Entrepreneur selection methodology for entrepreneurship promotion programmes

Abstract

Incubators or policymakers need to decide which applicants to invest their budget and resources in. In the interest of avoiding misdirected budgets, they will naturally seek to invest in those applicants with the greatest potential for succeeding. This article describes a method designed to help in making sound investment decisions by selecting those entrepreneurs most likely to succeed. The methodology involves two steps: the first focuses on the assessment of individual characteristics, and the second focuses on the evaluation of the business opportunity. We applied this methodology on an entrepreneurship promotion programme following a longitudinal design. By the end of the programme, the 15 selected participants were successful in the implementation of their start-ups. This would indicate, therefore, that using this entrepreneur selection method can help in the investment decision making process because it enables entrepreneurship agents to more effectively evaluate individuals and their opportunities.