The emergence and development of entrepreneurship are crucial for economic growth and development in national and regional economies.  As the entrepreneurs have the potential to contribute to the society, the study of entrepreneurial traits and motivation are important for better understanding of entrepreneurial environment.  This paper examines the factors influencing to become First Generation Entrepreneurs and the impact of demographic factors on the personality traits of First Generation Entrepreneurs in Small Scale Industry in Tirunelveli District.  The most important five personality characteristics like need for achievement, locus of control, risk-taking propensity, innovative behaviour and Tolerance of ambiguity are selected for this study.  Among the total 19 Development Blocks of the Tirunelveli District, a sample of 250 First Generation Entrepreneurs from 9 Development Blocks are selected to analyse their personality traits.  percentage analysis, weighted average method, and ANOVA are used to analyse the collected data.

KEY WORDS: Entrepreneurship Development, Entrepreneurial Motivation, First Generation Entrepreneur, Need for Achievement, Personality Traits.