Abstract:

South - Muntenia Development Region is one of the 8 regions of Romania and has in managing seven counties: Arges, Prahova, Dambovita, Teleorman, Giurgiu, Ialomita and Calarasi. According to the Regional Development Agency South -Muntenia, in region are developed a set of traditional sectors, such as oil and chemical equipment production, production of petro -chemical products, automobile manufacturing, agricultural production and livestock, mountain tourism and spa services. In these circumstances it is considered appropriate to analyze the overall current situation and development of rural entrepreneurship in this region. The present study is an analysis of the overall situation of business environment and entrepreneurship in rural areas from the perspective of the entrepreneurs of South - Muntenia region. The main research method used is questionnaire survey that was administered to a total of 100 private entrepreneurs, who activate in rural areas of South- Muntenia region. The study is structured in four parts. The first part analyzes the structure and evolution of the performance of SMEs that are part of the sample, analyzing the relationship between the industry, age and entrepreneurs view on the evolution of future performance, compared to the current situation. The second part of the study shows the appreciation of entrepreneurs over their business, focusing on identifying opportunities for future development of the business and the needs for the development of entrepreneurial activities. The third part of the study shows a profile of the entrepreneurs in rural areas, taking into account a number of common characteristics: age, training level, sex, marital status and seniority as entrepreneur. The study ends with a series of conclusions from the survey conducted, which are pragmatic premises for creating incentive programs to develop new entrepreneurial initiatives in rural areas and to support and develop the existing entrepreneurial activities in rural areas of Romania.