Introduction
This study focuses on two conceptual principles: motivational factors and potential factors for entrepreneurial success. The research examined the motivational factors driving individual African immigrants into entrepreneurship and success factors enabling African immigrants’ entrepreneurial success in New Zealand. An African immigrant entrepreneur is the one who starts a business, manages the business, and assumes responsibility for the progress of the business in his host country. Entrepreneurs are often referred to as risk-takers because realising profit from a new business start-up is not certain in most cases (Omisakin, Reference Omisakin2024; Omisakin & Adegoke, Reference Omisakin and Adegoke2022; Somerville, Reference Somerville2022; St-Jean, 2022). Often individuals do not just embrace entrepreneurship but are motivated to become business owners or entrepreneurs because of the strong motivational factor/s within the would-be business owner. Push and Pull factors are the most important motivational factors for an individual to become an entrepreneur. Push- or pull-related motivational factors explain the entrepreneurial intent to become an entrepreneur (Gódány, Machová, Mura, & Zsigmond, Reference Gódány, Machová, Mura and Zsigmond2021; van der Zwan, Thurik, Verheul, & Hessels, Reference van der Zwan, Thurik, Verheul and Hessels2016). Similarly, Martínez-Cañas, Ruiz-Palomino, Jiménez-Moreno, and Linuesa-Langreo (Reference Martínez-Cañas, Ruiz-Palomino, Jiménez-Moreno and Linuesa-Langreo2023) concluded that push and pull factors are the reasons for individuals becoming self-employed. It is worthy of note that this is a case study of African immigrants in New Zealand involved in entrepreneurship and business ownership. However, immigrants’ motivational factors for becoming entrepreneurs in their host countries were support theories such as opportunity structure theory, middleman minority theory, ethnic enclave theory, labour disadvantage theory, and cultural theory (Aldrich & Waldinger, Reference Aldrich and Waldinger1990; Lee, Reference Lee2003; Masurel, Nijkamp, & Vindigni, Reference Masurel, Nijkamp and Vindigni2004; Volery, Reference Volery and Dana2007; Zhou, Reference Zhou2004).
Potential factors for entrepreneurial business success are among others entrepreneurship practices that entrepreneurs must engage in to guarantee business success. These practices must reflect profit-making, sales increase, business growth, and positive return on investment among others. Reviewed literature showed that most authors suggested financial and non-financial criteria as potential success factors for entrepreneurial business success. These factors include employee numbers, profit, and return on investment (Tasman, Patrisia, & Yanuarta, Reference Tasman, Patrisia and Yanuarta2022).
This study focuses on the examination of the motivational factors driving African immigrants in New Zealand to start up businesses and the success factors that accompanied their entrepreneurial business enterprises. This study begins with a review of the evolution of entrepreneurial motivational factors for starting businesses and related theories on motivational factors for business start-ups as well as specific theories on motivational factors for immigrants’ business start-ups in their host countries. This study then explores the related literature on potential success factors for African immigrants’ business success in New Zealand.
Research objectives
The objectives of this research are to examine and identify what motivates African immigrants in New Zealand to become entrepreneurs and own businesses and what are the factors that enabled African entrepreneurial activities’ success in New Zealand. This research aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the motivational factors as to why African immigrants engaged in business activities in New Zealand and factors that influence their business success. The stated objectives are the following:
• To identify what motivates African immigrants to engage in business activities in New Zealand.
• To identify and define success factors of African immigrants in business in New Zealand.
Research questions
• What motivates African immigrants into entrepreneurship in New Zealand?
• What factors influence African immigrants’ entrepreneurial success in New Zealand?
Literature review
Entrepreneurship is a measure of entrepreneurial activity where entrepreneurs constantly search for new business ideas and innovation, exploiting ideas to create business opportunities despite risks and uncertainties associated with the entrepreneurial process (Lenka & Agarwal, Reference Lenka and Agarwal2017). However, St-Jean (2022) described an entrepreneur as someone who starts or owns a business. For an individual to be described as an entrepreneur, that person must be seen to have passion, perseverance, and resiliency traits (Bouchard, Reference Bouchard2019). According to van der Zwan et al. (Reference van der Zwan, Thurik, Verheul and Hessels2016), people are motivated to become entrepreneurs for various reasons that can be mainly categorised as pull and push factors. The pull factors include the need to achieve, the desire to be independent, and the opportunity for social development, while push factors are unemployment, family pressure, and unsuitable situations. On the other hand, Gódány et al. (Reference Gódány, Machová, Mura and Zsigmond2021) relate pull and push factors to opportunity and necessity. Opportunity motivates an entrepreneur to take advantage of available business opportunities to start a business, and necessity encourages an entrepreneur to start a business because there are no better choices for securing work. Often entrepreneurs are motivated to entrepreneurship for independence, economic stability, security, and future planning (Ramasamy, Thirumalaisamy, Paquibut, Abouraia, & Mathiyarasan, Reference Ramasamy, Thirumalaisamy, Paquibut, Abouraia, Mathiyarasan and El Khoury2024; Meyer, Reference Meyer2018). Similarly, people become entrepreneurs because they cannot secure a job, are under-employed, have been laid off, or are dissatisfied with their job or their current job is not sustainable (Hamouche, Bani-Melhem, Demir, & Kammogne, Reference Hamouche, Bani-Melhem, Demir and Kammogne2024).
Substantial literature has been accessed and reviewed in order to define entrepreneurial success. Hussain and Li (Reference Hussain and Li2022) and Koohi and Feizbakhsh (Reference Koohi and Feizbakhsh2018) highlighted five indicators for measuring success among entrepreneurs: support systems, skills, leadership, knowledge, and finance. According to Nalintippayawong, Waiyawatpattarakul, and Chotipant (Reference Nalintippayawong, Waiyawatpattarakul and Chotipant2018), the application of an appropriate business model, available support partners, enablement of positive business opportunities in the market, and positive customer perspectives play a major role in entrepreneurial success or the path to success. Fatoki (Reference Fatoki2018) considered entrepreneur attainment and satisfaction with their business growth as pointers to business success. Measuring and defining entrepreneurship and business success somewhat reflects the opinion of the researcher and the research purpose, but financial, as well as some other measurable success and short- and long-term success are the most common variables used to determine business success.
Education-oriented and specialised courses on entrepreneurship and prior business experience can be considered as a key human capital component and could potentially enhance the success of the entrepreneur (Meyer, Reference Meyer2018). Knowledge through education and experience is one of the main resources that can positively influence self-efficacy and also the personal decisions of starting up a business and successfully running it. The lack of sufficient funds to set up a new business and even to ensure sustained growth of the business is one of the main restricting factors for small businesses, specifically in the rural context. Katekhaye, Meyer, and Magda (Reference Katekhaye, Meyer and Magda2019) concluded that lack of finance is one of the major restrictions encountered in the set-up of new businesses as well as positive progress of the start-up business. Therefore, to ensure the progress and growth of business, owners and or entrepreneurs must have enabled access to both internal and external sources of finance to ensure the survival and growth of their business (Eniola, Reference Eniola2021; Oláh, Karmazin, Máté, Grabara, & Popp, Reference Oláh, Karmazin, Máté, Grabara and Popp2017). However, Urefe, Odonkor, Chiekezie, and Agu (Reference Urefe, Odonkor, Chiekezie and Agu2024) suggested three determinants as the identifiers for success, growth, and smooth flow of small and medium enterprises ownership: management of the financial aspects professionally, designing and applying an effective business plan, and possession of adequate market knowledge and experience in the act of managing business.
