Characteristics and operational strategies of African immigrant owned SMME'S in Thulamela Local Municipality
The South African government acknowledges the contribution of entrepreneurship as a means to invigorate the country’s economy and development. It extensively encourages and supports entrepreneurial activities amongst its citizens by emphasising the importance of establishing Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs). A major development problem in the southern African region is the high failure rate of SMMEs. Thousands of SMMEs start up every year in South Africa but a significant number of them fail. The statistics pertaining to the SMME failure rate in South Africa is deemed to be one of the worst in the world. The participation of African immigrants in the SMMEs sector in South Africa has not gone unnoticed. African immigrant-owned entities in South Africa are on the rise. Approximately 51.5% small businesses in townships are foreign-owned. These businesses have become one of the driving forces for the growth of national and regional economies. It is against this background that this study focuses on examining the entrepreneurial characteristics and operational strategies within the African immigrant-owned enterprises context. A mixed method approach was adopted as it facilitates extensive reporting and comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon under study. A pragmatism paradigm was adopted to address the research problem. Data was collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews and a questionnaire survey. Purposive nonprobability- and snowball-sampling were adopted to select the sample for the study. A thematic framework analysis was used to analyse qualitative data using ATLAS. Quantitative data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences Version 27 using descriptive statistics. The study found that African immigrant entrepreneurs operating in Thulamela local municipality possess certain entrepreneurial characteristics that contribute to the growth and sustainability of their enterprises. It also revealed that immigrant entrepreneurs apply various strategies to remain competitive and relevant. There are also success factors which contribute to the thriving of African immigrant enterprises. Lastly, the study developed the Immigrant Entrepreneurship Success Model (IESM).
African immigrant entrepreneurs, Business practice, Characteristics, Immigrants, Operational strategies, Small Medium & Micro Enterprises (SMME'S), Success factors
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