problem. There does not appear to be any link between colonisation and current entrepreneurial trends in these countries. So where does the problem lie?
The conundrum remains?!
Leverage Subject Matter Experts
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5.2.1 The MIT-SME section: Support for Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania, 2005
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Facts about SMEs in Africa
Article Tags: colonialism, entrepreneurship, SME, Smorfitt
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About the Author: Dr. Rob Smorfitt RSS for Dr. Rob's articles - Visit Dr. Rob's website  Have an MBA and a PhD in entrepreneurship. Three key areas of ongoing research are entrepreneurship and innovation in large business strategy, the impact of legislation on SME development and SME finance. Run my own SME blog at http://sme-smb-smme.blogspot.com as well as an entrepreneurship and innovation for large businesses blog at http://innoveur.blogspot.com I have been self-employed since 1982. I have started or purchased in excess of 50 businesses since then. Most were sold again and a few were shut down because of a lack of profitability. Many were run by staff or family while I worked full time in my bigger businesses. Author of 6 books. Written articles for various magazines, newspapers and websites. Experienced in research within developing countries.
Click here to visit Dr. Rob's website  
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I believe that the three main functions that cannot be outsourced are marketing, sales and strategy. These must be done in house I believe. If you do not have the marketing skills then get them. Hire a consultant or attend a course, but get the skills. Even if you use a consultant, you need to understand what marketing is about, as no one knows your market like you do. Marketing is made to seem difficult and complex, but everyone who really understands their markets, can easily learn to do their own marketing.
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