Cambios psicoemocionales

decision

Came to Edinburgh aged 14 to join father

Left school age 16 and wanted to continue education and career in electronics

Given shop as 'gift' by father and, as eldest son, had no option but to forgo education and enter c-store ownership

Migrated to Scotland age 16 to join uncle in Glasgow

Worked with uncle and cousins in similar businesses before buying own premises Owned 3 stores at one time but sold 2 to concentrate on running 1 efficiently, not 3 badly

Involved in family business activity since age 11

C-store funded move into property rental business

Local school and community involvement Opened own c-store on leaving school Sold business after 5 years and took over current premises from father

Competitive approach

Aware of increased local and wider competition

Strategy of not competing on product range or price

Offers basic products in modernised store and efficient service, including delivery of very small, low value orders to local pensioners

Customer loyalty developed over 25 years

Business developed over 25 years from poor start

Symbol group membership to improve price, promotional material and product range available

Agent for cleaning, lottery, video hire, PayPoint, cash dispenser and short term credit facilities

Good local community links maximise sales

Diversified away from c-store sector Business interests in construction, food importing and distribution, publishing, property rental, motor trade, finance and tanning studio

Enterprises operated alone, with family members, co-ethnic partners and other associates

Succession plans

No business development as business aim to exit sector as soon as cultural and traditional obligations allow

Determined that children do not enter c- store business but successfully

encouraged to seek recognised qualifications and mainstream employment

Both sons educated to degree level

Elder now increasingly involved in day-to-day running of business

Gradual hand over of responsibility to allow father to retire

Possibility of opening additional premises if younger son decides to join family business

Plans to close current business when lease expires but open c-store in perceived better location

Younger son, age 10, already showing interest in business involvement

Intention to continue to develop portfolio of business activities and build on family business empire started by father

Motivational aspect Factors Issues

Psychological Needs, goal, success, achievement, locus of control, independence

Business and personal aims, need for control and independence, measures of success

Experiential Push and pull factors Limited alternatives, family and personal expectations.

Opportunities, role models, community networks. Personal Individual values, family

and culture traditions

Measures of satisfaction, influence of family and

community role models, impact of personal beliefs and values, aspirations

Figure 5.2: Components of individual motivation for self-employment.

In the theoretical sample included in the study, for 1st generation business owners (Respondents 1, 2, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16 and 21) the decision to enter convenience store ownership was perceived to provide sufficient financial security and opportunities to meet basic existence needs. As Respondent 5 notes: “anyone who emigrates wants to improve their standard of life and economics … make their life better for their families” (5: 180).

This was still the case for those then migrating to Edinburgh to continue or expand c- store activity, and in the experience of Respondents 10 and 15 the decision and experience provided opportunities to improve family financial security. However, once the business is established, c-store self-employment is also seen as being the means of meeting more advanced needs including personal and family growth and advancement, independence and control, and the achievement of personal aims and ambitions.

For 2nd generation migrant c-store owners interviewed (Respondents 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 14, 17, 18, 19 and 20) the importance of meeting basic needs through c-store ownership is diminished, although the factor shaping economic activity decisions for Respondent 6 revolved around the need to provide for his mother and brother on his father’s early death. For the remaining 2nd generation respondents, c-store ownership is perceived to offer opportunities to gain or maintain independence, establish a basis for integration with the mainstream community, provide the means to balance

personal and family security with the achievement of personal aims, and open a wider range of future options for the individual and subsequent generations in alternative career sectors.

As Respondent 8 reflects, there is a strong impact of changing personal motivation on business approaches adopted as he has gone from being Asian Trader of the Year to his current situation:

I was only in my twenties then, in my late teens actually when my brother and I started the shop. And work was not a problem. I could go on twenty-four hours, seven days a week, you know. But now I can barely manage seven, eight hours in here. You become lazy. I have become lazy or I just can’t do it any more. I haven’t found out which is, which it is at the present moment. I find it a real effort to stay more than five or six hours in the shop. (8: 528-56)

Yes I am happy. I am quite content, you know. My mortgage is paid at the end of the month. My wife has a lovely car to take the kids to school. I, er, I would say my liabilities are being met at the end of every month so …(8: 659-662)

Oh aye, I definitely had the determination, the initiative and the drive to achieve that, you know, and I was heading in the right direction and I’ve could have done it, I could have done it. [Are you disappointed now you’ve got this and your wife and family?] Oh no, no, honestly I’m just as happy. Er, I’m more happy, er, from my family point of view, you know. I couldn’t do without my family now. I love my wife, you know. (8: 871-80)

Apart from meeting basic needs, the strongest common feature for 1st and 2nd generation migrants and business owners emerging from the fieldwork data is a need for independence. Also, there is a stated or implied high level of locus of control in the range of needs priorities within the research sample. These priorities include elements of facing challenges (2, 6, 8), the satisfaction of making a success after working for others (3, 20), maximising financial opportunities (4, 9, 12, 17), maintaining desired work and life balance (5, 6, 8, 12, 13, 17, 19, 20) and the opportunity to set personal standards, goals and business strategies (4, 5, 8, 10, 13, 18).

