South Africa’s Business Sectors and Crucial Resources for Entrepreneurial Activities

Folashade Akinyemi; Temitope Jiboye

doi:doi:10.11648/j.jhrm.20261401.19

Research Article |

| Peer-Reviewed

South Africa’s Business Sectors and Crucial Resources for Entrepreneurial Activities

Folashade Akinyemi^*

, Temitope Jiboye

Published in Journal of Human Resource Management (Volume 14, Issue 1)

Received: 3 January 2026 Accepted: 26 January 2026 Published: 20 February 2026

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Abstract

Numerous resources are needed for effective startups and growth of entrepreneurial activities, and finance has often been flagged as one of the most crucial, but the query here is whether this popular assertion is equally true in all business sectors. Thus, this paper examines some identified resources that foster entrepreneurial business activities across all South Africa’s nominated business sectors. Furthermore, it recognized the most essential resource in all the nominated sectors of the country’s economy. The authors anticipated that when some resource factors are examined across a country’s business sectors, the resources that boost entrepreneurial activities would be dissimilar and industry specific. Stratified random sampling method was adopted to guarantee satisfactory representation in each sector and 550 semi-structured questionnaires were dispensed in South Africa’s most popular economic hub and metropolitan city, Johannesburg. The data obtained were analyzed using Inferential and descriptive Statistics. The descriptive statistics displayed the featured occurrences of resources that enhanced entrepreneurial business activities in all the nominated sectors while Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was instrumental in pinpointing each sector’s the most essential resource factor. The research outcomes suggest that variations exist between respondents’ frequencies of resources adopted and the most vital across the selected business sectors. Surprisingly, availability of raw materials was the most vital and finance did not feature as the most vital resource factor in all South Africa’s selected business sectors. The authors anticipate more interesting outcomes if examined among selected businesses in each sector or entrepreneurship phase and therefore propose several extensions of this study.

Published in	Journal of Human Resource Management (Volume 14, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.jhrm.20261401.19
Page(s)	82-97
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2026. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Entrepreneurial Activities, Resources, Business Sectors, South Africa

1. Introduction

Extant literature brims with studies on resources needed for entrepreneurial growth and development

[1-5]

. Some studies even go further to examine the importance of some resources in some selected phases

[6-9]

and migrants

[10]

. But there is the need to move from the holistic views and examine some of the already identified resources across selected business sectors. Resources such as finance, management skills, human and organizational capital, good customer services, raw materials, intellectual property and personality traits, have been acknowledged as essential for business growth and sustenance

[4, 5, 11-13]

, but the comparative significance of every of these resource factors in every nominated business sector is grossly unknown. Hence, this study.

Firstly, a group of selected resource factors needed to promote entrepreneurial activities are examined and their frequencies presented. And secondly, the most vital of the selected resource factors for each business sector was identified using Principal Component Analysis. This study therefore, helps to confirm if finance is the most vital in every sector of South Africa’s economy or not.

2. Review of Relevant Literature

2.1. Entrepreneurship Concept and Definitions

Entrepreneurship has been construed as the pillar behind various thriving economies across the globe

[14-18]

. The existent literature indicate that a vast majority of the advanced economies value and promote entrepreneurship because of the inherent benefits often derived from it. Entrepreneurial activities are often fostered and emphasized at every level and sector. The various entrepreneurial activities are continuously yielding mind-blowing results reflecting high levels creativity and innovation among citizens in various economies. Little wonder, entrepreneurship is no longer a stand-alone concept in some climes but often referred to as entrepreneurship and innovation.

Entrepreneurship is often viewed and described from different lenses and has no universally accepted definition

[19]

. The extant literature brims with countless entrepreneurship definitions. Some definitions present entrepreneurship as a practice of prosperous corporations while others define it as a personality trait, building innovative mentality and unique skills. In other words, some authors view entrepreneurship as a natural phenomenon and crucial part of business life

[20]

while others describe it as an independent activity and distinct discipline that changes old patterns or lifestyles into new ones

[21]

also described entrepreneurship as an autonomous discipline capable of operating both independently and interdisciplinary.

[22]

defined entrepreneurship as a practice that begins with the conceptualization and creation of a new business organization.

[22]

further emphasized entrepreneurship as a vital key to accomplishment, and each distinctive person that births an innovative business attains a novel standard of entrepreneurship.

[23]

described entrepreneurship as an art that focuses on the creativity and autonomy of individuals with the capacity for adaptability and creation of artifacts that generate economic and social values.

