Success Factors of Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Many scholars emphasize that Immigrant Entrepreneurship (IE) is an effective mechanism of improving the economy of ethnic communities and their integration with the host country. Even though immigrant entrepreneurs are crucial for economic development, much attention is not paid to immigrant entrepreneurs in the Sri Lankan context. Therefore, this study focuses on factors that affect the success of Indian Tamil immigrant entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka while understanding the strategies used by them to ensure the success of their businesses. Being a largely untouched area in qualitative research, a qualitative research approach is followed by the researcher. Multiple case study method is used and four leading Indian Tamil immigrant entrepreneurs in the Jewellery industry of Sri Lanka are selected as the sample of the study. The study’s findings show that access to capital, trust, ethnic enclave and supportive bureaucratic process are the most significant factors that affect the success of immigrant entrepreneurs. Strategies including multicultural hybridism, building networks inside and outside their ethnic enclave, risk diversification and maintaining strong ties with their stakeholders have ensured their success and survival in a country where they are an ethnic minority. This study provides a pathway for future researchers to conduct many studies by taking various immigrant entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka in different industries and comparing them.