International Journal of Research and Review Vol.7; Issue: 12; December 2020 Website: www.ijrrjournal.com Research Paper E-ISSN: 2349-9788; P-ISSN: 2454-2237 Entrepreneurial Skills of Microentrepreneurs in Kerala Jini Thomas Asst. Professor, Dept. of Commerce, Mar Athanasius College, Kothamangalam ABSTRACT Results: The mean rank comparison of leadership skills developed by the micro Background: Entrepreneurship is the process of entrepreneurs in Malappuram district revealed opening new ventures in response to the that ‘I am able to manage a team solely’ (3.80) opportunities identified and pursuing them on is the most important leadership skill developed the basis of the resources under control and by them after becoming an entrepreneur .‘I am introduces something novel to the world, whose able to give technical advice to my market is associated with uncertainty. employees/others’ (3.39) was the most Entrepreneurship development is considered as important knowledge skill developed by the the engine for transforming the society. micro entrepreneurs of Malappuram district in Globalization and the information technology Kerala. Based on the mean rank, it is observed explosion directed Indian economy to enter that ‘I am able to retain all my customers’ (4.37) into a new economic era. Entrepreneurs are the was the most important marketing skill centre of every industrial activity specifically; developed by the micro entrepreneurs in the economic landscape of India is being altered Malappuram district. Based on the mean rank, it through the development of micro small and was found out that ‘I can set clearly defined medium enterprises. Entrepreneurship is the goals’ (4.517) was the most important practice of starting new organisations in management skill developed by the micro response to identified business opportunities. entrepreneurs of Malappuram district in Kerala. The individual performance of micro Conclusion: The data analysis revealed that a entrepreneurs in Kerala means the improvement majority of the micro entrepreneurs fall under in their business skills. The analysis of business the age group of 20 to 60 years. Muslims were skills developed by the micro entrepreneurs in more involved in entrepreneurship in Kerala has been made by reckoning variables, Malappuram district. Compared to General and such as leadership, management, knowledge, SC/ST category, OBC category were more and marketing skills. involved in entrepreneurship in Malappuram Aim: The present study has been undertaken to district. Majority of the micro entrepreneurs in evaluate the entrepreneurial skill and Malappuram district did not have higher development of micro enterprises in Kerala with educational qualification. Most of the families special reference to Malappuram district. of the micro entrepreneurs in Kerala were Materials and methods: The scope of the study nuclear in nature and the place of birth of the is limited to the evaluation of entrepreneurial majority of the micro entrepreneurs was rural. skills possessed by the male micro entrepreneurs The results revealed that there is a significant in Malappuram district of Kerala. The difference in the entrepreneurial skills of micro respondents of the study were 50 male micro entrepreneurs and their entrepreneurial activities manufactures in Malappuram District. The data helped them to develop entrepreneurial skill to a were suitably classified and analyzed based on greater extent in Malappuram district of Kerala. the objective of the study. Statistical tools like percentages, chi-square test, and Friedman Key words: Micro enterprise, entrepreneurial repeated measures analysis of variance on ranks skill, Entrepreneurship, Friedman Repeated have been applied for analyzing the data. Measures Analysis of Variance. Analysis was done via statistical software SPSS 21.0. International Journal of Research and Review (ijrrjournal.com) 281 Vol.7; Issue: 12; December 2020 Jini Thomas. Entrepreneurial skills of microentrepreneurs in Kerala INTRODUCTION successful and unsuccessful entrepreneurs in Economic development invariably Ethiopia. means a process of upward change which Namrata and Niladri (2016)3 results in the increase in real per capita identified five major skills viz. leadership, income over a long period of time. communication, human relation, Entrepreneurship emerges from an technical,and in born aptitude skill which individual’s creative spirit in to long-term were acted as driving agents for meauring business ownership, employment creation, entrepreneurial performance and success in capital formation and economic security. Jharkhand region.The study showed that, in Development of entrepreneurship culture contrast to literatures studied,technical skill and qualitative business development is the