Nevertheless, these divergent views dovetail to a final destination of emphasizing that entrepreneurship ultimately about generating outputs and jobs opportunities, which eventually lead to economic growth and development

[24]

and

[22]

Most of the extant definitions of entrepreneurship diversely describe the concept in terms of opportunity pursuit, uncertainty, business creation, profit-seeking, risk taking, value creation and lots more, echoing the innumerable viewpoints that occur within entrepreneurship field and yonder

[25]

. Moreover, they concur that entrepreneurship exists in every aspect of human endeavor and often requires skillful combination of other human and material resources. Over the years, the range of entrepreneurship has stretched to encompass all works of life. The applicability of entrepreneurship transcends a few disciplines and cuts across all fields. The entrepreneurs, that is individuals with unique traits, who conduct entrepreneurial activities cannot operate alone but often use competent human resources with technical skills and administrative talents

[22, 23]

On the grounds that entrepreneurship exists in every aspect of human existence, it is crucial to adopt a holistic definition that incorporates all forms of entrepreneurial behavior. Hence the definition presented by

[26]

and

[27]

definition will be adopted for this study. The authors defined entrepreneurship as “the process of creating something new with value by devoting the necessary time and effort, assuming the accompanying financial, psychic, and social risks, and receiving the resulting rewards of monetary and personal satisfaction and independence".

2.2. Resource Related Theories

An array of theoretical perceptions highlighted by scholars affirm that patterns of resource availability or scarcity within and outside the business environment often impact business births, success and failures

[28-31]

. All these theories- resource dependence theory

[29, 30, 32-34]

, neo-institutional approach

[35-37]

, and population ecology theory

[34, 38-40]

have studied resource accessibility and emphasized their germaneness for business outcomes. In other words, scarcity or unavailability of resources do constitute objective constraints on entrepreneurial activities and outcomes.

Resource dependence theory examines how impresarios assemble the requisite resources from their immediate and operational environments with the sole aim of advancing their firms. The theory postulates that environments play vital roles in influencing business existence, continuity and advancement. The theory also stresses that impresarios and corporations operate symbiotic rapports with their immediate and operational environments since they are unable to detachedly spawn every required resources for their business operations and continuous production

[28, 29]

Population ecology theory projects business organizations as being remarkably vigorous in their relationships with their environments because of their abilities to adapt to their environments, and conversely. Crucial to this perspective, additionally, is the notion of a position, which is described as a resource cosmos, and also considered as a mutable acreage of every ecosystem. Population ecology theory further states that density, competition, carrying capacity, and legalization determine the overall mass of business corporations and populace in any geographic zone

[41, 42]

. Practically, most population ecologists emphasize that the dominant organizational characteristic of businesses that die is their inability to adapt to change. Hence, they suggest the need for organizations to be soundly adjusted to their immediate and operational environs if they must thrive

[39, 43]

Though these highlighted notions have amplified the comprehension of every entrepreneurial process by injecting the resource component of entrepreneurship, the ecological viewpoint contests the mental supposition that a firm’s growth and success hang exclusively on entrepreneurial attributes. At one end, the ecology theory flags environmental resources while the cognitive theory flags resource traits at the other end. Nonetheless, the borderline is that both elements are vital for entrepreneurial verve.

Another theory, termed the stakeholder theory, is known for constantly flagging the crucial nature of resources to entrepreneurial activities

[44, 46]

. According to this theory, entrepreneurial investors and relevant stakeholders are deemed essential parts of innovative bionetworks because of the notion of the interconnection among diverse players within an entrepreneurial bionetwork. Thus, entrepreneurial stakeholders are portrayed as a totality of persons who impact or are often impacted by a venture or business operation

[45, 46]

. The stakeholder theory also supposes that the opinions, needs, and interests generally differ among stakeholder groups and studies have emphasized the hitches of balancing the benefits of diverse investors or stakeholders within an entrepreneurial bionetwork

[45-47]

. Therefore, paying close attention to stakeholders’ interests and earning both their backings and resources is essential for the success of every organization, business or project. Furthermore, this stakeholder theory postulates that commercial undertakings must veer towards global sustainability. In other words, business activities must not be all about amassing wealth or accumulating profits. They must also ensure that the ecosystems are well preserved, not damaged, and they must add ample worth to guarantee every citizen a comfortable existence. This tenet reflects a paradigm shift from the conventional notion of business goals where the emphasis is principally on customers’ contentment.

2.3. Business Sectors in South Africa

South Africa is one of Africa’s emerging economies and is esteemed to have very substantial pecuniary importance in the continent and across the globe

[48-51]

. Diverse kinds of entrepreneurial activities take place in South Africa and the quality of their economic and environmental policies rank high among African countries. Entrepreneurship is being encouraged at all levels and promoted in every sector. Despite some of the hurdles in South Africa, which are peculiar to many African emerging economies, entrepreneurship remains one of the major solutions to the socio-economic problems faced therein.

A South Africa with increased entrepreneurship and blooming business activities would undeniably provide more jobs and improve many families’ livelihood. This will in invariably take many youths off the street, reduce many vices, and tackle most of the social problems that will ultimately improve the country’s global competitiveness. Increasing entrepreneurship in South Africa will culminate to a cycle of lucrative and innovative activities that will provide divers benefits and opportunities in the market place.

