This dissertation aims at identifying which barriers affect the transformation of a family farmer into a rural entrepreneur. In this sector, experience has shown that some family farmers who are inserted into the same social context of other ones, have succeeded in developing their own production fully. These experiences demystify the premise that family agriculture is basically subsistence farming, used only for their own consumption. In order to collect data, a documentary research on several studies of entrepreneurship and the profile of an entrepreneur was associated to a field work carried out in two cities: Chapecó, in Santa Catarina, and Constantina, in Rio Grande do Sul. Fourteen semi-structured interviews were realized in an intentional, random sample with convenience of two distinct groups: family farmers and rural entrepreneurs, both associated to the Cooperativa de Crédito Rural com Intenção Solidária (CRESOL Central SC/RS). The qualitative data analysis, which was taken from this research, searched for understanding the characteristics, behaviors, values, beliefs and cultural practices of the family farmer and also, the rural entrepreneur. In this work, it was possible to identify that, although the fact of having some groups presented characteristics such as self-confidence, persistence and high energy level; the barriers to the rural entrepreneurship were associated to the absence of characteristics like leadership, risk taking and innovativeness.