Motivation to become entrepreneurs: The case of Indian immigrants to New Zealand

Abstract

The thesis examines the factors motivating Indian immigrants to strive to become entrepreneurs in New Zealand. It reveals several issues behind their desire to succeed in this endeavour.

For the purpose of its research, this study defines an entrepreneur as someone who has a registered business and employs at least one employee. Using this definition, and informed by National census data showing 17.4% of Indians in the labour force were self-employed, it designs its research around in-depth interviews with 11 Indian migrant entrepreneurs in Auckland, New Zealand. The participants were chosen through a purposive sampling method. Qualitative analysis was done with the help of Nvivo data management software.

The study discovered that the interviewees were motivated by several factors such as: money; seeing a gap in the market and wanting to fill it; the need for a change; to make a living; to get more flexibility with their time; lowered job satisfaction as an employee; and lowered access to good jobs. Most of the motivating factors experienced by these Indian immigrant entrepreneurs are similar to entrepreneurs in general and are both positive and negative.

The small sample used is a potential limitation for the research and therefore the qualitative method used may have general disadvantages to it. In a qualitative research, every effort is made to reflect each participant’s viewpoint but ultimately the researcher’s interpretation of what was important to the participants shapes the thesis.

New Zealand lacks documented research on two aspects of entrepreneurship in this country. Firstly, it lacks research evidence about the general immigrant entrepreneurship here; secondly it lacks research evidence about the motivations of immigrant entrepreneurs. This thesis is the first research on Indian immigrants’ motivations for entrepreneurship in New Zealand and will provide useful information to policymakers, the Immigration Department, and researchers in the field of immigrant entrepreneurship in New Zealand. The nature of immigrant entrepreneurship is emerging and this document’s conclusion requires further research and testing. Six suggestions for future research are made: 1. both qualitative and quantitative research methods can be used in the study of entrepreneurship in this country; 2. research can be done to identify the most important motivations by quantifying the individual motivations; 3. a comparative study can be done to check the differences between the motivations revealed in this study to the motivations of the general population of entrepreneurs; 4. research can be done on the effect of gender issues on immigrant entrepreneurship motivation; 5. research can be done on the growth opportunities of businesses owned by immigrant entrepreneurs; 6. Research can be done on the effect of gender issues on immigrant entrepreneurship motivation.