South Africa is an emerging and fast-growing economy with various activities being conducted in all its business sectors. Continuous efforts are being made and follow-up studies being conducted by the government and all relevant stakeholders to ensure that every sector – be it service, manufacturing, and finance, to mention but a few – acts as an engine of growth

[48, 52-58]

. Thus, every sector is expected, on continuous basis, to generate jobs for the youths and fast-growing population in the country, generate growth stimulating economies of scale, and also boost their export potentials.

Entrepreneurial activities in emerging economies are sometimes classified into three, five or seven business sectors. The three-sector tenet on business grouping comprises of secondary, tertiary and primary sectors

[59]

, or sometimes referred to as agriculture, industry and services sectors

[60]

in some climes. The five-sector theory describes business activities are consisting of secondary, primary, tertiary, quinary and quaternary. However, the seven-sector categorization gives more elaborate descriptions and make cross-country comparisons easier. Thus, was utilized for this study.

It is very essential to understand how differently some resources contribute to success and enhance distinctive sectors of the economy. The key impulse, thus, was to ascertain and confirm if the copious resources are uniformly imperative in every business sector. To achieve this, the initial goal was to assess the resources generally espoused in every sector, the next goal was to pinpoint the supremely imperative resource factor(s) in each sector, and thirdly, to compare the obtained outcomes at every analytical stage.

Table 1 displays the seven-sector categorization as well as the major lines of businesses operating in South Africa.

Table 1. Main Types of business activities in South Africa.

No.	Sector	Description
1	Food	Manufacturing and selling of drinks, food stuffs, and beverages.
2	Textile	Manufacturing of fabrics, drapes, apparels, garments and vests
3	Service	Architects, engineers, hair dressers, doctors, plumbers, nurses, auto mechanics, and other service providers.
4	Metal	Fabrication of roofing sheets, cutleries, metal fabrication, and other steel products.
5	Telecommunication	Manufacturing and selling of mobile phones, laptops, palmtops, electrical appliances and microchip technology.
6	Pharmaceuticals	Sales and production chemicals, insecticides, drugs, and rubber products.
7	Wood	Wood products like coal, wooden items, and paper.

Source: Adapted from Page 86 of

[8]

Irrespective of the sector classification in any economy, some crucial resources are needed for smooth operations both for the take-off, growth and business continuity

[22, 61, 62]

. For instance, resources such as personal funds, access to credits and loans aid business expansion and guarantee continuousness. Finance is considered very germane at the inauguration phase and for business stability

[62, 63]

. Also, some innovative ideas and commercial ventures perish when there are lack of adequate technology and skilled labor to develop them

[64, 65]

. All these aforementioned factors as well as other resource-related factors are vital for business stability, development and sustainability. Nevertheless, the comparative weight of apiece of these factors in every sector is yet undetermined while finance is often the most flagged resource. Therefore, the proposed hypothesis is

Hypothesis: finance is the most crucial resource factor in all of South Africa’s business sectors

3. Research Methodology

An aggregate of 550 questionnaires was randomly selected and administered in Johannesburg over a three-month period. The respondents comprised of entrepreneurs between ages 18 and 64 identified to be proprietors or co-owners of thriving firms and establishments. Ethical approval and the respondents’ consents were obtained before the questionnaires administration. Descriptive statistics

[66-68]

was expended to determine the resources adopted in each business sector. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) as explained by

[69]

and

[70]

was adopted to pinpoint the most essential sustainability factor in every sector. Additionally, Chi-square test

[71-73]

was expended to display the connection between the variables while Cronbach’s Alpha

[74-76]

was applied to confirm the reliability and internal consistencies of the variables.

4. Research Results & Discussion of Findings

4.1. Contextual Information on Entrepreneurs and South Africa’s Business Sectors

Table 2 reflects the contextual information on the entrepreneurs in South Africa and the seven main taxonomies of entrepreneurial activities therein. Figure 1 also presents a diagrammatic view with the most populous sectors being the service (47%), food (19%), and textile (15%) sectors. South Africa’s service sector included businesses like hairdressing salons, spas, medical specialists, cleaning companies and daycare centers. Raw foods and fruit sellers, restaurant owners, were in the food sector while the textile businesses comprised the dressmakers, cloth sellers and manufacturers.

In terms of business proprietorship, a larger proportion (62%) of the entrepreneurs in South Africa were male and their median age was 32 years. The respondents’ age spread inclined auspiciously towards the youthful age gamut of 18-33 years being reasonably higher than half (that is 51%) of the total sample drawn from South Africa’s entrepreneurs. Well over one-quarter of the respondents are between 34-41 years of age whereas almost 7% were aged 50 years and above.

Table 2. Frequency Distribution of Respondents and Business Sectors.