This study has two major focus areas: entrepreneurship and African immigrants in business. In view of this, this study reviewed related literature from the perspectives of migrants and migration, as presented in the next subchapter.
Migration and migrants
According to International Organization for Migration (2019), migration is the act of moving from one location to another within a country and/or to another country. Migrants are individuals who have moved from their current place of abode in one country to another or who have moved across the border. Naturally, people migrate for many reasons among which are economic, political, and social factors (Kwilinski et al., Reference Kwilinski, Lyulyov, Pimonenko, Dzwigol, Abazov and Pudryk2022). Migration has been a recurrent phenomenon in human history. There are domestic and international migrations. Often, we have domestic and international migration. It is domestic when people migrate from one geographical location to another within a country, while relocating from one country to another for living is referred to as international migration (Omisakin, Reference Omisakin2018; Tsegay, Reference Tsegay2023).
International Organization for Migration (2019) further emphasised that international migrants are individuals moving or have moved across an international border irrespective of his/her legal status; they may be moving voluntarily or not; or moving for any other causes that might take some length of stay. Similarly, migrants migrate for many reasons, while some migrate voluntarily, such as getting a skilled job or for tourism (Czaika & Reinprecht, Reference Czaika, Reinprecht and Scholten2022). Some migrate involuntarily, being forced out of one location in their country to another and or out of their home countries because of war, persecution, and or economic hardships (UNHCR, 2018). These motivational factors are also peculiar to why Africans immigrate to New Zealand (Omisakin, Reference Omisakin2018). However, Omisakin in his qualitative research explored motivations for Africans’ voluntary migration to New Zealand. The author found that decision factors for Africans to migrate voluntarily to New Zealand were opportunities for work and children, quality of life, environment, security, and career development. These factors fall under the pull factor theory.
Motivation for African migrants to undertake business activities
Researchers have found that African immigrants are motivated to become entrepreneurs in their host countries by both positive and negative factors. Positive factors include among others possessing professional skills, good knowledge of products and markets, ethnic and cultural population group needs, prior experience of doing business from the home country, and support or opportunities from the host country (Chu, Reference Chu2018; Eimermann & Kordel, Reference Eimermann and Kordel2018; Omisakin, Reference Omisakin2017). Negative factors include conditions that push immigrants to start up businesses. Such conditions include among others inability to secure a job, discrimination during job search and at place of work, lack of host country job experience, and language barrier (Omisakin, Nakhid, Littrell, & Verbitsky, Reference Omisakin, Nakhid, Littrell and Verbitsky2015, Reference Omisakin, Nakhid, Littrell and Verbitsky2016; Ornek, Waibel, Wullinger, & Weinmann, Reference Ornek, Waibel, Wullinger and Weinmann2022). Similarly, Agoh and Kumpikaite-Valiuniene (Reference Agoh and Kumpikaite-Valiuniene2018) in their study found that immigrants from African and Asian countries in New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada were motivated to venture into entrepreneurship because of lack of job opportunities, discrimination, and ease of starting an online business. Contrary to this, St-Jean (2022) examined what motivated individuals in Canada to become entrepreneurs and found the following: 70% for reasons of independence, autonomy, and flexibility; 63% because of passion or need for self-fulfilment; 34% for financial reasons; 31% for being interested in work and responsibilities; 20% for the need to make a positive contribution to society; and 19% for the opportunity to act on a great idea. Worthy of note is that these research participants were pulled into entrepreneurship in Canada. However, these authors only focus on the motivations for immigrants into business without examining if their businesses were successful and what were the success factors and otherwise.
Entrepreneurial or business success
The objective of an entrepreneur is to make adequate profit from business investment, leading to business growth and success (Khuong & Nguyen, Reference Khuong and Nguyen2022; Omisakin, Reference Omisakin2024; Omisakin & Adegoke, Reference Omisakin and Adegoke2022). However, to be a successful entrepreneur or business owner, such individuals must surround themselves with people who are capable and skilled enough to handle important tasks (Bouchard, Reference Bouchard2019). Mitchell et al. (Reference Mitchell, Smith, Morse, Seawright, Paredo and McKenzie2002) maintained that an entrepreneur or business owner must possess strategic planning and management knowledge to be able to manage a business through to success. Often entrepreneurial and business success is measured by either or both financial and non-financial indicators (Tehseen, Johara, Halbusi, Islam, & Fattah, Reference Tehseen, Johara, Halbusi, Islam and Fattah2023). To attain entrepreneurial and business success, entrepreneurs and business owners must possess the capabilities of engaging in the entrepreneurial orientation dimensions of innovation, proactiveness, risk-taking, autonomy, and competitive aggressiveness in the management of their business (Herlinawati, Suryana, & Machmud, Reference Herlinawati, Suryana and Machmud2019; Hutahayan, Reference Hutahayan2019; Octavia et al., Reference Octavia, Indrawijaya, Sriayudha, Heriberta, Hasbullah and Asrini2020; Omisakin, Reference Omisakin2024; Omisakin & Adegoke, Reference Omisakin and Adegoke2022; Palmer, Niemand, Stöckmann, Kraus, & Kailer, Reference Palmer, Niemand, Stöckmann, Kraus and Kailer2019; Serrasqueiro, Pinto, & Sardo, Reference Serrasqueiro, Pinto and Sardo2023). These studies demonstrate that engaging entrepreneurial orientation in business will include taking business risks when necessary, engaging in proactive behaviour, engaging in innovative behaviour, and being competitively aggressive in business decisions and initiatives. Innovativeness is essential for business success as it consistently ensures improvement in business products and/or services. There is a correlation between business innovativeness and business profit success (Asemokha, Musona, Torkkeli, & Saarenketo, Reference Asemokha, Musona, Torkkeli and Saarenketo2019). Anggadini et al. (Reference Anggadini, Sya’roni, Yunanto, Soegoto, Rosyad and Fahrana2024) found that business success is largely related to the capabilities of the business owner to create, plan, and implement innovative strategies.
Research gap
There have been various studies on motivational factors for going into businesses by entrepreneurs in New Zealand. Martin and Palakshappa (Reference Martin and Palakshappa2011) researched the critical success factors for small businesses in the outdoor leisure and recreation industry in New Zealand, and Scott, Bowden, and Rowarth (Reference Scott, Bowden and Rowarth2013) investigated critical success factors for going global, focusing on New Zealand dairy companies. Also, Omisakin (Reference Omisakin2017) explored qualitative research on motivation for Africans to undertake small business activities in New Zealand. Similarly, Levi and Mezrar (Reference Levi and Mezrar2019) concluded that immigrants in Sweden were motivated to start up businesses because they wanted to create something of their own needs, for their personal and professional development, for their community improvement, their safety needs, reduce their unemployment rate, and grow network among themselves.
