ABSTRACT
Entrepreneurs can face resource, operational and strategic barriers to NFF and development. They face major challenges in assembling and configuring the resources they need to exploit opportunities to become revenue generating products or services. The challenges arise partly because some entrepreneurs, particularly novice entrepreneurs, may possess very limited pools of resources. Entrepreneurs need to obtain resources from their external environments. The external environment shapes the ability of entrepreneurs to discover or create opportunities, and their subsequent ability to exploit these opportunities for competitive success. Further, the external environment (or locality) can contain a pool of scarce and valued resources. Entrepreneurs with limited experience and legitimacy (Hannan and Carroll, 1992) may find it challenging to persuade outsiders in the external environment like financiers to contribute resources when an opportunity involves a product that may be little more than an idea to serve a market that does not yet exist.
