KOSGEB ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM: A CRITICAL ASSESMENT

The objective of the KOSGEB Entrepreneurship Support Program is determined briefly as "to support, make widespread entrepreneurship, the fundamental factor to resolve problems related to economic development and employment, and to establish successful and sustainable enterprises and make widespread the concept of entrepreneurial culture". The KOSGEB Entrepreneurship Program, an example of social entrepreneurship, consists of the elements of applied entrepreneurship training, new entrepreneur support, Business Development Centre (？？GEM) support and business plan award support. On the other hand, KOSGEB has been the first place of application in recent years for those who want to become an entrepreneur with the support of many public institutions and organizations and NGO's. To date, more than 350.000 people have completed the applied entrepreneurship training, provided free of charge, and have become entitled to receive certificate thereunder. This study examines the data for the six-year period of the program launched in 2010 to determine to what extent people qualified to benefit from the financial supports, provided as repayable and non-repayable supports, utilized the program and their rates of utilization. It was concluded as a result of the evaluation performed that these supports could not be used for the purpose of the program and that solution proposals for conducting a more efficient program were discussed