An analysis of local and immigrant entrepreneurs in south Africa's SME sector

This study was undertaken to investigate the motivation, intention, culture and business performance of South African and immigrant entrepreneurs in the small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) sector. The effect of these factors on entrepreneurship was assessed. This was necessitated by the continued low competitive ranking and poor performance of South African entrepreneurs compared to other nationals in studies such as the GEM reports. Questionnaire was used to collect data through interviewer and administrated and a self-administered survey from 500 SMMEs and 93% questionnaires were returned. The results of the study showed that there is no significant difference between motivation to start a business and the origin of the sampled SMME owners in the retail industry of Gauteng province. The results show that a significant difference does not exist between the owner's origin and culture. This implies that the variable "origin of owner(s)" is not a determining factor in one's culture to start a business. Results also showed that there is no significant difference between the mean scores of the origin of the owner and business performance. This implies that the performance of business is not informed by whether the owner is local or foreign.