However, from the New Zealand perspective, there have been few academic articles on the motivational factors influencing African migrants into small business activities. However, there are no academic articles on the success factors nor combination of motivational factors and success factors for African immigrants in entrepreneurship in New Zealand, especially from a quantitative perspective. This is a gap in the literature and the proposed research aims to reduce this gap by documenting why African migrants enter into business and the success factors for the continuous running of their business enterprises in New Zealand. This is a quantitative research study, data were collected from multiple participants, and findings are expected to be more generalisable.
Theoretical perspective
This section of the study presents two theoretical perspectives: push–pull motivational theory and theoretical paradigms that motivate immigrants to become entrepreneurs or business owners in their host countries. Reviewing related paradigms will enable this study to find standards, perspectives, and/or sets of ideas postulated by academic authors as a guide to justify why African immigrants in New Zealand embrace becoming entrepreneurs.
Push–pull motivational theory of entrepreneurship
Push and pull factors are the most important motivational factors for individuals to become entrepreneurs. According to Martínez-Cañas et al. (Reference Martínez-Cañas, Ruiz-Palomino, Jiménez-Moreno and Linuesa-Langreo2023), push- or pull-related motivational factors provide reasons for the entrepreneurial intent of owning a business. Similarly, Martínez-Cañas et al. (Reference Martínez-Cañas, Ruiz-Palomino, Jiménez-Moreno and Linuesa-Langreo2023) and van der Zwan et al. (Reference van der Zwan, Thurik, Verheul and Hessels2016) concluded that push and pull factors are the reasons for individuals undertaking self-employment. Pull factors are the factors that motivate individuals to start a new venture on a personal desire while push factors are external factors that propel individuals to start up businesses and become entrepreneurs (van der Zwan et al., Reference van der Zwan, Thurik, Verheul and Hessels2016). Gódány et al. (Reference Gódány, Machová, Mura and Zsigmond2021) concluded that pull factors motivate individuals to own a business for reasons such as the need for achievement and opportunities for social development among others. Al Matroushi, Jabeen, Matloub, and Tehsin (Reference Al Matroushi, Jabeen, Matloub and Tehsin2020) and Džananović and Tandir (Reference Džananović and Tandir2020) suggested that pull factors are positive forces that encourage individuals to start up businesses or become entrepreneurs. This factor includes the desire to be independent, attaining self-fulfilment, economic freedom, and market opportunities. Push factors push an individual to business because of negative realities from society such as inability to secure a job or unemployment, dissatisfaction with the individual’s current situation, and others. Similarly, Džananović and Tandir (Reference Džananović and Tandir2020) and Kirkwood and Walton (Reference Kirkwood and Walton2010) categorised push motivational factors as external factors for individuals with negative undertones or experiences that force individuals to choose the path of entrepreneurship such as dissatisfaction with current job and inability or difficulty to secure a job. Gabarret, Vedel, and Decaillon (Reference Gabarret, Vedel and Decaillon2017) relate push factors to a sense of necessity or dissatisfaction that pushes an individual towards entrepreneurship and owing a business while the author relates pull factors enabled access to opportunities and wish for independence that motivates an individual to start a business. Dhar, Farzana, and Abedin (Reference Dhar, Farzana and Abedin2022) in their examination of motivations behind entrepreneurial entry found four pull factors: economic freedom, higher income, self-fulfilment and achievement, and two push factors – job dissatisfaction and lack of career prospects as the predominant entrepreneurial motivators for business start-up. However, being pushed to become an entrepreneur does not translate into the best option, but it is seen as the better option among those available. Martínez-Cañas et al. (Reference Martínez-Cañas, Ruiz-Palomino, Jiménez-Moreno and Linuesa-Langreo2023) suggested the need to determine which of the push or pull factors is more influential in motivating individuals into entrepreneurship. Table 1 summarises the push and pull factors in the context of entrepreneurial motivation.
Table 1. Push and pull factors of entrepreneurial motivation
Source: adopted from Dhar et al. (Reference Dhar, Farzana and Abedin2022) and modified by the author.
Theoretical migrant paradigms on motivational factors for migrants entering business
Several theoretical paradigms are relevantly used for the exploration of migrants’ business opportunities, motivating them to become entrepreneurs or venturing into business opportunities. Most prominently used are opportunity structure theory (Aldrich & Waldinger, Reference Aldrich and Waldinger1990; Volery, Reference Volery and Dana2007), middleman minority theory (Blalock, Reference Blalock1967; Bonacich, Reference Bonacich1973), ethnic enclave theory (Lee, Reference Lee2003; Wilson & Portes, Reference Wilson and Portes1980), labour disadvantage theory (Baycan-Levent, Gulumser, Kundak, Nijkamp, & Sahin, Reference Baycan-Levent, Gulumser, Kundak, Nijkamp and Sahin2006; Volery, Reference Volery and Dana2007), and cultural theory (Hofstede, Reference Hofstede1997; Masurel et al., Reference Masurel, Nijkamp and Vindigni2004; Volery, Reference Volery and Dana2007). A review of the literature indicated that these theories have been variously employed by immigration business authors in their explorations of migrants’ motivation to become business owners in their host countries (Aldrich & Waldinger, Reference Aldrich and Waldinger1990; Lee, Reference Lee2003; Masurel et al., Reference Masurel, Nijkamp and Vindigni2004; Volery, Reference Volery and Dana2007; Zhou, Reference Zhou2004).
Opportunity structure theory
According to Aldrich and Waldinger (Reference Aldrich and Waldinger1990) understanding motivation for ethnic migration into business development has three interactive theoretical components: opportunity structures, group characteristics, and strategies. Opportunity structures occur when a host country’s market conditions favour products or services meant for co-ethnic and non-ethnic markets. This includes creating and enabling environments for migrants to become entrepreneurs through easy access to business opportunities and enabling inter-ethnic competition as one of the state business policies. Volery (Reference Volery and Dana2007) concluded that for migrants to access business opportunities in their host countries depend on market conditions, access to ownership, legal and institutional frameworks. Positive opportunity structures will enable immigrant entrepreneurs to open a migrant business in a non-ethnic migrant market or open a market when and where conditions allow access.
Group characteristics factors include selective migration, culture, migrant aspiration levels, migrant resource mobilisation capability, ethnicity, social network, and government policies constraining or helping in resource acquisition. According to Aldrich and Waldinger (Reference Aldrich and Waldinger1990), the interaction between opportunity structures and ethnic group characteristics will lead to ethnic strategies to enable immigrant entrepreneurs to gain niche business opportunities. Chen and Chen (Reference Chen and Chen2024) claimed that with this theory, immigrants are driven to become entrepreneurs in their host countries because of their inability to secure traditional employment. As a result, immigrants become willing to take on entrepreneurship as a pathway to getting ahead in the host country. Despite these opportunities, migrants setting up a business are still limited because there are limited business opportunities they can enter into (Chen & Chen, Reference Chen and Chen2024). This is largely because of their inability to raise sufficient funds or inaccessibility of formal funding. As a result migrants’ financial capability to start a business often depends on family, friends, co-ethnic members, and other connections within the ethnic community, and thrift and credit co-operatives to raise start-up funds (Chen & Chen, Reference Chen and Chen2024). Considering all the above interactions, an interactive model of ethnic business development was conceptualised for this study (Fig. 1).
