Abstract:
The questions of what constitutes entrepreneurship and, in turn, who an entrepreneur is, have
dominated entrepreneurship discourse in recent times. Over the years, a multiplicity of
definitions of entrepreneurship has been proffered. However, most of these definitions to be
either Eurocentric or Western-oriented and largely devoid of (South) African socio-economic
imperatives. Naturally, the manner in which entrepreneurship in South Africa is conceptualised
derives from the former definitions. Furthermore, the classification of entrepreneurship
ventures in the country is also problematic. A Eurocentric classification regime is, on the one
hand, too simplistic; and, on the other hand, it fails to fully capture the true essence of
entrepreneurial activity within the South African economy. It is, therefore, not surprising that
entrepreneurship development policies and interventions are not successful in stimulating
entrepreneurship. This problem, this study argues, is a result of the lack of localised research
aimed at understanding entrepreneurship classification dynamics in South Africa. This
constitutes a research gap, which this study seeks to address. It is against this background
that the aim of this study is to develop a taxonomy of entrepreneurial ventures in the Limpopo
Province of South Africa. To achieve this purpose, which is pre-paradigmatic, the proposed
study was designed along the dictates of a qualitatively grounded theory research. This
facilitated the application of multiple methods of data collection. The study sampled 5
entrepreneurs in the Limpopo Province who were interviewed using an in-depth format. The
value of this work is among the first in seeking to propose a framework (i.e. taxonomy) for
classifying entrepreneurship ventures within the South African context. The implication of the
study is that it potentially provides policymakers with valuable tools to understand South
African entrepreneurship and the channels of intervention for small business ventures.
