Theoretical Contributions

Significant contributions have been made to the theoretical underpinning of studies into entrepreneurship in the small businesses in the following three areas. First, by examining the environmental and personal factors which have influenced business start- up, this work has shown that in a small business, the business owner is the business, and it is this individual’s motivations and perceptions that drive their business behaviour. Hence, the environmental and personal factors are not simple ‘business influences’, but are unique ones that come together to drive the small business owner’s individual perceptions and motivations for starting a business.

Second, when the available ethnic entrepreneurship theories were examined in preparation for their application to the processes involved in business start-up and sustainability, it was found that there were significant overlaps across the range of theories (Figure 3.4). This meant that the theories were interrelated, showing the commonality amongst some of their characteristics within each ethnic entrepreneurship theory. In addition, it was revealed that through the examination of the theoretical lens, interrelated theories were required to explain particular behaviours taken within cases

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taken to support their business operations. Finally, in the examination of survival factors which impact on existing operating businesses, it was found that the factors that supported sustainability were not driven by a single economic factor, but were rather dependent upon a range of personal issues such as having a family worker and prior working experience.

7.2.1 The use of Interrelated Ethnic Entrepreneurship Theories for Business Start- up

At a theoretical level, as indicated above, responses to this study have suggested that the use of a single interpretative theory to explain business start-up issues is not as revealing as a more multi-faceted approach. In particular, it was found that a combination of the Ethnic Resources and Ethnic Enclave theories was most influential in explaining the impacts of various factors on Vietnamese owners’ start-up experiences.

It was clear, nevertheless, that compared to the other available Ethnic Entrepreneurship theories, and the theory of Ethnic Resources on its own was an important approach to help interpret start-up events. Owners, in general, seemed to prefer to have a network of support from families and the ethnic community, something that was strongly suggested by Collins (2002). However, even in the light of this useful lens, the findings of this study suggest that more clarity and insight into this issue can be obtained from a combination of the Ethnic Resources and Ethnic Enclave theories. These two approaches were considered to be significant in assisting to understand how the Vietnamese owners went about starting up their businesses. They referred to the resources from their own community and, at the same time and with equal emphasis, noted that operating their businesses in a suburb with a high ethnic population was essential. The ethnic resources ranged from family finances, to hiring their own ethnic employees, whilst serving their ethnic customers was a feature of the Ethnic Enclave theory. It seems that majority of the businesses have relied on factors highlighted by these two combined Ethnic Entrepreneurship theories when it comes to entry into the contested business world.

7.2.2 Unexpected Performance Dichotomy

It was found that an unexpected performance dichotomy emerged from the investigation of business survival. There were two distinct groups found in this study, which were

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labelled as low performers and high performers, which were (i) clearly sustainable businesses but (ii) which had very different characteristics that assisted in their business survival. The low and high performance labels were based on the analysis of the literature review and the results of the data, and it is thus clear from this that business survival is significantly more complex than a simple economic perspective would suggest.

Therefore, it could be proposed that these two groups are quite distinct, which is one of the unexpected outcomes of this study. The low performers, who were characterised by having inadequate English language skills, having minimal education and operating a home-based business. On the other hand, the high performers, represented as high profit earners, were characterised as having satisfying customers and being successful small business. These two groups have, nevertheless, both been able to sustain their small businesses. This study has thus drawn attention to the fact that even though some businesses have operated with very different performance characteristics, they still can be considered ‘successful’ when seen through the perceptions of the owners. High performers were undoubtedly better performed in terms of their industry knowledge and financial return, but what has been indicated here is that this economic touchstone is not necessarily the single appropriate measure when looking at business success due to there being other facets of the performance dichotomy which are seen as important by the respondents.

7.2.3 Conflicting Ideas on What Constitutes a Successful Vietnamese Small Business?

Related to the previous finding is the notion that identifying the factors which determine business success in terms of respondents’ perceptions is surprisingly complex. It was found that there was no simple agreed response as to how respondents determined or defined the meaning of ‘business success’. It was unexpected to see in this study, for example, that there was little correlation between the owners’ self-rating and their business performance as defined on an economic scale. It was found that some owners, with high self-rating of their business, were clearly satisfied with their business even though they were earning less than others in this cohorts, whilst other business owners with higher sales return also self-rated their businesses highly. This indicates that when determining business success, it is important to understand that this can be determined

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in various ways depending on the circumstances of the respondent, and thus using financial return data alone is not always the key in determining success in a small business.

7.3 Conclusion on the Research Questions

This research looked at the factors that have led these entrepreneurs to achieve business start-up, and has used a theoretical lens of interrelated Ethnic Entrepreneurship theories to understand the key factors which contributed to this situation. Separately, the study looked at factors which contributed to their business sustainability, again seeking help through an interrelated suite of Ethnic Entrepreneurship theories. Of particular note is that start-up and sustainability factors were not the same, and that businesses can be sustainable in their own particular way.

At a more detailed level, this study has revealed that most of the participants had some sort of prior industry experience before starting their own business in Australia. Whilst all the participants managed to secure employment in the Australian labour market, for some of them noticeably ‘underemployed’, a few found it hard to obtain skilled positions. Whilst they were presented with many opportunities, they felt restricted due to inadequate language skills, low education and this was evident in the analysis of the environmental and personal factors depicted in this study. Gender consideration and visa pathways played a minor role of the informants on their business dynamics, success and this was evident in the analysis of the environmental and personal factors depicted in this study.

Ethnic Entrepreneurship theories were considered to be the most relevant theoretical lens for determining which factors were of influence in business start-up and survival. These Ethnic Entrepreneurship theories helped to indicate which factors had an influence on the participants’ pathway to business entry and survival. However, in this work, it became clear that these theories can also be interrelated, and as discussed earlier, it was evident that a combination of the Ethnic Resources and Ethnic Enclave theories were seen as the most prominent explanatory theories for this cohort.

In addition, as suggested by the theoretical framework which was developed for this study, that there were positive and negative factors to be considered in business start-up

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and survival. This study therefore partly complements prior studies that have shown both positive and negative factors influencing a migrant’s decision in business start-up and survival (Wang et al., 2006), but goes beyond them in showing that not one model fits all business types. The unravelling of this complexity is one of the key contributions that this study has made to this area.