Figure 1. An interactive model of ethnic business development.
Middleman minority theory
Bonacich (1973) described the middleman minority theory as those ethnic entrepreneurs who trade in between society’s elite and the masses. The author referred to this as a situation where the minority group acts as an intermediary between the immigrant marketer and the supplier of the dominant group. Zhou (Reference Zhou2004) examined the middleman minority theory from a business point of view and stated that the migrant minority group would always arrive at a geographical location where there are other ethnically close minority groups and after some time, members of this group will develop business enterprises within the ‘middle’ of their location’s economic system. Often members of this group are motivated to go into small business enterprises because of the discrimination they experience from the majority group regarding economic opportunities in the labour market. They have strong solidarity among themselves, often hiring within their own ethnic group with the common aim of sending remittances back home (Greene & Owen, Reference Greene, Owen, Gartner, Shaver, Carter and Reynolds2004). According to Min-Sik (Reference Min-Sik1998), Korean migrants are motivated to engage in small businesses because of the need to serve the Korean community and communities of other diverse immigrant minorities in the United States. However, Sanders and Nee (Reference Sanders and Nee1987) concluded that this theory is inapplicable today because it is no longer seen as a motivational factor for self-employment and small business establishments among immigrants.
Ethnic enclave theory
Zhou (Reference Zhou2004) described an ethnic enclave as a geographic concentration of individual immigrants sharing a common ethnic culture and beliefs that are motivated to establish businesses with the provision of diverse economic activities for enclave members. These enclave entrepreneurs are motivated to start up businesses in the immigrant neighbourhood where their co-ethnic members dominate and there are co-ethnic social networks within the enclave. Lee (Reference Lee2003) described an ethnic enclave as a location where immigrants are employed by business owners of the same immigrant or ethnic group. Lee argued that ethnic enclave entrepreneurs require three prerequisites: entrepreneurial skills, capital, and a supply of ethnic labour.
Ethnic enclave entrepreneurs are motivated to start businesses when they have information on ethnic needs and the tastes of the members of the enclave. Therefore, they are motivated to start up businesses around these needs and tastes. Altinay (Reference Altinay2008) concluded that this creates employment opportunities for the existing and incoming new immigrants to an ethnic enclave because of the existence of enclave entrepreneurs and ethnic businesses. Similarly, enclave entrepreneurs provide the necessary connections with each other which can help immigrants who are willing and ready to start new businesses (Sequeira & Rasheed, Reference Sequeira and Rasheed2006).
Labour disadvantage theory
The labour disadvantage theory is also referred to as blocked mobility theory (Li, Reference Li1997). Labour disadvantage comes about because of a number of factors such as racism and discrimination, occupational priorities of the host countries, industry standards, government policies such as pay levels or scales, and retirement age which affects labour turnover. Li argued that migrants are mostly pushed into self-employment because of the difficulties they encounter in participating in the host country’s labour market. Baycan-Levent et al. (Reference Baycan-Levent, Gulumser, Kundak, Nijkamp and Sahin2006) argued that the blocked mobility theory is best used to explain how immigrants are disadvantaged in the labour market, how they are not equally looked at as the native-born population, and how they are treated as second-class citizens in their host countries.
These difficulties may include language barriers, racial discrimination, lack of work experience in the host country, the host country’s immigration policy, and non-recognition of the educational and professional experience of migrants from the migrants’ country of origin. In the face of these challenges, the only means of economic survival that may be left for migrants is to start up a small business (Min & Bozorgmehr, Reference Min, Bozorgmehr, Kloosterman and Rath2003). The labour disadvantage theory has been used to explain why migrants, especially African migrants in New Zealand, and minorities are motivated to become self-employed as an economic survival strategy, and this also suggests why they have high rates of small-business ownership in their host country (Light, Reference Light1979; Light & Rosenstein, Reference Light and Rosenstein1995; Omisakin, Reference Omisakin2017). Contrary to this, Volery (Reference Volery and Dana2007) submitted that the presence of immigrants in entrepreneurship or owning small businesses in certain countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada does not translate into life or business success but is just an alternative to unemployment and a means of sustenance.
Schmis (2013) found that the Vietnamese in Germany are motivated to become self-employed in reaction to the negative experiences that Vietnamese have experienced in the restricted German labour market. Pio (Reference Pio2006, Reference Pio2007) found that Indian women in New Zealand are pushed to become small business owners because they are disadvantaged in the labour market. Pio concluded that minority migrant women are motivated to go into business because of racism, underemployment, and other factors such as language difficulties and lack of recognition of overseas qualifications and work experience. Habiyakare, Owusu, Mbare, and Landy (Reference Habiyakare, Owusu, Mbare and Landy2009) concluded that immigrants do not opt for small businesses as a way of life, but as the best motivational opportunity to make a living in the midst of limited alternatives. Studies carried out in New Zealand have found that migrants experience difficult challenges in the labour market, as employers often turn migrants away, saying they lack New Zealand work experience (Butcher, Spoonley, & Trlin, Reference Butcher, Spoonley and Trlin2006; Omisakin, Reference Omisakin2017; Omisakin et al., Reference Omisakin, Nakhid, Littrell and Verbitsky2015). Similarly, North’s (2007) study revealed that employers in New Zealand prefer candidates with New Zealand experience and qualifications. However, New Zealand employers fail to realise that migrants cannot buy experience but must acquire it by being given an opportunity through employment.
Cultural theory
The cultural theory emphasises that ethnic cultural resources motivate immigrants to start up businesses as well ensuring the sustainability of their businesses in their host country (Kotler & Fox, Reference Kotler and Fox1995). This is because migrants possess the cultural values of being industrious, hardworking, able to work long hours, saving, reinvesting business earnings, and using family labour (underpaid or unpaid). Ethnic community network support helps immigrant entrepreneurs to cut costs and succeed in their business activities (Basu & Goswami, Reference Basu and Goswami1999; Li, Reference Li1993). Contrary to this, Basu and Altinay (Reference Basu and Altinay2002) argue that cultural influence on entrepreneurship cannot be generalised among migrants as the level of influence cannot be the same among different ethnic groups. Therefore the issue of internal class differences and conflict among the same ethnic group should be considered. However, Spoonley (9 July 2012) concluded that African and Asian ethnic people are motivated to run businesses in their host countries because of the needs of their ethnic groups, especially food, clothing, and religious faith. According to Volery (Reference Volery and Dana2007), cultural aspects are mostly used to explain the high propensity of migrant people who undertake self-employment.
Research method
This study employed a quantitative research design, utilizing a structured survey questionnaire to collect data from participants. Descriptive statistics were generated and analysed using the SPSS software package to ensure robust and objective data analysis, minimizing researcher bias and ensuring the independence of the research process.
