CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

          The goal or desire of any nation is to achieve its economic growth and development. For the Nigeria government, employment provision for all and reasonable development of all localities are certainly not feasible within the limited government structures and establishment. The federal government therefore considers the active participation of the private sector especially at the grass root as the most viable means of achieving the development and job provisions. Hence, in its second and third national development plan, the federal government adopted the policy of giving active support to the promotion and development of small and medium enterprises on the country.

          However, are would want to know what entrepreneurial development is all about. According to some writers, especially in the written work of H. O. Amaechina “entrepreneurship concept of small business management”, entrepreneur. So defined as the willingness and ability of an individual to seek out investment opportunities, establish and run the enterprise successfully. Thus entrepreneurship is associated with different kinds of activities that has to do with the establishment and operation of business enterprises. Such activities may include;    

i)                   Identification of investment opportunities.

ii)                Deciding what opportunities to exploit for profit.

iii)             Promotion and establishment of the business enterprises.

iv)              Pooling of the various scarce resources needed for production and distribution of good and services.

v)                Organisation and management of the human and material resources for the attainment of the objectives of the enterprise, risk bearing and innovation.

On the other hand, entrepreneurial development can be described as the varied programme, and incentives provided by governments and non-governmental agencies aimed at training, promoting and encouraging entrepreneurs toward the attainment of maximum economic returns in any business ventures they embark on.

The importance of entrepreneurial development in the economy aids entrepreneurs to identify a profitability business and how to go about it. It makes the entrepreneur to be aware of how to locate a business. it creates awareness on the area of location and if it can affect their business. Infact, entrepreneurial development helps to avoid business failures.

The small business supports system such as National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Nigeria Bank for Commerce and Industry (NBCI), National Economic Reconstruction Fund (NERFUND), and industrial Development Centre (IDC) are all set up to aid small scale business in the areas of finding development of managerial and technical skills.

Industrial Development Center as one of the small business support systems is set to provide technical services such as;

1                    Technical advice and assistance regarding the selection of the right machinery, equipment and raw materials for the purpose of setting up the business.

2                    Assistance in the installation and operation of the machinery.

3                    On the job training of the artisans in handling of the machines.

4                    Giving advice an assistance to small industrialists to improve the design and quality of their products.

There are other managerial services which include:

1                    Training of proprietors and the supervisory staff of small and medium enterprises in modern management methods and practices.

2                    Supply of economic information needed by prospective investors for making investment decisions.

3                    Financial counseling

4                    Organizing seminars and workshops.

5                    Supply of industrial information

6                    Feasibility studies and market surveys.

To what extent has this organisation (IDC) achieved these objectives in the support of small scale business is the focus of this research. 

1.2             STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMS

It is a general assumption that small – scale business is imperative for national growth and development. It has been emphasized that Nigeria is entrepreneurial under-developed.  

1.3     PURPOSE OF STUDY

          The nation is experiencing a lot of economic crises such as decline in business activities, unemployment inflation, and mostly the problem of retrenchment. The purpose of this study therefore is to asses the contribution of industrial development center towards the solving of the unemployment crises and the realization of self reliance on the economy.

1.4     SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

          The importance of this study is to help small scale business entrepreneurs gain awareness into organisation and institution where they can gain aid in terms of finance, managerial and technical assistance in the attainment of successful business ventures.    

1.5     SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

          The research project is to cover the industrial development  center (IDC) Enugu, which falls under the Owerri industrial development center zone. The research work has some literature  as regards to time constraint, fiancé dearth of statistical information and secrecy/privacy.      

TIME CONSTRAINTS

          The researcher did not reach to all information and places necessary for this research work as a result of limited time available for this research work.

FINANCE

Due to the shortage of financial with the economic hardship, the money needed by the researcher to finance the project was limited. 

DEARTH OF STATISTICAL TOOL

This research study was not sufficient due to improper record system of the board. There was also lack of research facilities from the libraries visited many of the textbooks in the library are absolute and current information needed for this research work are not enough.

SECRECY/PRIVACY

Some of the staff in industrial development center did not reveal of all information needed fo this research because of far of losing their jobs.

1.6             RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1.                 Is the performance of small – scale industries dependent on their training?

2.                 What is your area of coverage?

3.                 Does industrial development centre (IDC) Enugu have adequate facilities to cover its areas of operations?

HYPOTHESIS

1.                 The performance of small – scale industrial is dependent on their training.

2.                 Industrial development center, Enugu is having adequate coverage in its areas of operations.

1.7             ORGANIZATION OF STUDY

The research titled “contribution of business support to entrepreneurial development center Enugu” has given to small scale enterprises. It is divided into five chapter dealing with specific. Chapter one deals with introduction, which consists of background of the study, statement of problem, significance of study, scope and limitation, purpose of the study, research questions and definition of terms. Chapter two deals with review of related literature  such as review of definition, small scale business, relevance to the Nigeria economy, small scale industries credit schemes problems of small scale business, contribution of government agencies in sourcing information for entrepreneurs, small scale business support system and entrepreneurial development, industrial development center (IDC) and entrepreneurial development.  

Chapter three deals with research design and methodology, which constitutes research design, area of study, data used, location of data, instrument of data collection, methods of data analysis.

Chapter four deals with data presentation and analysis. Chapter five deals with findings, conclusion and recommendations for further studies.

1.8             DEFINITION OF TERMS

1.                 Entrepreneurial development: is defined as the various programmes and incentives provided by governments and non-governmental agencies aimed at training, promoting and encouraging entrepreneurs towards the attainment of maximum returns on any business ventures carried out.

2.                 Entrepreneurship: Defined as the willingness and ability of an individual to seek out investment opportunities, establish and run an enterprise successfully.

3.                 Entrepreneur: Defined as an individual who is willing and able to take business risks for gainful poses.

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