ABSTRACT
Drawing from relevant ethnography/cultural, entrepreneurship/economics, and sociology literatures, the objective is to understand the inner-workings of ethnic entrepreneurship, exploring the close link between minority ethnic groups and co-ethnic business during the latter’s creation and consolidation phases. It is posited that the entrepreneur’s co-ethnic group is the business incubator that supports enterprise consolidation, its principal market and natural habitat, whereas a lack of access to the co-ethnic group is likely to justify declining sales and loss of business. Conversely, focus on the cultural side of minority ethnic groups suggests that entrepreneurship has an influence on the development of their economic stability.
The single most important inference from the discussion is that not only do minority ethnic groups add to newly arrived affiliates’ informal social networks, and assist with their process of socialization to the new environment, but these groups may also generate employment, business entrepreneurship opportunities and support for the exploitation of those opportunities.