A total of 117 participants were recruited from African immigrant communities in Auckland using convenience sampling, targeting African immigrant business owners who were available and met the study’s inclusion criteria (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, Reference Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill2012). Although it may be argued that the convenience sample is not a good representation of the research population (Creswell, Reference Creswell2008). It is also opined that convenience sampling is challenged by the uncertainty of what population the sample can be compared (Zickar & Keith, Reference Zickar and Keith2023). Similarly, Casteel and Bridier (Reference Casteel and Bridier2021) concluded that results and conclusions from analysis of convenience samples may not be generalisable. However, this study adopted convenience sampling, because it enables most easily accessible members be chosen as participants and ensures easy availability of data, time and cost saving and above all provides the study platform to valuable information to answer the research questions (Golzar, Noor, & Tajik, Reference Golzar, Noor and Tajik2022). But to mitigate biasness associated with convenience sampling, this study established explicit criteria for participant inclusion and ensured that selected participants meet predefined characteristics or attributes relevant to the research objectives (Stratton, Reference Stratton2021). Eligible participants were required to be African immigrant business owners, African immigrant entrepreneurs, and African immigrants with business experience and wanting to start up a business in New Zealand. Invitations to participate were distributed via email, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and additional recruitment occurred through networking with African Communities Forum Incorporated and other African countries communities in New Zealand such as Nigerians and Ghanaians.
The questionnaire, a widely used tool for quantitative data collection, was adopted. Ghanad (Reference Ghanad2023) argues that quantitative data are objective, precise, and reliable. Therefore, the questionnaire for this study was carefully designed to ensure clarity, reliability, and validity. All items were directly aligned with the study’s objectives, and the content, wording, and format were structured to facilitate the collection of relevant and accurate information while minimizing respondent burden. The questionnaire was adopted from Somerville (Reference Somerville2022) but modified to suit the needs of this study. Data were collected in Auckland, the largest city and business nerve centre of New Zealand with a population of 1,798,300 out of New Zealand’s total population of 5,338,500 (Statistics New Zealand, 2024). Auckland was considered because it houses the largest number of African immigrants in New Zealand (Statistics New Zealand, 2020, September 3). The questionnaire included classification variables such as gender, age, immigrants’ country of origin, motivational factors for becoming entrepreneurs, number of years of business ownership in New Zealand, years of business profitability, and years of business experience in New Zealand. These were meant to help potential respondents determine their eligibility.
To determine the potential factors that influence entrepreneurial/business success of African immigrants in business, a 5-point Likert scale (totally disagree [1], somewhat disagree [2], neutral [3], somewhat agree [SA; 4], and totally agree [TA; 5]) was used for responses. The instrument comprised 21 questions on factors that ensured the continuous entrepreneurial/business success of immigrants in New Zealand. Data collection commenced following approval from the Otago Polytechnic Research Ethics Committee (Application Number AIC116), and all analyses were conducted using descriptive statistical methods.
Research design
Research design is a structured plan adopted by the researcher to conduct a research investigation (Abutabenjeh & Jaradat, Reference Abutabenjeh and Jaradat2018). It involves articulating the process of what data will be needed, the method of collecting data, and possibly analytical methods to analyse the data collected. Research design is often referred to as a created framework by the researcher to help attain answers to the research questions and resolve the research problem (Khanday & Khanam, Reference Khanday and Khanam2019). This study adopted a descriptive research design, and this helped to design appropriate research questions that would provide answers to the research questions and resolve the research problems.
Participants and recruitment
Invitations to participate in the study were sent to potential participants through social media platforms. A participation information sheet explaining details of the research was attached with the questionnaire. Participants were requested to complete survey questionnaires through the Qualtrics link and submit them at completion of the questionnaire. The participants were African migrants who were entrepreneurs or were currently running business enterprises in New Zealand or had experience in running a business in their home country and had an idea of what it is to be a potential entrepreneur in New Zealand. Participants must currently live in New Zealand and be 18 years old or above.
Data analysis and findings
The data collection was carried out from January 2024 to December 2024. There were 117 participants in the study: 56 were male, 58 were female, and three participants preferred not to declare their gender. Of the total participants, 48% were male, 50% were female, and 2% preferred not to mention their gender.
Most of the participants were between the ages of 18 and 29 years, accounting for 41.9% of the sample. Only one participant (0.9% of the sample) was in the age range of 60–65 years. Table 2 presents the age distribution of participants.
Table 2. Age distribution of participants
Questions were asked to determine the involvement of African immigrants in entrepreneurship, ownership of business, business management experience, business profitability, and intention to start up a business. Data collected were analysed and findings are presented below.
Business enterprises operating in New Zealand
Figure 2 shows that 91 (77.8%) of the 117 participants have businesses running in New Zealand. Figure 2 indicates that 23 participants (20%) do not currently operate a business in New Zealand, but based on one of the survey questions, they indicated they had business experiences from their home countries. Based on another survey question, they indicated their intention to set up businesses in New Zealand soon. However, three participants (2.6%) preferred not to disclose their involvement in business in New Zealand.
Figure 2. Business ownership in New Zealand.
Years of running business enterprises
Table 3 indicates that participants who had run their businesses for between 3 to 5 years and 6 to 10 years have the highest number of African immigrants in business operations in New Zealand, with 27 (29.7%) and 26 (28.6%) participants, respectively. This was followed by the age group (17 participants) with less than 1 year’s experience (18.7%) participants and the 1–2-year age group with 16 participants (17.6%).
Table 3. Number of years of business ownership in New Zealand
African immigrants without business experience but planning to start a business in New Zealand
The results show that 23 (19.7%) out of 117 participants claimed they did not have business operational experience in New Zealand. However, further questions were asked as to whether they planned to start up business in New Zealand since they had business experiences from their home countries. It was revealed that 17 (73.9%) out of 23 participants who earlier claimed they did not have business operational experience in New Zealand had plans to start up a business in New Zealand. However, 6 out of the 23 participants did not have any plans to start up business in New Zealand. Of the 23 participants (19.7% of 117 participants) that did not have a business enterprise operating or business operational experience in New Zealand, 7 (30.4%) had business operational experiences from their home countries. Fifteen participants (65.2%) had no business experiences from their home countries. However, only one participant (4.3%) declined to disclose.
Business profitability
Table 4 indicates that businesses that have been run for 1 to 5 years, 6 to 10 years, and less than 1 year recorded highest number of participants that their businesses have been profitable: 1 to 5 years, 54 (46.2%); 6 to 10 years, 30 (25.6%); and less than 1 year, 27 (23.1%).
Table 4. Years of business profitability
Overseas business experience
Table 5 shows that businesses that have been run for 3 to 5 years, 1 to 2 years, and 6 to 10 years recorded the highest number of participants that had overseas business experience before relocating to New Zealand: 3 to 5 years, 54 (46.2%); 1 to 2 years, 26 (22.2%); and 6 to 10 years, 23 (19.7%)
Table 5. Years of overseas business experience
Country aside from New Zealand where participants had operated the businesses
Table 6 represents the analysis of data collected from participants as well as findings on which other countries aside from New Zealand have participants who had operated businesses before coming to New Zealand. Findings indicate that 19 participants had operated a business in Nigeria before relocating to New Zealand. Two Participants from Ghana and Zimbabwe had operated a business before immigrating to New Zealand. However, one participant each had operated business in China, Australia, and the UAE. This indicates that 19 Nigerians (16%) out of 117 participants had operational business experience in their home country before relocating to New Zealand. However, findings also indicated that African immigrants also had business experiences in Australia, China, and the Middle East before immigrating to New Zealand.