On a potentially negative note, this need for control and independence can be the cause of tension and conflict between good business practice and personal strategies

for business continuation and development. This is illustrated in the example of attitudes to symbol group membership.

Theoretically, group membership enhances good business practice of maximising marketing opportunities, accessing wide product ranges, reducing overheads and improving profit margins – this being a largely positive experience for Respondents 6 and 9, although both respondents comment on the potential of membership to restrict the ability to respond to local needs and preferences and the best business option being to add individual ideas to the core group trading approaches.

However, for Respondents 12, 15, 17 and 20, the need to conform to group policies and practice, comply with procedures and invest in set standards of technology, shop fitting and stock ranges and levels is perceived as too high an investment both financially and personally, preferring to retain independence and options to diversify products and services offered to meet localised demands – these issues summarised by Respondent 15:

We have thought it, many time thought about it. But it all depends. Some of those groups will tie you down. You know, you’re not your own man then. You depend on them. It’s good fair enough. It’s good for the customer. You can do the same. [What would be the advantages of it?] The advantages would be, the symbol group is bigger and has more power, more buying power. So they can produce something cheaper for you. But the trouble is you can buy similar things and pass it on to the customer. If you are willing to do that it would be good. If you are only going to use them to, you know, deliver stock, it’s not worth it. It’s not worth it. [And what would be the drawbacks of it?] I don’t know that there’s any drawbacks out of it. But it means you are tied with them. [Then you would be working for someone else again.] You could be, but I like to be independent. I can buy whatever I want, whatever I want. I don’t have to stick to their own names or whatever. (15: 592-611)

As can be seen from the above discussion, self-employment offers individual business owners the means by which to achieve personal and family needs, aims and goals. However, the extent to which this is possible is dependent on the individual concept of what constitutes adequate rewards, definition of success, perception of the potential in any given situation or set of barriers to success to achieve these desired outcomes, and strategies to minimise risk of failure.

The individual nature of these individual psychological factors is shaped by the economic and social context on business entry. Experiential push and pull factors are

theoretically identified as focusing on the external issues of alternative opportunities available discussed above, and internal factors relating to family and personal expectations, role models and the extent, influence and use made of minority community networks.

However, the internal focus on family and personal expectations, the nature of personal and business networks, and the influence of family and community role models is not static. Issues relevant on business start-up change with experience, external trading environments, personal and business maturity, and individual measures of satisfaction and work life balance.

Individual expectations of the opportunities and benefits offered by c-store ownership appear to vary with generation of migrant and business ownership. While offering a means of establishing and developing economic security and meeting personal needs for independence for 1st generation migrants, the extent of assimilation into the Edinburgh mainstream community creates wider expectations for subsequent generations. The emerging themes represented by the following examples focus on factors ranging from confusion between real and perceived attitudes to c-store ownership, the role of education and increasing alternative economic opportunities, and tension between personal goals and good business practice.

For Respondent 3, ownership of the current business follows a range of employment experiences and attempts to establish successful enterprises in other parts of the UK. However, as the extracts from the interview transcript below suggest, despite family support and c-store ownership in Edinburgh proving successful, he is aware of failing to meet parental aspirations:

We had been considering a few years before that to, to try and do something else but it's very difficult to break from something that might be demanding, you know, and very hard working but at least it's something you can rely on for your bread and butter. (3: 55-59)

They were all rooting for me. I had a reasonable amount of family support. (3: 168-169)

My parents, my father in particular, my parents always had aspirations for us all to actually not, not be left in the shop and were actually quite disappointed while we were doing that. (3: 265-268)

A similar miss-conception of generational aims and aspirations is illustrated by the experiences of Respondents 14 and 15, selected to meet the requirements of the theoretical sample and both interview arrangements in place before being identified as being related.

The interview with Respondent 14 identified the c-store entry decision to be a response to an expectation to follow in the family tradition of micro-retailing rather than developing a business from his qualifications as a motor mechanic. Once made, the decision received parental support and resources “because mum and dad have got a shop as well and said ‘we’ll get you a shop as well, get you on your own feet as well’, so that’s why they got me this one" (14: 14-20). When asked about 1st generation’s business activity, it emerged that this was Respondent 15, who was unaware of his son’s inclusion in the research.

