Louise van Scheers and Simon Radipere, University of South Africa, South Africa
Abstract: The survey analyses the perceptions of small business owners on managerial skills, whether gaps exist between managerial skills that owners should have and those that they actually posses. Managerial skills and business knowledge are an indication of how well a manager can perform important tasks and activities to ensure the success of their business. The study confirms that the lack of managerial skills of small business owners is considered by the respondents as the main reason why small businesses fail in South Africa. Small business owners lack managerial skill such as financial, marketing and human managerial skills to operate their businesses successfully. The perceptions of the small business owners are that the managerial skills they possess, and those that they preferably should have, do not correlate. The challenge is to improve the managerial skills of small business owners as small business is considered to be the panacea for South Africa’s unemployment problems.
Keywords: South African small business owners; managerial skills; internal microenvironment; financial, marketing and human managerial skills.
