5.2.1 Convenience and Snowball Sampling Methods
Convenience and snowball sampling methods were the two sampling methods that were used in selecting research participants for the study. The target population were graduates of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN)’s Pietermaritzburg campus who are now engaged in entrepreneurial activities in the city. These are graduates from the Management faculty and the faculty of Humanities, Development and Social Sciences. The Pietermaritzburg campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal also has students in the faculties of Science and Agriculture, Law and in Education. However graduates from these faculties were not considered in this study due to logistical reasons (see chapter four). The University of KwaZulu-Natal in its entirety is constituted of five campuses, these are; Edgewood campus in Pinetown, Howard College campus, Medical School campus, Westville campus all in Durban and the Pietermaritzburg campus in the city of Pietermaritzburg. These campuses are comprised of a number of academic faculties within them. As a result of logistical issues (which were highlighted in the research methods chapter) the Pietermaritzburg campus was chosen as the campus of focus for this study.
The sampling methods used managed to obtain a sample size of ten participants. The characteristics of this research population will be portrayed in the next section
5.2.2 Sample size and features
The following are the characteristics of the research population2: Participant 1: Phakamani Shandu (refer to appendix C)
Phakamani is a 27 year old black man. He obtained a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance degree at UKZNP. His company is called Adventure Finance and is in the business consultancy sector in Pietermaritzburg. The main focus of the business is to strategically support Small, Medium and Micro Enterprise (SMME) from the start-up stage. The business has been in operation for two years and it employs three permanent staff.
2 All the research participants gave permission for their names and those of their companies to be revealed.
68 Participant 2: Hlubi Dlomo
Hlubi is a black male who is 27 years old. He has a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting which he obtained from UKZNP. His company is called Biz Acumen and it is in the business consulting sector in Pietermaritzburg. Biz Acumen is particularly focused on SMME business consulting as it assists emerging small businesses to establish themselves. The business is two years old and does not have any employees as Hlubi and his business partner do all the work in the company.
Participant 3: Sipho Zuma (refer to Appendix D)
Sipho is a 28 year old black male. He obtained a Bachelor of Social Sciences degree in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and afterwards got a Bachelor of Business Management, all at UKZNP. Sipho’s company is called Mhlaba Mapping and it is in the GIS sector and the manufacturing sector in Pietermaritzburg as it offers GIS services and products.
Mhlaba has been in operation for five years and has eleven employees.
Participant 4: Montsooe Pakkies
Montsoee is a 28 year old black female. She has a Masters degree in Policy and Development studies and later obtained a diploma in Management; both qualifications were obtained at UKZNP. Montsoee’s company is called the Influential Development Centre of Excellence (IDCE) and it is in the skills training and development sector in Pietermaritzburg as the company is in training consultancy. IDCE has been operational for two years and has no permanent employees. Employees are hired as per need when a business contract is obtained.
Participant 5: Christopher Sithole
Christopher is a 29 year old black male with a Bachelor of Business Management degree obtained from UKZNP. His company is called Chipmunk Technologies and it is in the Information Technology (IT) sector. Chipmunk Technologies offers computer services and sells software and hardware. The company has been operational for two years and has two employees.
69 Participant 6: Nondumiso Mtshali-
Nondumiso is a 29 year old black female. She has an Honours degree in Supply Chain Management from UKZNP. Nondumiso’s company is called Siyabonga construction. It is in the construction sector in Pietermaritzburg and has been operational for four years. The company has six permanent employees but hires more temporary staff when big contracts are secured Participant 7: Thembani Madlala
Thembani is a 28 year old black male. He has a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance degree which he obtained from UKZNP. His company is called Capricorn Skills Development Centre and it is in the skills development sector. Capricorn is a skills training consultancy and has been operational for two years. The company employs four permanent employees.
Participant 8: Njabulo Dlamini
Njabulo is a 27 year old black male. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from UKZNP. His company is called Sphinx catering services. It is in the catering sector as it provides catering services at weddings, funerals, parties, religious ceremonies and graduation ceremonies in Pietermaritzburg. The company has been operational for two years and has eight permanent staff.
Participant 9: Thabani Khoza
Thabani is a 30 old black male. He is a graduate of UKZNP where he obtained a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. His company is called Thabani’s Car Sales and is in the car sales sector. The company mostly sells second hand cars in Pietermaritzburg. It has been operational for three years and employs five permanent employees.
Participant 10: Bonginkhosi Dube
Bonginkhosi is a 27 year old black male. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce general degree from UKZNP. His company’s name is Aggrandise Business Consultancy. It is in the business consultancy sector as it does general business consulting for clients in Pietermaritzburg. The company has been operational for just over two years and employs four permanent employees.
70 Table 6. Overview of the research participants
Participa nt
Gender Age Race Education
(University)
Company Sector Type Age of business
No.of employ ees Phakamani
Shandu
Male 27 Black B.Com Finance Adventure
Finance
Business consultin g
SMME Business support
2 years 3
Hlubi
Dlomo
Male 27 Black B.Com
Accounting
Biz Acumen Business consultin g
SMME Business consulti ng
2 years 0
Sipho Zuma
Male 28 Black B.Soc.Sci and
Bachelor of Bus.
Management
Mhlaba Mapping
GIS and manufact uring
GIS 5 years 11
Montsoee
Pakkies
female 28 Black Masters Degree in Policy and development
, and Diploma in Management
IDCE Skills
training &
developm ent
Training consulta ncy
2 years 0
Christophe r Sithole
Male 29 Black Bachelor of
Business Mangement
Chipmunk Technologies
Informati on technolog y
Comput er shop
2 years 2
Nondumis o Mtshali
female 29 Black Honours degree in supply chain management
Siyabonga construction
constructi on
Constru ction compan y
4 years 6
Thembani Madlala
Male 28 Black Bachelor of
Commerce in Finance
Capricon Skills Development Centre
Skills Develop ment
Training Consult ancy
2 years 2
Njabulo Dlamini
Male 27 Black Bachelor of
Commerce
Sphinx catering services
Catering catering compan y
2 years 8
Thabani Khoza
Male 30 Black Bachelor of
Business Adminstration
Thabani’s car sales
Car sales Car sales 3 years 4
Bonginkho si Dube
Male 27 Black Bachelor of
Commerce
Aggrandise Business Consultancy
Business consultan cy
Business 2 years 4
The table shows that out of the ten participants in the study only two were female entrepreneurs. All participants in the study were between the ages of 27 and 30 and they were all black South African nationals. Research participants in the study had all obtained a
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business qualification at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Pietermaritzburg campus. Even the two participants who had a social sciences background had also obtained qualifications in business management. The oldest business venture in the study was five years old as it was established in the year 2006. Seven businesses out of the ten were two years old; this was also the youngest age for a business in the study. The initial sample population that was targeted for the research was that of twenty participants however due to the challenges of access and also due to time constraints ten participants were the total number of people who participated in the study.
5.2.3 The interview process
The interview guide consisted of 41 mostly open ended questions (see appendix A) which the interviewer asked the research participants. The interview process, although in-depth, was quite flexible as some of the questions were skipped as a result of the responses that the participants had given earlier in the interview. The interviewer also had the liberty to go back and forth through the interview guide as he saw fitting depending on the circumstances of the interview. Interviews were carried out at the participants’ business premises or at a neutral venue such as a restaurant. The interview venue depended on the research participants’ preferences as well as on logistical factors. All ethical issues were seriously taken into consideration by the researcher.