Table 6. Other countries of business operations
Business operational sector
Participants were requested to tick from the list of business or industry sectors provided to indicate where their businesses operated from, and the results are tabulated in Table 7.
Table 7. Business operational sector
This study analysed data collected from participants on the business sector where their businesses operate and presented its findings. Nineteen alternative business sectors were presented to participants to choose from. Based on Table 7, 16 (13.7%) participants operated their businesses from the manufacturing sector followed by 13 participants (11.1%) who operated from the construction sector. Ten (8.5%) of participants ran their businesses from art and the recreation services sector. The agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector accounted for seven participants representing 6%. However, wholesale and retail trade were the sectors where African immigrants mostly chose to run businesses and accounted for four (3.4%) and eight (6.8%) participants, respectively.
Provision was made for participants who could not find the business sector their business operates in from the list of business sectors provided. They were requested to choose ‘other’ and write out the business sector their business operated from. Two participants operated business from the photography business sector; one from fashion; one from international student recruitment; one from oil and gas; one from sales; and two from E-commerce, four did not disclose, and one did not have an idea
Motivational factors in becoming an entrepreneur
The motivation factors to become an African entrepreneur or business owner were determined by providing 14 push–pull motivation factors for participants to select from. The intention here was to determine which of these factors prominently motivated participants to become entrepreneurs and own businesses. From Table 8, 24 (20.5%) out of 117 participants were motivated to start businesses by being passionate about doing business. This was followed by 17 (14.5%) of participants who were motivated to start a business because of the flexibility associated with owning a business. Fifteen (12.8%) participants were motivated to entrepreneurship for financial independence reasons. Eleven (9.4%) of participants each became an entrepreneur for independence and autonomy reasons, while 10 (8.5%) of participants claimed that they became entrepreneurs to improve their financial position. Seven (6.0%) participants were motivated to start a business because they needed to become their own boss. This analysis found that most participants were pulled to start a business. Gódány et al. (Reference Gódány, Machová, Mura and Zsigmond2021), Martínez-Cañas et al. (Reference Martínez-Cañas, Ruiz-Palomino, Jiménez-Moreno and Linuesa-Langreo2023), and van der Zwan et al. (Reference van der Zwan, Thurik, Verheul and Hessels2016) concluded that people are mostly motivated to become entrepreneurs or start up businesses by many pull factors such as becoming their own boss, having financial independence, and being passionate about running a business. Similarly, Al Matroushi et al. (Reference Al Matroushi, Jabeen, Matloub and Tehsin2020) and Džananović and Tandir (Reference Džananović and Tandir2020) concluded that pull factors were positive motivations that encouraged individuals to start up businesses or become entrepreneurs. Among these factors are the desire to be independent, attaining self-fulfilment, economic freedom, and market opportunities.
Table 8. Motivational factors for becoming an entrepreneur
Further analysis from the table found that one participant was motivated to become an entrepreneur because he could not secure a job in the labour market. This situation amounts to being pushed into entrepreneurship (Martínez-Cañas et al., Reference Martínez-Cañas, Ruiz-Palomino, Jiménez-Moreno and Linuesa-Langreo2023). This situation was also confirmed by push theory that was one of the external factors that forced individuals to start up businesses and become entrepreneurs (van der Zwan et al., Reference van der Zwan, Thurik, Verheul and Hessels2016). Similarly, Dhar et al. (Reference Dhar, Farzana and Abedin2022), Džananović and Tandir (Reference Džananović and Tandir2020), and Gabarret et al. (Reference Gabarret, Vedel and Decaillon2017) concluded the push motivational factor such as inability to secure a job in the labour market was an external factor. These experiences could force individuals to choose the path of entrepreneurship. This finding is also related to the theoretical migrant paradigm on motivational factors for encouraging a migrant into entrepreneurship, the labour disadvantage theory. This is also referred to as blocked mobility theory (Li, Reference Li1997). According to Li (Reference Li1997), migrants are pushed into self-employment because of the difficulties they encounter in their attempts to secure a job in their host country’s labour market. The labour disadvantage theory had been used by prior researchers to explain why African migrants and other minority ethnic groups in New Zealand were motivated to become self-employed to meet their survival needs by becoming small business owners (Light & Rosenstein, Reference Light and Rosenstein1995; Omisakin, Reference Omisakin2017; Omisakin et al., Reference Omisakin, Nakhid, Littrell and Verbitsky2015). Similarly, Vietnamese immigrants in Germany became self-employed because they faced labour disadvantages being unable to secure jobs in the German labour market (Schmis, Reference Schmis2013). Indian women in New Zealand were pushed into entrepreneurship because they were disadvantaged in the labour market Pio (Reference Pio2006, Reference Pio2007). The difficult challenges experienced by African immigrants in the New Zealand labour market pushed some to become entrepreneurs because employers often turned them away for lack of New Zealand work experience, and strong African accent (Butcher et al., Reference Butcher, Spoonley and Trlin2006; Omisakin, Reference Omisakin2017; Omisakin et al., Reference Omisakin, Nakhid, Littrell and Verbitsky2015).
From Table 8, 5 (4.3%) of the 117 participants were motivated to start businesses for their African ethnic community service needs. This is supported by the group characteristics theory, which relates to culture, migrant aspiration levels, migrant resource mobilisation capability, ethnicity, social network, and government policies (Aldrich & Waldinger, Reference Aldrich and Waldinger1990). Aldrich and Waldinger believed that the relationship between opportunity structures and ethnic group characteristics often helps create ethnic strategies that enable immigrant entrepreneurs to gain niche business opportunities. This theory has become a driving factor for immigrants to become entrepreneurs in their host countries (Waldinger, Aldrich, & Ward, Reference Waldinger, Aldrich and Ward2000).
Also, 3 (2.6%) of the 117 participants became business owners for ethnic cultural reasons. The cultural theory emphasised that immigrants are motivated to start businesses in their host countries because of their ethnic cultural needs. This is associated with ethnic cultural resources available. While the need for the business motivates, there must be needed cultural values such as hard work, industry, long hours of work, use of family labour, and ethnic community network support. These often help immigrant entrepreneurs to reduce costs and grow the business to success (Basu & Goswami, Reference Basu and Goswami1999; Li, Reference Li1993). The table also indicated that two (1.7%) of the participants chose to engage in business because of the existence of open business opportunities. This is supported by the opportunity structure theory. Opportunity structures exist when the host country’s market enables products/services meant for co-ethnic and non-ethnic markets. This also occurs when immigrants’ host countries create environments for migrants to become entrepreneurs by enabling them access to business opportunities (Aldrich & Waldinger, Reference Aldrich and Waldinger1990). However, for migrants to establish businesses easily in their host countries, there must be migrant enabling market conditions, migrants’ easy access to business ownership, and migrant-friendly legal and institutional frameworks (Volery, Reference Volery and Dana2007).