VARIABLES	SOUTH-AFRICA
VARIABLES	FREQUENCY N=539	FREQUENCY N=539
Gender
Male	336	62.3
Female	203	37.7
Age in Years
18-24	65	12.1
25-33	209	38.9
34-41	155	28.8
42-49	70	13.0
50-57	27	5.0
58-65	12	2.2
Median Age	32.4 years
Business Sectors
Service	250	46.7
Textile	80	15.0
Wood	21	4.0
Pharmaceuticals	7	1.3
Metal	25	4.7
Telecommunication	49	9.2
Food	103	19.3

Data Source: Authors’ Survey

Download: Download full-size image

Figure 1. Sampled Business Sectors in South Africa.

4.2. Reliability Coefficients and Factor Loadings of Resources

Table 3 displays the overall outlook of the study’s reliability estimates, internal structure, and variance of resources adopted by South Africa’s entrepreneurs while Table 5 portrays the same results throughout the nominated business sectors. Thus flagging the point that all the resources for the nominated business sectors in South Africa are not equally essential. The results suggest that some resources are more germane than others.

Looking at Table 3 for instance, two of the four resource-related factors recorded higher factor loadings and very strong effects in South Africa from a holistic lens. Technology and raw materials have substantial effects among the four disaggregated resource-related variables. This implies that the availability or otherwise constraints of these variables would have more ripple impacts on South Africa’s entrepreneurial activities than finance and labor. Thus, corroborating

[62]

findings on crucial sustainability factors as well as

[64]

where contextual factors were emphasized.

[65]

also probed some factors and posited that budgeting had the highest absolute value out of all the variables examined.

Examining these factors across some selected business sectors as shown in Table 5 further shows that the resource-related variables with the highest factor loadings and strongest effects differ from one sector to another. These findings are debunking the general notion that finance if the most crucial factor, and raising a caveat for intending investors, business owners/managers, entrepreneurs and other relevant stakeholders in South Africa to ensure they keep pace with advancing technologies and secure good sources for the constant supply of the needed raw materials for their businesses.

Table 3. The Domain and Internal Structure of South Africa’s Resource-Related Factors.

	Factor loading	Alpha/Variance
Resources	4 items
Finance	0.5
Raw Materials	0.7	0.85
Technology	0.7	80.6
Labor	0.6

Table 4 shows a cross tabulation of the resources from a holistic view and displays the bivariate distribution of South Africa’s resource-related variables by highlighting each variable’s statistical significance and distribution pattern in the area. In terms of frequency distributions of the most valuable resource-related variables reportedly enhancing South Africa’s businesses, finance (58%) bagged the highest value, followed by raw materials (23%), labor (22%) and technology (17%). This indicates that business owners and entrepreneurs having access to finance enjoyed greater advantages and were most probably able to acquire other resources to grow their businesses.

Further, the Table shows that, without introducing business sectors in the selected study area, every resource-variable was statistically significant with p<0.05. This resonates with issues reported in the literature review sections that the aforementioned resource-related variables as well as other numerous resources, whose studies were conducted and reported detachedly, are germane for business growth and entrepreneurial development. In other words, the holistic view is that all the afore-mentioned resources are uniformly weighty until some control variables such as business sectors are infused as shown in Table 6. The disparities arise as reflected Table 6 and present each variable’s statistical significance and frequency distribution pattern in each sector.

Table 4. Cross-Tabulation of Resource-Related Factors in South Africa.

Sectors	South Africa (n=598)
	Percent/p-value	Chi-square
Resources	4 items
Finance	58.3 *	10.71
Raw Materials	22.8 *	10.99
Technology	16.6 *	10.87
Labor	21.9 *	10.97

Note: * significant at p<.05

4.3. The Most Crucial Resources Espoused in Every Business Sector

After establishing in Table 6 that the resources are not evenly essential in every selected business sector in South Africa, the next objective was to assess each factor’s relative weight and pinpoint the most essential espoused in each sector using PCA. Interestingly, the outcomes postulate that availability of raw materials was the most vital in all South Africa’s selected business sectors and finance did not feature as the most vital in any sector. The outcomes suggest that variations exist between respondents’ frequencies of resources adopted (Figure 2) and the most vital across the selected business sectors (Table 7).

And, despite the variances in the frequencies of resource-related variables enhancing businesses in South Africa, raw materials stand out in every sector with regards to their relative importance. This nullifies the hypothesis that finance is the most crucial Resource factor in all of South Africa’s business sectors. It also contradicts similar studies where phases

[77, 78]

and business sectors

[79]

were infused as controlling factors and showed that the ranking of resources necessary to heighten entrepreneurial activities were atypical and dissimilar.

Table 5. The Domain and Internal Structure of South Africa’s Resource-Related Factors In Each Business Sector.

