The role of female entrepreneurial networks and small business development: a pilot study based on Sri Lankan migrant entrepreneurs of tourism industry in London

• Main Author: H.A.K.N.S.Surangi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Academy of Business & Retail Management 2016-03-01
• Series: International Journal of Business & Economic Development
• Subjects: Female entrepreneurs; networking; structural dimension; relational dimension
• Online Access: http://ijbed.org/admin/content/pdf/i-10_c-105.pdf

Over the past few years much has been written about the rapid spread of various types of firm networking, the area of female entrepreneurs’ networks and small business entrepreneurship is still a challenging research field. This study aims to explore the role of female entrepreneurs’ networks and examine the importance influences for female entrepreneurs’ networking behaviour. Pilot studies are mostly under-reported in the qualitative research literature and this article specifically focuses on the pilot study findings.Having established that a qualitative methodology is most suitable for this study, the in-depth narrative interviews and observation are deemed a particularly suitable research tools. For this study, the pilot work was conducted in London prior to the main stage of data gathering in Sri Lanka. Five Sri Lankan migrant women entrepreneurs in London were purposively approached and interviewed.Findings show that the female entrepreneurs’ networking experience provides a valuable insight for developing their own small businesses. More specifically, majority of the female entrepreneurs emphasized the purpose- driven nature of their contacts and they organized their networks around the family and social domains rather than professional ties. Further, influences: competing family responsibilities and business matters (being a good mum), gender, trust and running home based business, are important and they affect networking behaviour of female entrepreneurs. This study adds to the extant literature through its two-dimensional focus on entrepreneurial networking .The structural dimension which investigates who are parts of the entrepreneurial networks; the relational side which explores the contributions each tie brings to the entrepreneurial venture. Further, it brings new evidence to bear by examine the importance influences for women networking behaviour by showing how the phenomenon of entrepreneurship is context specific and the findings of the narrative approach to research on female entrepreneurial networks are limited.