Reliability of the items measured using the Likert scale
Cronbach’s α test was adopted to examine and test the consistency of the 21 measurement items used in the questionnaire, as presented in Table 9.
Table 9. Reliability test
According to Hair, Black, Babin, and Anderson (Reference Hair, Black, Babin and Anderson2010) for reliability and for the adequate internal consistency of the items, Cronbach’s α of the variables should meet the benchmark of .7 or above (Hair et al., Reference Hair, Black, Babin and Anderson2010). The reliability and adequate internal consistency of the study’s 21 items indicate .963 and .963 for Cronbach’s α based on standardized items.
Potential factors that influence entrepreneurial or business success
Table 10 calculates the percentage distribution of participants’ responses to the 5-Likert scale survey given to them. This study further calculated combined percentages of responses to SA and TA. From the addition, 12 items: challenge myself when I take on a new project; curious and continually search for discovery; where others see problems, I see possibilities; when faced with difficulties, I look for alternative solutions; for me, what counts is action; I always imagine how I can make things work; I always try to learn lessons from my failures; for me, everything is possible if I believe I can do it; after a failure, I can pick myself up and start over; I am always ready to make sacrifices to succeed; I always give the best of myself in everything I do, had between 90% to 95%. This research suggests these items as the most important factors helping African immigrant business owners in New Zealand to attain entrepreneurial or business success. However, the addition of SA and TA of the remaining seven items also recorded between 79% to 89%. This also suggests important factors helping African business owners in New Zealand to succeed in their chosen businesses.
Table 10. Percentage distributions of participants’ responses to survey questions on potential factors that influence entrepreneurial/business success
To determine the participants’ reaction to survey questions administered on factors that influenced their entrepreneurial or business success, a percentage analysis of participants’ responses was conducted. Figure 3 indicates that all questions realised high percentages relative to SA and Strongly Agree. Participants’ responses to eight survey questions ‘I challenge myself when I take on a new project’; ‘I am curious and I continually search for discovery’; ‘when faced with difficulties, I look for alternative solutions’; ‘for me, what counts is action’; ‘I always try to learn lessons from my failures’; ‘for me, everything is possible if I believe I can do it’; ‘after a failure, I can pick myself up and start over’; ‘I am always ready to make sacrifices to succeed’; and ‘I always give the best of myself in everything I do’ realised combined percentages of SA and TA of between 90% and 95%. According to Somerville (Reference Somerville2022), entrepreneurs and business owners must continuously engage in these business acts to ensure continuous entrepreneurial and business success. Responses to the remaining questions recorded combined percentages of SA and TA of between 79% and 89%. In all, this is an indication that between 79% and 95% of the participants believed that they realised entrepreneurial/business success because of their application of the potential success factors suggested to them. However, the remaining participants’ responses to the survey were shared among totally disagree, somewhat disagree, and neutral.
Figure 3. Percentage distributions of participants’ responses to survey questions on potential factors that influence entrepreneurial or business success.
Table 11 indicated the potential factors that influence entrepreneurial or business success were measured through participants’ reactions to the 5-point Likert scale survey questions administered on the factors that influenced their business success. The mean score and standard deviation were computed for each item. Respondents were asked to rate 21 potential factors that could influence their entrepreneurial business success for owning a business (Somerville, Reference Somerville2022). Table 10 shows that the six highest-rated reasons for their entrepreneurial business success were ‘Always ready to make sacrifice to succeed’ (mean of 4.58), ‘always give the best in everything to be done’ (mean of 4.56), ‘what counts is action’ (mean of 4.54), ‘everything is possible if entrepreneurs believe they can do it’ (mean of 4.51), ‘challenge self when I take on new project’ (mean of 4.5), and ‘learn lessons from past failure’ (mean of 4.5). From the table, the rest of the items were rated between 4.27 and 4.47. It is worthy of note that none of these items were rated below a mean of 4. The interpretation of this is that all the items presented were seen by participants as the most important factors that influenced their entrepreneurial or business success. These factors were created from the perspectives of entrepreneurs’ or business owners’ capabilities on creative strategic business planning and implementation as well as entrepreneurial orientation knowledge. Therefore, the results from the table are synonymous with Anggadini et al.’s (Reference Anggadini, Sya’roni, Yunanto, Soegoto, Rosyad and Fahrana2024) finding that entrepreneurial business success is dependent on the entrepreneur’s or business owner’s capabilities to create, plan, and implement highly innovative strategies. Some of the items were related to the entrepreneurial orientation practices of proactiveness, risk-taking, competitive aggressiveness, autonomy, and innovation in business in order to gain success. Therefore the result from the table is consistent with those of Omisakin (Reference Omisakin2024), Omisakin and Adegoke (Reference Omisakin and Adegoke2022), and Serrasqueiro et al. (Reference Serrasqueiro, Pinto and Sardo2023) who concluded that to attain entrepreneurial and business success, entrepreneurs and business owners must possess the capabilities to engage in the entrepreneurial orientation dimensions of innovation, proactiveness, risk-taking, and competitive aggressiveness in the management of their businesses.
Table 11. Potential factors that influence entrepreneurial or business success
Correlation analysis
Following the variable statements used in the questionnaire as presented in Table 12, a correlation analysis was conducted on the data collected regarding the business success factors of African immigrant entrepreneurs. Table 13 presents the matrix of correlation coefficients (r) calculated for each pair of variables. The r values range from .25 to .765, indicating relationships of varying strength between the different factors from low to high. All correlations are positive and statistically significant at the .01 level. The strongest correlations those with r values above .7 are highlighted in Table 14.
Table 12. Variable statements used in survey questionnaires
Table 13. Correlation coefficients between variable statements
Table 14. The strongest correlation
As presented earlier, this study found that there are high correlations between the responses of participants to each of the two variables. This study highlights below five statement variables found to have the highest/strongest correlation relationships.
Participants imagine how they can make things work when faced with difficulties by looking for alternative solutions (r = .765).
Participants are always interested in taking on initiatives when faced with difficulties to realise alternative solutions (r = .765).
Participants are always interested in taking on initiatives because they are always interested in launching new projects (r = .730).
Participants are always interested in taking on initiatives to imagine many ways to satisfy a need (r = .726).
Participants can see many solutions to a problem when faced with difficulties by looking for alternative solutions (r = .725).
Interpretation
The motivational/business traits measured are strongly interrelated. This suggests a cohesive profile: participants who are self-motivated, resilient, and proactive in one area are likely to be so in others.
High motivation
The sample demonstrates strong motivation and positive attitudes towards business challenges and personal growth.
Consistency
Low standard deviations and high inter-correlations suggest a consistent, motivated group.
Practical implication
Training or interventions aiming to boost one motivational aspect (e.g., resilience) may positively influence others due to these strong interconnections.
Discussion
This study examined the motivational factors for African immigrants in New Zealand to entrepreneurship and owning businesses as well as the success factor to their entrepreneurial business success. The findings revealed that the majority of the participants were pulled to become entrepreneurs, while a few were pushed to become an entrepreneurs. However, some of the participants were motivated to entrepreneurship from the perspective of theoretical migrant paradigms on motivational factors for encouraging migrants into business.
