PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIFICATION Purpose: The purpose of the Qualification is to develop the appropriate skills and knowledge required by a person for the establishment and development of a small to medium business venture, and address the economic, administrative and behavioural (psycho-social) barriers that contribute to success in starting and sustaining the venture. This qualification is intended for persons who wish to start, operate, manage and grow a new small to medium business venture. Learners attempting this qualification will be equipped with a variety of technical, business managerial and personal skills and strategies to help them succeed in the creation and sustenance of a business. The successful learner will develop a sound foundation for the application of these skills and knowledge to explore a diverse range of entrepreneurial opportunities. Recipients of this qualification will be able to: Demonstrate an ability to identify and create a new venture. Demonstrate knowledge of interpersonal skills required in a business environment. Demonstrate an understanding of basic economics within an market economy. Manage a new venture by applying business principles and techniques. Demonstrate an understanding of the role of leadership and management. Rationale: This Qualification will meet the needs of the formal and in-formal Small, Micro and Medium Enterprise Sector by providing training standards against which entrepreneurs can be trained. This Qualification meets the needs of society by, primarily, providing persons who are able to apply the fairly complex knowledge and skills required to be an entrepreneur and thus contribute to the economic upliftment of themselves, their community and thereby the nation as a whole. Alternatively this Qualification is also attractive to persons who have not received formal training in this Sector but who are are already managing and/or are working as employees within an established Small, Micro and Medium Enterprise business. This Qualification contributes to an integrated National Qualifications Framework; provides for access, mobility and progression within the Small, Micro and Medium Enterprise Sector; enhances the quality of training for entrepreneurs; allows for the redress of past and contributes to the development of the learner entrepreneurs. The majority of the learners attempting this qualification are likely to be unemployed persons who, via a learnership, have been identified and selected as having the potential to create a new business venture. With this Qualification and the established of a Small, Micro and Medium Enterprise provides the learner access to further learning opportunities at NQF Level 5 in Business Consulting Practice and Business Advising.