SUCCESSFUL STRATEGIES USED BY AFRO-CARIBBEAN IMMIGRANT FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS TO DEVELOP CRITICAL SUCCESS BUSINESS SKILLS: QUALITATIVE EXPLORATORY CASE STUDY
Successful Strategies Used by Afro-Caribbean Immigrant Female Entrepreneurs to Develop Critical Success Business Skills: Qualitative Exploratory Case Study
The focus of the proposed study is to explore the successful strategies used by immigrant Afro-Caribbean immigrant entrepreneurs in growing their business start-ups. In particular, the study will focus on the first generation of Afro-Caribbean immigrant women who have emigrated to the United States between 2011-2021. In this chapter, an overview of the problem statement, purpose statement, population, sample and research questions will be provided.
Problem Statement
The purpose of the proposed qualitative explorative case study is to explore the strategies used by the immigrant Afro-Caribbean female entrepreneurs to develop their critical business skills to grow their businesses. According to Corner et al. (2017), the main constructs contributing to business entrepreneurship failure were the lack of coping strategies and learning new skills. Hawthorne (2019) carried out a qualitative study on Afro-Italian female entrepreneurship. The researcher carried out interviews and participant observation over several years to explore the business strategies introduced by Afro-Italian females with relation to Black beauty, style and haircare. The findings indicated that the entrepreneurs adopted business strategies such as targeting specific market, product development such as own haircare brands and diversification, which helped them to differentiate themselves on the market.
Similarly, Hack-Polay et al. (2020) carried out a study on the entrepreneurial immigrants setting up businesses in the rural context in the UK. The researchers carried out semi-structured interviews with immigrant entrepreneurs (including Afro-Caribbean females) about their strategies for setting up businesses in rural Lincolnshire. The findings indicated that the entrepreneurs deployed their cultural and social capital resources as a way of breaking out of the ethnic market and to ensure diversity in the consumer base. The researchers recommended that a similar study should be conducted across different countries. Thus, it becomes evident that immigrant entrepreneurs utilize the network relationships and cultural knowledge as a way of expanding their businesses. This qualitative explorative case study will explore the successful strategies used by the immigrant Afro-Caribbean entrepreneurs living in the United States, to learn critical business skills to help them grow their businesses.
Purpose
The purpose of this qualitative explorative case study is to explore the successful strategies used by immigrant Afro-Caribbean entrepreneurs in growing their business start-ups. In particular, the study will focus on the first generation of Afro-Caribbean immigrant women who have come to the United States between 2011-2021. The study will focus on first generation immigrants to understand the strategies that helped these entrepreneurs remain successful in their business ventures in the United States, as opposed to their home country. This research will focus on the strategies used by these females in growing their businesses. Specifically, the research will focus on the specific skills, which the Afro-Caribbean female entrepreneurs acquired that helped them to grow their business.
Population and Sample
The population chosen for the proposed study are the Afro-Caribbean female business owners who have immigrated to the United States between 2011-2021. The sample for the proposed study will consist of 10 female Afro-Caribbean entrepreneurs based in the Tri State from industries such as hair braiding, native food vendors and local Caribbean bakeries. Sample size of 10 participants was chosen as appropriate for the current study. Francis et al. (2010) defined the sample size of 10 interviews as a ‘stopping criterion’ for data saturation where no new themes emerge. Participants will be recruited using the stratified sampling method. The participants will be selected based on their gender, race, owning a business, and the number of years they spent living in the United States.
Participants will be selected from the Small Business Associations (SBA) government website. Information on businesses obtained from SBA is publicly available. Any additionally required information about the businesses will be gathered from the participants directly through an email request.
Research Questions
The purpose of the current study is to explore the successful strategies used by Afro-Caribbean immigrant female entrepreneurs to develop critical business skills to grow their businesses. The study will focus on the acquiring of these business skills. As part of the current study, the following research questions are proposed
Research Question 1: What are the lived experiences of Afro-Caribbean entrepreneurial women regarding their business practices, strategies and decision-making processes that contributed to the success of their business?
Research Question 2: What are the skills that have assisted the Afro-Caribbean entrepreneurial women in establishing a loyal customer base, financing system and meeting product demands which contributed to their business success?
Research Question 3: What are some of the experiences, trainings, skills or strategies that have contributed to the development and innovation of the business start-ups of the Afro-Caribbean women?
References
Corner, P. D., Singh, S., & Pavlovich, K. (2017). Entrepreneurial resilience and venture failure. International Small Business Journal, 35(6), 687-708.
Francis, J.J., Johnston, M., Robertson, C., Glidewell, L., Entwhistle, V., Eccles, M.P., & Grimshaw, J.M. (2010). What is an adequate sample size? Operationalising data saturation for theory-driven interview studies. Psychology and Health, 25, 1229–1245.
Hack-Polay, D., Tenna Ogbaburu, J., Rahman, M., & Mahmoud, A. B. (2020). Immigrant entrepreneurs in rural England–An examination of the socio-cultural barriers facing migrant small businesses in Lincolnshire. Local Economy, 35(7), 676-694.
Hawthorne, C. (2021). Making Italy: Afro-Italian entrepreneurs and the racial boundaries of citizenship. Social & Cultural Geography, 22(5), 704-724.