Sectors	Food		Textile		Wood		Pharmaceutical		Metal		Telecommunication		Services
	Factor loading	Alpha/ variance	Factor loading	Alpha/ Variance	Factor loading	Alpha/ variance	Factor loading	Alpha/ variance	Factor loading	Alpha/ variance	Factor loading	Alpha/ variance	Factor loading	Alpha/ variance
Resources	4 items
Finance	0.7		0.7		-		0.8		0.6		0.9		-
Raw Materials	-	0.83	-	0.85	0.9	0.79	-	0.60	0.9	0.74	-	0.83	-	0.79
Technology	0.5	88.3	0.8	79.7	0.8	79.8	0.5	77.5	0.7	83.6	0.6	84.7	0.6	82.8
Labor	0.6		0.8		0.8		-		0.6		0.6		0.9

Note: Factor loadings only reflected if 0.5 or more in the sub-scales. The internal consistency was measured with Cronbach’s alpha and explained variance as presented in the same column.

Table 6. Cross-Tabulation of South Africa’s Crucial Resource-Related Factors For Entrepreneurial Activities in Every Nominated Sector.

Sectors	Food (n=104)		Textile (n=77)		Wood (n=43)		Pharmaceutical (n=43)		Metal (n=75)		Telecommunication (n=74)		Services (n=182)
	Percent/ p-value	Chi-square	Percent/ p-value	Chi-square	Percent/ p-value	Chi-square	Percent/ p-value	Chi-square	Percent/ p-value	Chi-square	Percent/ p-value	Chi-square	Percent/ p-value	Chi-square
Resources	4 items
Finance	69.9 (0.03*)	7.37	60.0 (0.67)	0.81	42.9 (0.06)	5.74	71.4 (0.67)	0.82	64.0 (0.73)	0.62	65.3 (0.27)	2.64	52.0 (0.01*)	9.8
Raw Materials	28.2 (0.30)	2.43	28.8 (0.29)	2.48	28.6 (0.37)	1.97	42.9 (0.37)	1.97	16.0 (0.52)	1.30	12.2 (0.04*)	6.59	20.4 (0.04*)	6.64
Technology	6.8 (0.01*)	9.86	15.0 (0.59)	1.06	9.5 (0.24)	2.86	28.6 (0.56)	1.17	8.0 (0.36)	2.05	40.8 (0.00*)	23.92	17.6 (0.03*)	6.92
Labor	20.4 (0.71)	0.69	16.3 (0.24)	2.85	23.8 (0.42)	1.75	28.6 (0.71)	0.68	12.0 (0.34)	2.19	8.2 (0.01*)	9.38	27.6 (0.00*)	18.21

Note: Note: * significant at p<.05

Table 7. The PCA of South Africa’s Resource-Related Factors in Every Nominated Sector.

Business Sectors	Food		Textile		Wood		Pharmaceutical		Metal		Telecommunication		Services
	Factor 1	KMO	Factor 1	KMO	Factor 1	KMO	Factor 1	KMO	Factor 1	KMO	Factor 1	KMO	Factor 1	KMO
Resources	4 items
Finance	0.621		0.624		0.608		0.598		0.651		0.642		0.649
Raw Materials	0.794 ♦	46.6	0.772 ♦	49.1	0.786 ♦	46.6	0.793 ♦	47.0	0.780 ♦	47.6	0.776 ♦	48.1	0.754 ♦	50.1
Technology	0.427		0.458		0.449		0.454		0.356		0.393		0.359
Labor	0.078		0.029		0.048		0.081		0.053		0.115		0.287
	0.621		0.624		0.608		0.598		0.651		0.642		0.649

Note: The Most Crucial factors in bold with “♦” sign

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Figure 2. Bar Charts For the Resource-Related Factors in each sector.

5. Conclusion

This study presents a deviation from the often-acclaimed notion that finance is the most important resource needed for business growth and entrepreneurial development. In some previous studies, the results suggest that some resources are more crucial than others in emerging economies, across business sectors, and in every business phase. This study further buttresses these points, showing that finance is not the most crucial and projects raw materials as the most crucial resource in all of South Africa’s seven selected business sectors. In essence, finance is known to be crucial for business growth, enhancement and entrepreneurial development but not necessarily the most important in every business sector.

The authors opine that some remarkable insights may be inherent in studies that examine these resources across different geographic locations within a particular economy, and thereby propose several extensions of this study.

Abbreviations

PCA	Principal Component Analysis

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Appendix

Respondent: Entrepreneurs (Business Owners and Founders)

Identification Data

Table A1. Identification Data.

Y01	Questionnaire Identification Number	DB*
Y02	Country
Y03	City
Y04	Ward/Locality

Interview Log

Table A2. Interview Log.

	Interview Started	Refused to Continue	Interview Completed
Time
Data (dd/mm/yyyy)

Interviewer's Name		Code
Interviewer's Comments

Checked by Supervisor: Signature_______________ Date (dd/mm/yyyy)____________

Table A3. Entry Date.

Comment
Data Entered by		Date(dd/mm/yyyy)

QUESTIONNAIRE

Section 1:- Personal Data

Firstly sir/madam, I'll appreciate if you can tell me a little about yourself.

