Abstract

The research analyzes the impact of SMEs business opportunities for entrepreneurs in Jacobabad District, The strategic development option for local economic development, especially in the rural areas of Sindh. Data were collected from 300 respondents by using simple random technique. A structural questionnaire was designed to get the reliable results. This strategy being also known as homegrown development refers to a process of supporting and encouraging people to become entrepreneurs in order to enhance the economic prosperity of a community, first, creating the environment being favorable for creativity and innovativeness; second, encouraging entrepreneurship as an eligible career option through entrepreneurial education, facilitation and recognition, and third, developing institutional support system to entrepreneurs. The main aim of this paper is to discuss the economic strength of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the economic development of Jacobabad District, and to explore the perception of the Jacobabad entrepreneurs about the role of institutions in entrepreneurship development. The analysis indicates the SMEs have had a weak economic power. Small and medium-sized enterprises, although numerically overwhelming, employ approximately half of the total employed in the City, operate continuously with financial losses, and are oriented mostly to doing business locally. According to the perception of Jacobabad entrepreneurs, the biggest business challenges are caused by problems connected to entrepreneurial environment conditions, i.e. institutional infrastructural conditions, and the least to inappropriate profiles and inefficiency of local work force. Drown from these findings, lessons considering the process of entrepreneurship development in Jacobabad District is discussed as well. It was revealed that government should provide facilities to the entrepreneurs, credit and market facilities. It was further revealed that Rural people are facing lot challenges specially their women who are engaged in Small and Medium enterprises business.  Rural women is more innovative once they are engaged in SMEs business, these illiterate women have more innovative designing of various suits, local handicraft, and other SMEs businesses.

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