Findings indicated that out of 14 possible motivational factors communicated to participants, 7 were the most chosen factors by participants. Out of the 117 participants, 24 (20.5%) were motivated to start businesses because they were passionate about doing business; 17 (14.5%) participants chose to do business because it gave them flexibility; and 15 (12.8%) participants were motivated to entrepreneurship for financial independence. This was followed by 11 (9.4%) who were motivated to become entrepreneurs by factors of independence and autonomy; 10 (8.5%) participants became business owners for general financial reasons. Seven participants were motivated to start up business because they wanted to be their own boss. These factors are all categorised under the pull factor theory. These participants were pulled to become business owners. According to Al Matroushi et al. (Reference Al Matroushi, Jabeen, Matloub and Tehsin2020) and Džananović and Tandir (Reference Džananović and Tandir2020), pull factors are mostly positive motivations that pull individuals into business start-ups. Findings also indicated that one participant was pushed to become an entrepreneur because he/she was disadvantaged when seeking employment. However, from the theoretical migrant paradigms on motivational factors for migrants entering business, findings indicate that one participant became an entrepreneur because of inability to secure employment in the labour market. This is consistent with the labour disadvantage theory. According to Li (Reference Li1997), migrants are pushed into self-employment because of the difficulties they encounter in their attempts to secure a job in their host country’s labour market. This study also found that five (4.3%) were motivated to start business because their African ethnic community needed certain services which they were in the position to provide. This is supported by the group characteristics theory, which is related to culture, migrant aspiration levels, migrant resource mobilisation capability, ethnicity needs, and social network (Aldrich & Waldinger, Reference Aldrich and Waldinger1990). This theory has become a driving factor for immigrants to become entrepreneurs in their host countries (Waldinger et al., Reference Waldinger, Aldrich and Ward2000). Also, three participants became entrepreneurs for African ethnic cultural reasons. The cultural theory emphasised that immigrants are motivated to start business in their host countries because of their ethnic cultural needs (Basu & Goswami, Reference Basu and Goswami1999; Li, Reference Li1993). Participants started businesses because they needed to showcase African ethnic cultures and their rich diversity in New Zealand as well as to promote African ethnic foods and goods.
There are 21 items extracted from Somerville (Reference Somerville2022) and used in the questionnaire in this study as the possible potential factors that can influence African entrepreneurial business success in New Zealand. The study found the highest percentages of between 90% and 95% recorded from the combined percentages of SA and TA from participants’ responses to the following statements: ‘I challenge myself when I take on a new project’; ‘I am curious, and I continually search for discovery’; ‘When faced with difficulties, I look for alternative solutions’; ‘For me, what counts is action’; ‘I always try to learn lessons from my failures’; ‘For me, everything is possible if I believe I can do it’; ‘After a failure, I can pick myself up and start over’; ‘I am always ready to make sacrifices to succeed’; and ‘I always give the best of myself in everything I do’. Somerville (Reference Somerville2022) concluded that for entrepreneurs or business owners to realise entrepreneurial success, they must engage these principles in the running of the business. This study has reduced the gap in the literature by documenting why African migrants take on entrepreneurship and own businesses and determine the likelihood of their entrepreneurial business success in New Zealand. Being quantitative research, this study will be more generalisable.
This study significantly enhances the understanding of how multiple related motivational theories influence people to go into entrepreneurship and own a business. While push–pull theories are mostly applied to this type of study, this study went further to include other migrant-related theories that motivate immigrants into business because of the peculiarity of the case study. The majority of the participants in this study were pulled to start up businesses. For instance, 14 motivational factors were presented to 117 participants, and 102 (87%) were pulled to start up business. Among these pull factors are independence, passion, autonomy, flexibility, financial reasons, and financial independence. One participant was pulled into entrepreneurship because of disadvantage in the job market. However, some participants’ motivation to become entrepreneurs emanated from the perspective of being African immigrants in New Zealand. For instance, five participants were motivated to start up business because of African ethnic community service needs according to the group characteristics theory. Only three participants went into business because of African ethnic cultural reasons based on the cultural theory, while one participant became an entrepreneur because of the labour disadvantage theory. These insights enriched the study’s understanding of the complex interplay of the pull–push theory and theoretical migrant paradigms on motivational factors into business as the contextual factors that motivate African immigrants in New Zealand to start up businesses.
Implications
The findings of this study show several motivational factors why existing African business owners found their way into entrepreneurship in New Zealand as well as factors that enhanced their entrepreneurial business progress. The study also holds several motivational factor implications for aspiring African entrepreneurs as well as factors they should consider enabling their future business endeavours to succeed. Individuals seeking to become entrepreneurs and attain entrepreneurial success can gain valuable insights from this study by understanding the motivational factors that drive participants to become entrepreneurs and the potential factors that enable their entrepreneurial business success. Existing entrepreneurs can utilise findings on potential factors for entrepreneurial business success to identify and nurture their pathways to success. Overall, this study adds to the literature on African entrepreneurship in New Zealand within the context of what motivated them into business and the factors that enhanced their business success. Therefore, this paper contributes to advancing knowledge on success factors for African immigrant business owners from the New Zealand perspective.
Limitations
This study has some limitations that may provide opportunities for future research. Firstly, although this study had a relatively large sample size, data were only collected from the Auckland region of New Zealand. While research participants provided valuable insights, their findings comprehensively represented the field of entrepreneurship in the Auckland region only. This study adopted convenience sampling, often seen as bias and findings not generalisable as limitations. However, appropriate mitigation processes were provided to ensure possible bias associated with the use of convenience sampling in the study is reduced to the barest minimum. The fact that this study only focused on African immigrants’ motivational factors in entrepreneurship and their success factors makes it a limited study.
Future studies
Future studies should aim to include more regionally diverse samples. Furthermore, because this study was conducted in the Auckland region, the findings may not be generalisable from the whole of the New Zealand perspective. Therefore, this study suggests a future research study on a comprehensive exploration of African immigrant entrepreneurs’ involvement in business from the 16 regions of New Zealand. In addition, the current study adopted a quantitative method that limits participants from adequately sharing their experiences running businesses in New Zealand. This study further suggests for a future study to consider mixed methods research design combining both quantitative and qualitative data and build on the strengths of both data. This will help for a comprehensive analysis based on data collected from many regions of New Zealand to determine what motivated Africans into entrepreneurship in the whole of New Zealand and what the potential factors are that enabled their entrepreneurial business success.
Because of the belief that convenience sampling is bias, this study suggests that related future studies should adopt probability sampling based on random selection. This will ensure everyone in the population has a known probability of being included in the study. This will enhance confidence in the research that the study findings will be generalisable by reducing selection bias and increasing external validity.
This study also suggests a future research study to examine the motivational factors influencing multiple ethnic immigrants becoming entrepreneurs and business owners and factors that ensured their business success in all regions of New Zealand. The suggested research should be a comparative study, which will significantly enhance generalisability and relevance.
Funding statements
No funding was obtained for this study.
Conflict of interest
We declare that we have no conflict of interest.
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