1. Gender: Male {___} Female {___}

2. Age in Years: 18-24 {___} 25- 33 {___} 34-41 {___} 42-49 {___} 50-57 {___}

58-65 {___}

3. Academic Qualification: Below First Degree {___} First Degree {___} Masters {___}

Ph.D {___}

4. Professional Qualification:__________________________________________

5. Nationality: __________________________

6. Ethnic Group or Race_________________________

7. Religion_________________________________

Section 2:- For those who have started their businesses

Thank you sir/madam, I would like you to tell me about your business.

1. a) When did you start this business? _______

b) Mention the type of business___________________________________

2. a) Please is this your first business? Yes {___} No {____}

b) If No, what happened to your previous business? Stopped {__} Sold {___}

Still Operating {____} Transferred {____}

c) If business stopped, why did it stop?__________________________________

3. Business Sectors

a) Please kindly tick the business sector that best describes your kind of business

Table A4. Business Sectors.

No.	Business Sector	Description
1.	Food	Production and sales of food items, drinks, and beverages.
2.	Textile	Production of clothes, apparels, and fabrics.
3.	Service	Architects, engineers, hair dressers, doctors, plumbers, nurses, auto mechanics, and other service providers.
4.	Metal	Production of roofing sheets, cutleries, metal fabrication, and other steel products.
5.	Telecommunication	Production and sales mobile phones, computers, electrical appliances and electronics.
6.	Pharmaceuticals	Sales and production chemicals, insecticides, drugs, and rubber products.
7	Wood	Wood products like coal, wooden items, and paper.

b) Are you planning to diversify or start another business anytime soon?

Yes {__} No {__}

c) If yes, what kind of business?

_____________________________________________________________________

4. a) Please do you know anybody, or some people, that started businesses around the same period with you? Yes {___} No {____}

b) If yes, how many do you know or can you remember? ____________________

c) How many of them have closed down?______________________________

d) How many are growing and have started other businesses? ____________________________________________________________________

Section 3:- For different years of operation

1. For this year

i) Please kindly mention the resource factors that are helping your business

Table A5. Resource Factor. For Current Year.

Sustainability Factors	Items	Rank
Resource Related	Finance Raw Materials Technology Labour
Others (Please Specify)

ii) Mention three major resource factors that are helping the business grow. (Rank them from 1st to 3rd)

Table A6. Three Major Resource Factors.

Sustainability Factors	Items	Rank
Resource Related	Finance Raw Materials Technology Labour
Others (Please Specify)

iii) Mention the most important resource factor that is helping the business.

Table A7. Most Crucial Resource Factor.

Sustainability Factors	Items	Rank
Resource Related	Finance Raw Materials Technology Labour
Others (Please Specify)

2. For Last year

i) Please kindly mention the resource factors that helped your business

Table A8. For Previous Year.

Sustainability Factors	Items	Rank
Resource Related	Finance Raw Materials Technology Labour
Others (Please Specify)

ii) Mention the three major resource factors that helped your business. (Ranking from 1st to 3rd)

Table A9. Three Major Resource Factors.

Sustainability Factors	Items	Rank
Resource Related	Finance Raw Materials Technology Labour
Others (Please Specify)

iii) Mention the most important resource factor that helped your business.

Table A10. Three Most Important Resource Factors.

Sustainability Factors	Items	Rank
Resource Related	Finance Raw Materials Technology Labour
Others (Please Specify)

3. When your business started

i) Please kindly mention the resource factors that enhanced the start-up process.

Table A11. When Your Business Started.

Sustainability Factors	Items	Rank
Resource Related	Finance Raw Materials Technology Labour
Others (Please Specify)

ii) Mention three major resource factors that were enhancing your business.

(Rank them from 1st to 3rd)

Table A12. Three Major Factors.

Sustainability Factors	Items	Rank
Resource Related	Finance Raw Materials Technology Labour
Others (Please Specify)

iii) Mention the most important resource factor that enhanced your business.

Table A13. Most Important Resource Factor.

Sustainability Factors	Items	Rank
Resource Related	Finance Raw Materials Technology Labour
Others (Please Specify)

Section 5:- Likert Scale

Table A14. Likert Scale.

How would you rate the importance of these factors in the current phase of your business?
		Most Crucial	Very Crucial	Somewhat Crucial	Slightly Crucial	Not Crucial
Resource Related	Finance	5	4	3	2	1
	Raw Materials	5	4	3	2	1
	Technology	5	4	3	2	1
	Labour
Others (Please Specify)		5	4	3	2	1

Some Other Prominent Factors

Table A15. Other Questions.

