Unternehmertum und Organisationsmanagement

Pathways for Indigenous Entrepreneurs in Mutare City Green Market Industrial Area

Abstract

Stephen Mwenje*

The quest to tackle the unemployment challenge in Zimbabwe is high on the government of Zimbabwe’s agenda. The city of Mutare is not spared as it has a high rate of formal unemployment that gave to rise to informal artisanal activities in the Green market industrial area. However, majority of start-ups struggle to expand and employ more labour force. It was against the backdrop of these constrains that this study sought to investigate how artisanal entrepreneurs in Mutare’s green market industrial area identify opportunities to expand their business ventures. The study was qualitative and used a multiple case study method. The population was 97 entrepreneurs in the green market area categorized into cases of 29 entrepreneurs on serviced industrial stands, 35 on council rented stalls and 33 on open spaces and by the roadside. Purposive sampling was used to select 31 entrepreneurs from three different cases. Participant observations, unstructured interviews and semi-structured interviews were used to generate data to build cases. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data. The study established cases of entrepreneurs at various sites. In each case, opportunities for business expansion was influenced by various dynamics. The study concluded that venture expansion is influenced by entrepreneur prior knowledge, experiences, and social networks. The study recommends that city fathers provide more land and built more industrial sites. Zimbabwe Open University must initiate training to address skills needs of budding entrepreneurs.