The Digitalisation of Rural Entrepreneurship

Abstract

The main primary purpose of this chapter is to present new established understanding and knowledge of the digitalization of rural entrepreneurship, how it can help entrepre- neurial survival and growth in rural industries, and what are the theoretical and practical implications. The digitalization concept of businesses is the issue of interest in the world today; however, it is still of concern in the rural South African entrepreneurship sector. Collection of primary data was done from 501 owners/managers operating in rural of the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province. The mixed questionnaire of quantitative and qualitative was used as the survey instruments. The questionnaire was distributed at the entrepre- neur’s business premises, and they were given 7 days to respond while researcher and research assistants were always available to assist where necessary. The findings of this survey revealed that the large number of participants are not using their digital technol- ogy for the business purpose, but rather they use it for other things such as private communications and social friendship. The survey was confined in one province of South Africa; therefore, the generalization of the results should be done with care. This study has indicated some recommendation and suggested further research which may include other provinces as well as other countries.