Keeping up with tradition

by NADEEM BADSHAH

MINORITIES 'EXCEL AT CREATING THEIR OWN BUSINESSES'

ETHNIC MINORITIES are twice as like­ly as white Britons to launch their own business to continue a family tradition and avoid suffering discrimination from employers, research claims.

The proportion of men and women from immigrant backgrounds starting a firm since the 2008 financial crisis has ris­en “markedly”, while there has only been a smaller increase among white people.

Successful entrepreneurs believe the trend is down to seeing their parents work hard in factories before running their own companies after arriving in the UK from South Asia, and having a greater work ethic and motivation.

Paul Uppal, the UK’s small business commissioner who previously ran a con­struction company, told Eastern Eye: “From a personal experience, people from ethnic and minority backgrounds tend to come from a culture where they see peo­ple – family, friends, acquaintances – go­ing into and running their own business.

“This gives them exposure to role mod­els and more of a perspective in how dif­ficult it can be to run a business. In my role as commissioner I try to mentor new and small businesses, sharing my experi­ence and advice as much as possible with people from all backgrounds.

“If more people from ethnic and mi­nority backgrounds can pursue their dreams and share their experiences with the wider community, it can only be a win-win for everyone involved.”

The research by Aston University in Birmingham attempted to measure “total early-stage entrepreneurial activity”, those in the first three months of setting up a firm and people already running a business that is up to three-and-a-half years old.

Last year the activity rate for ethnic minority Britons was 14.5 per cent, com­pared with 7.9 per cent for white Britons.

And among immigrants to the UK, 12.9 per cent were early-stage entrepreneurs compared with 8.2 per cent among the British-born population.

Dr Rami Ranger CBE, who runs the Sun Mark brand in London, told Eastern Eye: “They say when employers do not look after their staff, their staff work for the competition.

“Sadly, even the competition does not look after their ethnic staff as they should. The result is the staff prefer to work for themselves to control their destinies.

"Additionally, migrants are less likely to find suitable jobs than their white coun­terparts. Had they been treated as equals, they may not have opted for running their own businesses as they do today.”

Dr Ranger added: “Besides, immi­grants are more ambitious than the rest as many come from humble backgrounds and like to realise their potential by going their own way.

“They are also risk takers as many start from nothing and have little or nothing to lose if unsuccessful. Immigrants’ families also play an important role as they tend to help their family members more to suc­ceed due to cultural values.”

Sukhi Wahiwala is an award-winning entrepreneur and business mentor who delivered a TED talk at Aston University on time management.

He said: “As a generation, as a commu­nity, as people, as an Indian culture, it is built around some kind of entrepreneur­ship where everybody is always looking to assist themselves further financially be­cause there is no financial assistance.

“It is natural for a lot of individuals from an Asian background to see the best way to be in control of their own future in life is to take charge of it, look at the mul­tiples of leveraging themselves and have other employees to grow the business.

“It is so much easier to start a business, even setting up a limited company is done online today.”

Wahiwala added: “I went to college so I could come back and run a business at the same time. I took over one of my family busi­nesses in 1990, and in 1991 I turned a loss-making company into a profit-making one.”

“My college friends were much more focused on social activities, going out or what happened in the latest TV series they were watching. I had no understand­ing of that at all, I just knew how to buy and sell, how to buy the cheapest stock, how to ensure I’ve got the next customer.

“I used to go into college, finish my les­sons and do my homework there and then. Then I would come back to the business and run it like normal, I would go and buy stock and help customers.”