Factors	Questions	Categories
Finance	What has been the major source of finance for your business?	Personal Family & Friends Credits & loans Others (Please Specify)
Infrastructure	Which of the infrastructures and amenities have really helped to enhance your business?	Electricity Water Good roads Telecommunication Others (Please Specify)
Entrepreneurial skills	Which entrepreneurial skills helped you to come this far?	Innovative ability Risk taking Determination Endurance Others (Please Specify)
Book Keeping	How often do you keep and monitor the records of your business activities?	Daily Weekly Monthly Others (Please Specify)
Previous Experience	How many years of experience did you have before starting this business?	None 0-2 yrs 2-5yrs 5-10yrs 10yrs- Above
Any Other (Please Specify)

Please, Kindly Note:

DB* is for those Doing Business. This instrument is a segment of the research instrument administered during an exploratory study on entrepreneurial sustainability factors for both prospective and practicing entrepreneurs. The data for this study was extracted from the pool of data collected and ethical approval was obtained. The data will not be available until the last phase of analysis is concluded.

References

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Akinyemi, F., Jiboye, T. (2026). South Africa’s Business Sectors and Crucial Resources for Entrepreneurial Activities. Journal of Human Resource Management, 14(1), 82-97. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jhrm.20261401.19

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Akinyemi, F.; Jiboye, T. South Africa’s Business Sectors and Crucial Resources for Entrepreneurial Activities. J. Hum. Resour. Manag. 2026, 14(1), 82-97. doi: 10.11648/j.jhrm.20261401.19

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Akinyemi F, Jiboye T. South Africa’s Business Sectors and Crucial Resources for Entrepreneurial Activities. J Hum Resour Manag. 2026;14(1):82-97. doi: 10.11648/j.jhrm.20261401.19

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@article{10.11648/j.jhrm.20261401.19,
  author = {Folashade Akinyemi and Temitope Jiboye},
  title = {South Africa’s Business Sectors and Crucial Resources for Entrepreneurial Activities},
  journal = {Journal of Human Resource Management},
  volume = {14},
  number = {1},
  pages = {82-97},
  doi = {10.11648/j.jhrm.20261401.19},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jhrm.20261401.19},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jhrm.20261401.19},
  abstract = {Numerous resources are needed for effective startups and growth of entrepreneurial activities, and finance has often been flagged as one of the most crucial, but the query here is whether this popular assertion is equally true in all business sectors. Thus, this paper examines some identified resources that foster entrepreneurial business activities across all South Africa’s nominated business sectors. Furthermore, it recognized the most essential resource in all the nominated sectors of the country’s economy. The authors anticipated that when some resource factors are examined across a country’s business sectors, the resources that boost entrepreneurial activities would be dissimilar and industry specific. Stratified random sampling method was adopted to guarantee satisfactory representation in each sector and 550 semi-structured questionnaires were dispensed in South Africa’s most popular economic hub and metropolitan city, Johannesburg. The data obtained were analyzed using Inferential and descriptive Statistics. The descriptive statistics displayed the featured occurrences of resources that enhanced entrepreneurial business activities in all the nominated sectors while Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was instrumental in pinpointing each sector’s the most essential resource factor. The research outcomes suggest that variations exist between respondents’ frequencies of resources adopted and the most vital across the selected business sectors. Surprisingly, availability of raw materials was the most vital and finance did not feature as the most vital resource factor in all South Africa’s selected business sectors. The authors anticipate more interesting outcomes if examined among selected businesses in each sector or entrepreneurship phase and therefore propose several extensions of this study.},
 year = {2026}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - South Africa’s Business Sectors and Crucial Resources for Entrepreneurial Activities
AU  - Folashade Akinyemi
AU  - Temitope Jiboye
Y1  - 2026/02/20
PY  - 2026
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jhrm.20261401.19
DO  - 10.11648/j.jhrm.20261401.19
T2  - Journal of Human Resource Management
JF  - Journal of Human Resource Management
JO  - Journal of Human Resource Management
SP  - 82
EP  - 97
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2331-0715
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jhrm.20261401.19
AB  - Numerous resources are needed for effective startups and growth of entrepreneurial activities, and finance has often been flagged as one of the most crucial, but the query here is whether this popular assertion is equally true in all business sectors. Thus, this paper examines some identified resources that foster entrepreneurial business activities across all South Africa’s nominated business sectors. Furthermore, it recognized the most essential resource in all the nominated sectors of the country’s economy. The authors anticipated that when some resource factors are examined across a country’s business sectors, the resources that boost entrepreneurial activities would be dissimilar and industry specific. Stratified random sampling method was adopted to guarantee satisfactory representation in each sector and 550 semi-structured questionnaires were dispensed in South Africa’s most popular economic hub and metropolitan city, Johannesburg. The data obtained were analyzed using Inferential and descriptive Statistics. The descriptive statistics displayed the featured occurrences of resources that enhanced entrepreneurial business activities in all the nominated sectors while Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was instrumental in pinpointing each sector’s the most essential resource factor. The research outcomes suggest that variations exist between respondents’ frequencies of resources adopted and the most vital across the selected business sectors. Surprisingly, availability of raw materials was the most vital and finance did not feature as the most vital resource factor in all South Africa’s selected business sectors. The authors anticipate more interesting outcomes if examined among selected businesses in each sector or entrepreneurship phase and therefore propose several extensions of this study.
VL  - 14
IS  - 1
ER  -