During this second interview, the subject of aspirations for future generations was raised. The importance of the lessons learned from family experience of c-store ownership for his son’s subsequent entry to the sector are acknowledged, as “he was born in business. He’s been in business all the time and he’s learned bit by bit you know" (15: 302-3). However, this decision is also regretted due to a personal preference for both children to follow an alternative career path:

I would have preferred him to do something else … I think its, like I said, it’s longer hours, no social life. You know, for that reason I wanted him out of it but I think he wants to go and do it. You know, we asked him before we got him it ‘if you are wanting to do it, fair enough’. And plus something is the responsibility. He’s got, that’s his own. You know, he can do whatever, the way he wants to do it. So lets see what happens from there. [Yes, so then it’s up to him. But you would really have preferred him to have gone off and] Yes I would have. Like I said, my daughter’s already got, you know nine to five. I would have preferred him to go out of the shops. [Do you think that would have been a better life for them?] I don’t know. I cannae say that. (15: 620-35)

The value of education and skills training is also illustrated by the examples of the attitudes of Respondents 9 and 11. In both cases, education is perceived as providing better opportunities than were available to 1st generation migrants. However, differences emerge when making decisions regarding 2nd generation c-store involvement.

In the case of Respondent 9, the failure to complete his university course, in contrast to his younger brother, left no option but to join his father in the family convenience store. Despite initial reluctance, this is proving to be a successful business move, as the son is active in developing the range of products and services offered in a successful strategy to maintain customer loyalty, increase turnover and allow the older generation family members to move towards retirement from day-to-day operational involvement.

In contrast, all four children of Respondent 11 have continued formal education to university level. Both daughters are married and involved in careers outwith c-store ownership. The intention was for both sons to also develop careers, but their father’s ill health forced decisions about the continuation of the thriving c-store business to be made. Following lengthy discussions, both sons chose to be involved with the family business and future aims are to expand into additional c-stores and wider sectors, thus repeating the 1st generation business strategy.

The expectations of the benefits of c-store ownership are also shaped by individual variation in definitions of success and measures of satisfaction. Factors influencing these definitions include financial achievements, lifestyle issues, perception of personal fulfilment, achievement of business and personal aims, and satisfying family and community expectations.

Despite the perceptions of the differing extent of theoretical ethnic minority business factors in larger UK minority communities discussed above, there is still a strong influence of both family and community traditions in approaches to c-store ownership in the Edinburgh micro-community. While unique to each respondent, this influence on business entry and development decisions is evident in the following examples of traditional roles and responsibilities: exclusion from the family business on rejection of proposed marriage (8); the oldest son’s responsibility to provide for his mother following the father’s early death (6); the expectation to follow his father’s footsteps (4); obedience to father’s wishes (5); the acceptance and sibling acknowledgement of the position of eldest brother to be the family decision maker (19, 20 and 21).

In addition, there is a wide range of attitudes to and the business implications of personal beliefs, values and religion. The contrasting extremes of attitudes are illustrated in two 2nd generation migrants, Respondents 18 and 14. For Respondent 18, adherence to the demands of the Muslim faith restricts product ranges, involvement of female family members in business activity, and confines extended family business ownership to micro city centre newsagents as successful expansion into larger premises would necessitate the sale of alcohol to attain viable business levels, commenting:

We are also restricted in what we can do because we are Muslim. That influences us. It makes a difference, you know, because we can’t go for the, you know, off licence or anything, you know. Some people don’t feel that, you know. The bigger shops are mostly off licences and if you take the off licence away from the shop it makes a difference. [And you definitely wouldn’t do that?] No. So far we have been able to stay away from it and shops like that. [And if you manage to survive then it saves that conflict] That’s right. Yes. You have to draw a line, yes. It also influence the way you speak to people, you know and the way you handle the customers. [So then that affects how much involved you are in the business, and various members of the family as well, I presume?] Yes, all of us and what we do. We’ve survived so far yes. (18: 123-157)

In stark contrast is the attitude of Respondent 14, whose approach to business is shaped by focusing on building relationships with customers, tensions arising from practical issues of product age restrictions rather than religious issues. However, for all other respondents, personal beliefs and values are held in balance with accepted good business practice despite the tensions this creates. The influence of close family remains strong among those interviewed, however the impact of ethnic community and wider family members, traditions and principles are weaker with length of 1st generation Edinburgh residence and business ownership, and considerably less influence on the 2nd generation of migrants and business owners in the sample.

While there are broad similarities in the range of internal factors affecting business involvement, strategies and aims, it is important stress that the degree of awareness of the existence of these factors and the knowledge of the specific detail and extent of impact on trading approaches and business strategies are unique to each individual micro-business owner.

5.3 Summary and initial conceptual model

From the discussion above, it is evident that the Edinburgh Pakistani community exhibits similarities to larger ethnic minority communities in the UK in regards to selective migration and choice of economic activity following community examples and experience. However, due to the size and location of the Edinburgh micro- community, family networks are more important than those of the wider ethnic community. There is less reliance on community finance for business start-up and the use of family financial resources is quite limited. The disparate nature of the community shapes the trading environment, limiting opportunities for reliance on co- ethnic customers and suppliers and resulting in a need to compete within mainstream markets.

While this appears a negative factor to some 1st generation migrants and business owners, for the 2nd generation business owners this level of integration with