Entrepreneurial Start-Up Rates and Challenges Among Fashion Design Graduates in Ghana

This study investigated the characteristics of fashion education in Ghana and analyzed the factors facilitating and hindering entrepreneurial ventures among fashion design graduates. A descriptive survey approach was employed to analyze quantitative data from 120 graduates across six metropolitan areas, examining the impact of educational experiences, skill development, and institutional barriers on entrepreneurial success. The study found that fashion education in Ghana has changed over the past decades, and graduates vehemently confess that they have improved their technical, creative, and business skills. Along with the growing demand for fashion made in Ghana, graduates were strongly encouraged to start their own businesses by getting hands-on training, joining industry groups, and taking business-related classes. Even with these positive initiatives, it was found that long-lasting structural problems still make it hard for people to go from training to starting their own businesses. Some of these problems are limited access to start-up funds, high production costs, bad management skills, unpredictable market conditions, regulatory bottlenecks, and a lack of modern technology and supply chains. These problems make it tough for fashion start-ups to grow and stay in business. The study concludes by recommending that to help Ghanas fashion graduates become more entrepreneurial and ensure the growth of the local fashion industry, TVET reforms need to be strengthened, links between institutions and businesses need to be improved, financing mechanisms need to be enhanced, and training infrastructure needs to be updated.