ABSTRACT
This study was carried out to examine the effect of startup business in entrepreneurial development in Nigeria, using 20 selected event management centres in Abuja as case study. Specifically, the study examined various areas startup business has affected entrepreneurial development in Nigeria. The study employed the survey descriptive research design. A total of 62 responses were validated from the survey. Hypotheses were analysed using chi-square statistical tool. From the responses obtained and analysed, the findings revealed that Job creation and increase in national income are the contributions of startup business in Nigeria and that lack of strong patent law and lack of knowledge of entrepreneurship in the basic science and technology constitute the challenges to startup business in entrepreneurial development. The extent of entrepreneurial development in Nigeria is high. The study however, recommends that there is need to change the mind set of young people to embrace self-employed job rather than waiting for non-existing government job and there is need for government to set up workshops where young and old entrepreneurs can come and acquire new skills needed for their businesses.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1Â Background of the Study
Nigeria is naturally endowed with entrepreneurship opportunities; however the realization of the full potential of these opportunities has been dampened by the adoption of inappropriate industrialization policies at different times. Several policy interventions that were aimed at stimulating entrepreneurship development via small and medium scale enterprises promotion, based on technology transfer strategy, have failed to achieve the desired goals as it led to the most indigenous entrepreneurs becoming distribution agents of imported products as opposed to building in-country entrepreneurial capacity for manufacturing, mechanized agriculture and expert services (Thaddeus, 2012).
With the collapse of the last vestiges of the socialist economic system in 1991, virtually the whole world has embraced free enterprise economic system. Entrepreneurship is the cornerstone and at the heart of the free enterprise economy (Popoola, 2014). Entrepreneurship is defined as the willingness and ability of a person to seek and identify investment opportunities, establish and run a successful enterprise Solomon (2007). It is also viewed as the act of arranging business ideas, taking the associated risk and starting a Business, with a view to profit making. According to Paul, (2005); and Ossai (2012) entrepreneurship is essentially about taking a risk; it entails the creating of new venture which previously did not exist. Previously exist; it is the concerted effort and practice of starting new Business organization, especially new business; it leads to the creation of new wealth through the implementation of innovative ideas.
for any existing business to have been existing to its current stage, it most have first pass through the beginning stage which is known as startup stage.
According to EDC (2013) start up is the early stage in the life cycle of an enterprise consisting of when the entrepreneur converts the idea, to securing finance, outlining the   basic structure of the business, and start operations or trading. The effect of new startup businesses are enormous as they create employment opportunities, create customer value in terms of providing new and improved products and services, create training and skill acquisition opportunities for the youths and impact on the general living standard of the people and the economy.
Moreover, studies by UNIDO-Nigeria, 2012 show that Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) has the propensity to drive the Nigerian Economy, and data reveal that there are currently over 17 million MSMEs employing over 31 million Nigerians. MSMEs account for over 80% of enterprises that employ about 75 % of the Nigeria’s total workforce, and therefore formulating and effectively implementing MSMEs friendly policies represents innovative ways of building the capacity to engage in entrepreneurial activities and creating job opportunities thus, playing a central and invaluable role in helping Nigeria realize its quantity advantage.
In addition, the 2012 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) has empirically identified Nigeria as one of the most entrepreneurial countries in the world. The study showed that 35 out of every 100 Nigerians (over a third) are engaged in some kind of entrepreneurial activity or the other. It is therefore imperative at this point in time to critically evaluate not just the principles of entrepreneurship but the practice and its crucial role in fostering economic growth and development in a developing economy like Nigeria.
