Entrepreneurial characteristics among small business owners and non-business owners in the Dakar area

Abstract

This paper discusses the presence of entrepreneurial traits among different types of business owners and among the general population, in order to ascertain whether selected personal characteristics, defined as 'entrepreneurial traits', are actually attributes of business owners and whether these characteristics are typical of them. It presents some results of a research carried out in the Dakar city area of Senegal. Some entrepreneurial characteristics were selected and the intensity of their presence measured. From the results it appears that the entrepreneurial traits are present among business owners (although not all of the selected traits are strongly present) and that there is a clear difference between business owners and non-business owners in the intensity of the presence of these traits.