ZIMSEC O Level · Business Enterprise Skills · Form 1, Form 2
Entrepreneurship is identifying an opportunity and organising resources to start and run a business, taking risks to make a profit.
Qualities of a successful entrepreneur
Creativity and innovation, willingness to take calculated risks, self-confidence, hard work, persistence, good communication, honesty, and the ability to plan and manage money.
Importance of entrepreneurship
- Creates jobs and reduces unemployment.
- Provides goods and services locally.
- Adds value to local resources (e.g. turning baobab fruit into juice, or sunflower into cooking oil).
- Increases incomes and government revenue through taxes.
Types of enterprises
- Micro and small enterprises: tuck shops, hair salons, carpentry, poultry projects.
- Medium and large enterprises.
- Social enterprises: aim to solve community problems while covering their costs.
Challenges facing young entrepreneurs
Lack of capital and collateral, little experience, competition, high costs of inputs, unreliable power supply, and difficulty finding markets.
Exam tip: Use local, realistic examples in answers – examiners value practical thinking.
Check yourself
- Define entrepreneurship.
- List three qualities of an entrepreneur.
- Give two benefits of entrepreneurship to a community.
Show answers
- Identifying an opportunity and organising resources to start and run a business, taking risks for profit.
- Any three: creativity, risk-taking, confidence, hard work, persistence, honesty, good planning.
- Any two: jobs, local goods and services, value addition, income.
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