Abstract:

For small business entrepreneurs in rural areas to survive in the digital contexts, research is essential on the challenges they face and how these challenges can become opportunities for other entrepreneurs. In this study, small business entrepreneurship opportunities at a township in the Eastern Cape were explored. The basis of the study was that entrepreneurship opportunities are embedded in business challenges and entrepreneurs who can provide services or products that address identified challenges can have viable entrepreneurship ventures. The study used two-phased sequential interviews to collect data to address the purpose of the study, which was: to explore the small business entrepreneurship opportunities in the Eastern Cape in the context of digitalisation. In the first interview challenges, faced by 60 entrepreneurs at an identified small business Mall, were recorded, and the most common challenges were noted. After noting the most common challenges and suggestions for possible business opportunities, associated with addressing the challenges, interviews with eight entrepreneurs in the Mall were then undertaken to gather more information. The study found evidence that small business entrepreneurship opportunities existed in areas related to providing essential support services, such as small business education and training, infopreneurship, and digital infrastructure retailing including providing alternative power options, such as solar power for the enterprises. With the high unemployment and high rate of small business failure, the study recommends the effective exploitation of the identified business opportunities to ensure that existing enterprises survive and new ventures also arise.

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