did not have any effect on the success of the major requirements for industrial growth. enterprises which was still in its nascent age Entrepreneurs are the centre of every of development industrial activity .They play a vital role in the economic development of a country. Significance of the Study MSME Sector will provide new Entrepreneurial skill support the opportunities to the entrepreneurs to grow. process of innovation, enhances Entrepreneurial skills are essential for the productivity and channelize the growth and industrialisation and for alleviation of mass ensures better performance in all relevant unemployment and poverty. areas of business. Entrepreneurs should The micro units are considered as develop a strong skill base in order to the respiratory system of Kerala’s industrial support the process of entrepreneurial sector as it facilitates the development of development in India .This enable them to industries with limited capital and sustain from the start up stage to the level of manpower .Those having adequate growth and maturity. The present study entrepreneurial abilities can run their unit aims to draw a frame work on the successfully and introduce new products to entrepreneurial skills and entrepreneurial the market. These entrepreneurial skills development in Malappuram district which helped the entrepreneurs to ensure the would help to know the entrepreneurial establishment, expansion and modernisation skills developed by the male micro of micro units in Kerala. entrepreneurs after becoming an entrepreneur. In this context, the present REVIEW OF LITERATURE study titled Entrepreneurial Skills of Micro Ngugi (2014)1 revealed that the entrepreneurs in Kerala assumes greater technical,managerial and personal skills of significance. entrepreneurs were the key factors detrmining the performance of the Micro Scope of the study and small Petrolum Enterprises . The The present study has been results showed that there was a positive undertaken to analyze the entrepreneurial correlation between entreprenerial skills and skills of micro entrepreneurs in Kerala MSE growth in Kenya’s petrolum sector. with special reference to Malappuram Aschalew Mulugeta et al.(2016)2 district. The assessment has been made by analysed the skills possesed by the considering the perception of male micro entepreneurs in Ethiopia. The study revealed manufacturing entrepreneurs who were in that entreprenerial,technical, interpersonal, the business at least for a period of five and business skills were the major skill years in Eranad taluk of Malappuram possessed by them. The study pointed out district in Kerala. .The details of the that abilty to use network technology in the entrepreneurs were collected from the data business and updation of technological base maintained by the District Industries skills were below average for both Centre, Malappuram. International Journal of Research and Review (ijrrjournal.com) 282 Vol.7; Issue: 12; December 2020 Jini Thomas. Entrepreneurial skills of microentrepreneurs in Kerala Objective of Study Entrepreneurial Skills of Micro To study the skills developed by the entrepreneurs in Kerala –Analysis male micro entrepreneurs through Table 1 Age of the Micro entrepreneurs in Malappuram entrepreneurship in Malappuram district of District state of Kerala. Age (in years ) Frequency Percentage Less than 20 - - 20-40 25 50.0 Hypothesis of the study 40-60 19 38.0 60 and above 6 12.0 H01: There is no significant difference Total 50 100 among the Knowledge skill developed by the micro entrepreneurs through The study revealed that 50 per cent entrepreneurship in Malappuram district. of the micro entrepreneurs in Malappuram H02: There is no significant difference in the district fall under the age group of 20-40 Leadership Skill of Micro Entrepreneurs in years and 38 per cent of them belong to the Malappuram district of Kerala age group of 40-60 years. Thus it can be H03: There is no significant difference in the concluded that Overall, a majority of the Marketing skill of Micro Entrepreneurs in micro entrepreneurs (>88%) fall under the Malappuram district of Kerala. age group of 20 to 60 years (Table 1). H04: There is no significant difference in the Table 2: Religion of the Micro entrepreneurs in Malappuram Management skill of Micro Entrepreneurs in District Malappuram district of Kerala. Religion Frequency Per cent Christian 2 4.0 Hindu 19 38.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Muslim 29 58.0 Total 50 100.0 Selection of sample A sample of 50 entrepreneurs in Table 2 shows that 58 per cent of the Eranad taluk, Malappuram district of Kerala micro entrepreneurs in Malappuram district was selected by adopting convenience are Muslims, while 38per cent are Hindus. sampling method. The respondents of the