Attached
Microenterprises and also the attached entrepreneurs in the developing
countries are very diverse. Therefore, issues and barriers related to microenterprises are at a
wide range. It is crucial in identifying underlying segmentation stories beforehand any policy
intervention that direct to improve micro entrepreneurship. This study aims to identify de facto
typologies and potential entrepreneurship in urban informal sector in Sri Lanka. Data were
drawn from a sample of 300 micro entrepreneurs chosen under multi stage cluster sampling
method. Ward’s hierarchical clustering method identified five main segments considering
demographic, socioeconomic, business related and also psychological factors related to
entrepreneurs. According to the characteristics recorded, identified five clusters were labeled
as survival, potential, survival-forever, transitory and self-sufficient for cluster 1 to 5
respectively. Survival or survival-forever groups were not operatable for a growing firm due
to their setup and other related characteristics while self-sufficient group had least capacity to
expand within micro basis. Cluster two and four had growth oriented characteristics and
hence potential groups that were finalized as the viable micro entrepreneurial blocks which
have greater potential to grow with complementary assistances.
