AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON RURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT IN SERVICE SECTOR OF BANGLADESH WITH SPECIAL REFERENCES TO PABNA DISTRICT

Abstract

This study aims to identify the driving forces of rural entrepreneurship development in some selected areas of Pabna district, Bangladesh.By using a convenient sampling technique and a structured questionnaire a total of 120 rural entrepreneurs were surveyed to achieve the objectives.The field survey period of this study was February to April,2020.The study mainly used descriptive statistics to presents the findings. Data were analyzed by using SPSS version-23. The findings indicate that 42% of the respondents were in the age group of 36 to 45 years the majority’s 27.5% had a primary level of education.About 68% of the respondents have mentioned that self-employment is motivating elements for starting a business. Infrastructural facilities (84%),non-existence of similar units (82%), availability of raw materials (82%), and low-cost resource (41%), 30% availability of labor (30%) were among the factors contributing to the growth of rural entrepreneurship.The study found that 86.7% of rural entrepreneurs took loans for their initial investment.About 94% of rural entrepreneurs never defaulted on a loan for their investment.About 53% of rural entrepreneurs were providing training to their employees.About 91% earned money within one year.During the last three-year profit is showing an increasing trend.The study also identified a few problems, such as lack of power (22.5%) followed by infrastructural weakness (16.7%).The study also suggested some recommendations for utilizing the opportunities to overcome the problems for rural entrepreneurship development.