21st Century Entrepreneurial Skills Development of Community Enterprises Chainat Province

Aims: This study intended to assess and enhance the importance of entrepreneurial skills for community enterprises in Chainat Province in the 21st century.

Study Design: This study used a mixed method approach, combining qualitative data obtained from in-depth interviews with quantitative data gained using a questionnaire developed from the qualitative results.

Place and Duration of Study: A sample of 400 community entrepreneurs in Chainat Province was chosen using cluster sampling and random selection techniques, between December 2021 and November 2022.

Methodology: The qualitative research tool differs from the quantitative research tool. The questionnaire in quantitative research should have an Index of Item Objective Congruence (IOC) above 0.6 and a Cronbach's alpha of 0.95.

Results: During the COVID-19 period, the qualitative research revealed that the majority of issues are marketing-related. Hence, they require marketing technologies. The quantitative research results indicated significant progress in two categories of entrepreneurial skills in the 21st century: innovation skills and marketing-related life and career skills. The other discoveries included educational materials tailored for modern-day business owners, catering to a range of learning styles. The text covered essential entrepreneurial skills for local businesses, sales promotion techniques, public relations strategies to acquire specific customers, sales negotiating skills, maintaining product branding, and developing new sales tactics.

Conclusion: The study discovered that entrepreneurs in Chainat Province aspire to enhance their entrepreneurial abilities in the 21st century, particularly focusing on developing innovative skills and life and career skills