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Author Information

Folashade Akinyemi

Institute for Entrepreneurship and Development Studies, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Contact Email

http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8058-9481
Temitope Jiboye

Institute for Entrepreneurship and Development Studies, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9305-6737

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Akinyemi, F., Jiboye, T. (2026). South Africa’s Business Sectors and Crucial Resources for Entrepreneurial Activities. Journal of Human Resource Management, 14(1), 82-97. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jhrm.20261401.19

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ACS Style

Akinyemi, F.; Jiboye, T. South Africa’s Business Sectors and Crucial Resources for Entrepreneurial Activities. J. Hum. Resour. Manag. 2026, 14(1), 82-97. doi: 10.11648/j.jhrm.20261401.19

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AMA Style

Akinyemi F, Jiboye T. South Africa’s Business Sectors and Crucial Resources for Entrepreneurial Activities. J Hum Resour Manag. 2026;14(1):82-97. doi: 10.11648/j.jhrm.20261401.19

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@article{10.11648/j.jhrm.20261401.19,
  author = {Folashade Akinyemi and Temitope Jiboye},
  title = {South Africa’s Business Sectors and Crucial Resources for Entrepreneurial Activities},
  journal = {Journal of Human Resource Management},
  volume = {14},
  number = {1},
  pages = {82-97},
  doi = {10.11648/j.jhrm.20261401.19},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jhrm.20261401.19},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jhrm.20261401.19},
  abstract = {Numerous resources are needed for effective startups and growth of entrepreneurial activities, and finance has often been flagged as one of the most crucial, but the query here is whether this popular assertion is equally true in all business sectors. Thus, this paper examines some identified resources that foster entrepreneurial business activities across all South Africa’s nominated business sectors. Furthermore, it recognized the most essential resource in all the nominated sectors of the country’s economy. The authors anticipated that when some resource factors are examined across a country’s business sectors, the resources that boost entrepreneurial activities would be dissimilar and industry specific. Stratified random sampling method was adopted to guarantee satisfactory representation in each sector and 550 semi-structured questionnaires were dispensed in South Africa’s most popular economic hub and metropolitan city, Johannesburg. The data obtained were analyzed using Inferential and descriptive Statistics. The descriptive statistics displayed the featured occurrences of resources that enhanced entrepreneurial business activities in all the nominated sectors while Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was instrumental in pinpointing each sector’s the most essential resource factor. The research outcomes suggest that variations exist between respondents’ frequencies of resources adopted and the most vital across the selected business sectors. Surprisingly, availability of raw materials was the most vital and finance did not feature as the most vital resource factor in all South Africa’s selected business sectors. The authors anticipate more interesting outcomes if examined among selected businesses in each sector or entrepreneurship phase and therefore propose several extensions of this study.},
 year = {2026}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - South Africa’s Business Sectors and Crucial Resources for Entrepreneurial Activities
AU  - Folashade Akinyemi
AU  - Temitope Jiboye
Y1  - 2026/02/20
PY  - 2026
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jhrm.20261401.19
DO  - 10.11648/j.jhrm.20261401.19
T2  - Journal of Human Resource Management
JF  - Journal of Human Resource Management
JO  - Journal of Human Resource Management
SP  - 82
EP  - 97
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2331-0715
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jhrm.20261401.19
AB  - Numerous resources are needed for effective startups and growth of entrepreneurial activities, and finance has often been flagged as one of the most crucial, but the query here is whether this popular assertion is equally true in all business sectors. Thus, this paper examines some identified resources that foster entrepreneurial business activities across all South Africa’s nominated business sectors. Furthermore, it recognized the most essential resource in all the nominated sectors of the country’s economy. The authors anticipated that when some resource factors are examined across a country’s business sectors, the resources that boost entrepreneurial activities would be dissimilar and industry specific. Stratified random sampling method was adopted to guarantee satisfactory representation in each sector and 550 semi-structured questionnaires were dispensed in South Africa’s most popular economic hub and metropolitan city, Johannesburg. The data obtained were analyzed using Inferential and descriptive Statistics. The descriptive statistics displayed the featured occurrences of resources that enhanced entrepreneurial business activities in all the nominated sectors while Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was instrumental in pinpointing each sector’s the most essential resource factor. The research outcomes suggest that variations exist between respondents’ frequencies of resources adopted and the most vital across the selected business sectors. Surprisingly, availability of raw materials was the most vital and finance did not feature as the most vital resource factor in all South Africa’s selected business sectors. The authors anticipate more interesting outcomes if examined among selected businesses in each sector or entrepreneurship phase and therefore propose several extensions of this study.
VL  - 14
IS  - 1
ER  -

Copy | Download