This paper deals with the problems faced by the entrepreneurs of the SIDCO Industrial Estates of Madurai region. Problems of these entrepreneurs are analyzed from various angles—production, marketing, finance, labor, and infrastructural. While the challenges are effectively tackled by the entrepreneurs, the results, in terms of profits, need to be more rewarding. While absenteeism of the lower level employees is a unique feature in the industrial estates of Madurai, other problems are industry-specific.

Entrepreneurship has acquired a special significance in the context of economic growth and industrial development in the rapidly changing socioeconomic and socio-cultural climates both in the developed and developing countries. Most of the students of MBA aspire to become an entrepreneur rather than an employee of an organization. One of the ways of achieving this is to analyze the environment critically and study the problems faced by the entrepreneurs. With this purpose in mind, a study on the problems faced by small scale entrepreneurs in the industrial estates of Madurai region was conducted.

Many studies have been conducted in relation to industrial entrepreneurship. The creative process used by entrepreneurs to generate business ideas and to recognize entrepreneurial opportunities is the essence of entrepreneurship. The small and medium-sized enterprises hold an important place in the modern economy. Small and medium sized companies constitute about 95 percent of all European enterprises and provide 60 percent of all jobs (Gleichmann, 1990). They are also assumed to be more adaptive and innovative than larger companies. They are of particular importance in East Germany and in East Europe.

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