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THE EMPIRE STRIKES IT RICH...
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Back in September, when the report was published, Dhaliwal had said that her research was meant to break the Asian stereotype that “we are all shopkeepers”. Instead, she said, Asians in Britain had clearly moved away from traditional industries such as textiles and manufacturing towards new hi-tech and service sectors.
However, Kamel Hothi, the Asian markets director for Lloyds TSB, says Asian entrepreneurship, a la the Patel brothers, who moved from pharmacies to a subsidiary to develop and launch new drugs, is the natural progression. Says Hothi, “When you have glass ceilings, the best thing is self-employment, so the best thing to do is to start your own corner shop. That is the path for entrepreneurship. Then pharmacy is the next best thing when children come back from university and want to use their degrees, and then franchises.”
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Sizing Up Spinder
Spinder Dhaliwal is the programme leader for the new MSc Entrepreneurship degree at the University of Surrey. She is a director of the Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Having grown up in a small business environment, she has been researching the area for several years.
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In September, Dhaliwal had said she discerned a definite change in the Asian pattern of wealth creation. “No longer can we just be classified as people who buy up cash-and-carry stores or corner shops. Our community is in high-value trade now, such as IT, the media and so on,” she had said.
The survey observes changes in the people who are turning entrepreneurs. Dhaliwal says the attitudes of today’s young business entrepreneurs differ from the first-generation immigrant businesspeople from South Asia. Young people are more willing to make contacts outside the community. And unlike their parents, they are more likely to trust non-family and friends for advice and financial backing.
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more...
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June 2007
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