Table of Contents
Socio-Personal Characteristics
The most common socio-personal characteristics are caste, family occupation, age, education, size and number of family working hands, earning members, and social participation. A brief description of these characteristics is given below:
- Caste and Family Background
- Age
- Education
- Size and Type of family
- Working Hands
- Social Participation
Caste and Family Background
Caste and family background help in creating an entrepreneurial environment and occupational awareness for the entrepreneurs. There are certain castes that are traditionally involved in certain types of work.
Matching of castes with trades, therefore, appears to be logical. Most of the people prefer to accept family tasks easily. If an entrepreneur chooses a trade that is being carried in his family it is obvious that he would be more at ease with it.
Age
Studies have revealed that younger people are more successful entrepreneurs. This may be because older people are more reluctant to take risky ventures. Adaptability to new techniques is more in young people and they can easily adjust themselves.
They are more concerned with avoiding failure than achieving success. More, older people are generally less ambitious. These days entrepreneurs like to first acquire proper qualifications and then set up the business.
Education
A minimum level of education is essential to perform functions like meeting officials, etc.
Size and Type of family
The size of the family and the entrepreneur’s status in the family are important. In a large family, the entrepreneur may command little authority.
But other earning members of the family may enable him to pay undivided attention to his enterprise by providing financial support to the family. A joint family has generally a greater risk-bearing capacity. However, the entrepreneur has greater command over the family resources in a nuclear family.
Working Hands
A small entrepreneur has to depend upon family members generally as he cannot afford to hire workers.
This determines the amount of influence that the entrepreneur will be able to muster outside his immediate family circle. Greater social participation improves the ability to influence and thereby the success of the entrepreneur.
Thus, while selecting candidates for EDP, preference should be given to those having experience in the trade, a functional level of education, youthfulness, family resources, financial support, and authority.
