Investment in Human Capital and Entrepreneurial Skills in Family SMEs in Lubumbashi

The objective of this study is to describe the entrepreneurial skills in family SMEs in Lubumbashi; then explain the relationship between basic or continuing training in entrepreneurship and these entrepreneurial skills. The main hypothesis is therefore that the degree of possession of entrepreneurial skills among the owners of family SMEs is positively linked to investment in human capital, that is to say to the degree of training achieved in entrepreneurship and the type of training of base received. The key variables of entrepreneurial skills that we have retained are entrepreneurial skills, administrative skills and managerial skills, according to the model of Deeks (1976). The results show that the owners of family SMEs in Lubumbashi have, in a large majority, a low degree of possession of the various skills. The structure of the data showed that the level of education in entrepreneurship is relatively low. It is proportional to the size of the company but inversely proportional to age and years of experience. By confirming the fact that investment in human capital is not the only factor in acquiring entrepreneurial and managerial skills, although it is for administrative skills, our study contributes to improving knowledge of the relationship between entrepreneurship training and entrepreneurial skills development. This suggests that existing theoretical models of the relationship between training and skill development should include other variables such as social, cultural and contextual order as moderating variables.