Enhancing new venture creation success in South Africa: a project management perspective

Abstract

South Africa’s new venture creation rate is disturbingly low. Ineffective management during start-up can lead to a low venture creation rate. Amidst the growing importance of project management in effective business management, utilizing project management in the entrepreneurial process has become very appealing. The purpose of this paper is to provide a project management model for starting a new venture. Desk research is undertaken through which relevant literature on the key components of the study is reviewed and synthesized. The authors find that through action research, project management aspects can be integrated into the entrepreneurial process to improve the new venture success rate. Based on this framework, the authors conclude that it is possible to improve Total Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) in South Africa and elsewhere. This theoretical framework is yet to be tested. However, even in its present untested form, the paper is important because it theoretically enriches the entrepreneurship literature whilst also offering a possible practical solution to the vexing problem of high new venture creation failure rate in South Africa and elsewhere through a structured framework.