The Primacy of Effective Human Capital Management to the Growth of Entrepreneurship Ventures. A Study of Cases from the Fast Food Restaurant Sector in Cape Town

This paper draws on two fields, human resources management and entrepreneurship to examine the observed problem of stalled established business ownership even despite favourable Total Early Stage entrepreneurship (TEA) among many nations. The aim of the study was to established the perceptions of entrepreneurs on the influence of human capital on the growth and sustainability of entrepreneurial ventures from the restaurant sector in Cape Town. The study adopted a qualitative research design which was based on interviews to infer the entrepreneurs’ perceptions on the role of effective human capital management to growth of entrepreneurial ventures. Fifteen interviews were conducted and analysed following a thematic analyse procedure. Various themes and sub themes which pointed to the critically of effective human capital management were established. It was found the people possess certain social, philosophical, psychological and ideological attributes that cannot be found from other resources. At the end of the analysis, it was established that human resources are central to the growth of entrepreneurial ventures as they possess certain exploitable entrepreneurial talents, are capable of unlocking the value of other resources and also they are the drivers of growth. Following these findings, it was recommended that entrepreneurs should centralise effective human capital management for growth. Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Human Capital, Small Businesses, Business Growth, Competitive Advantag