Eister, Tshegofatso2020-12-042020-12-042020https://hdl.handle.net/10539/30275A research report submitted n partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management in Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Wits Business School, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2020Small businesses in South Africa struggle to make it to the established business phase, while the high unemployment rate, as well as the many retrenchments that the country has been facing, continue to bring a surge of entrepreneurs who find themselves going into business as it is their only means of making a living. Business Development Services (BDS) have been targeted to improve the performance of firms, one of their service categories being skills training proves to develop entrepreneurial self-efficacy. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of BDS training on the entrepreneurial self-efficacy of necessity- and opportunity-driven entrepreneurs, and whether that impact would be more positive in opportunity-driven rather than necessity-driven entrepreneurs. This was a quantitative study which collected primary data from 519 entrepreneurs of which 97 were necessity-driven and 422 were opportunitydriven. First, statistical analysis were conducted using correlation analysis and multiple linear regression to test the impact of training on the ESE of necessity and opportunity-driven entrepreneurs, while removing the impact of confounding variables: gender, education, management experience, industry experience, and partnerships. Second, independent sample T-test was performed to compare the entrepreneurial self-efficacy levels of necessity- and opportunity-driven entrepreneurs after training. The empirical evidence from this study found that general entrepreneurial training is more effective in increasing the entrepreneurial self-efficacy of opportunitydriven entrepreneurs, whereas task-specific training was better suited for increasing the entrepreneurial self-efficacy of necessity-driven entrepreneurs. The study also found that the ESE levels of necessity- and opportunity-driven entrepreneurs were similar after training, thus indicating that training in entrepreneurial self-efficacy plays a developmental role, giving entrepreneurs, whether necessity or opportunity-driven, the confidence to execute entrepreneurial tasks and thus assisting them to run sustainable businesses; rather than a transformational role of converting entrepreneurs from necessitydriven into opportunity-driven. The implications and recommendations of this study are thus that policy makers design general entrepreneurial training programmes targeted at opportunitydriven entrepreneurs, and task-specific training programmes targeted at necessity driven entrepreneurs; these types of training would best increase the entrepreneurial self-efficacy of necessity- and opportunity-driven entrepreneurs and will enable these entrepreneurs to run sustainable businesses that contribute positively to the sustainability rate of businesses.enBusiness development servicesBusiness development servicesBDS trainingNecessity and opportunity entrepreneursEntrepreneurial self-efficacySDG-8: Decent work and economic growthDissertationUniversity of the Witswatersrand, Johannesburg