Small is beautiful: How immigrants start their business in Sweden

Abstract: Background: The inflow of immigrants in Sweden is not a new phenomenon. Over the years this country has harbored hundreds and thousands of immigrants/refugees/asylum seekers on its soil. However, due to economical problems faced by Sweden during the last decade, the labor market is not unable to produce adequate jobs. Due to this amongst other consequences, immigrants in Sweden have started establishing their own small businesses which they are handling quite successfully till date. Problem discussion: In this thesis we are trying to unveil some of the situations and obstacles of immigrants’ businesses particularly in Sweden. We felt that there are not many studies done today in connection to immigrant business in Sweden though it could be one of the most burning topics in the research field. There is plenty of literature covering the international situation of immigrant business but it is difficult to find in Swedish contexts. The objectives are to know why they perform, how they perform and what they perform, and also to find out if there is sufficient support available to them from local to central level and from ethnic to private institutions. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explore and explain why immigrants start their own small business in Sweden. Method: To perform this study and to gather appropriate information pertaining to immigrant small business, we have conducted 14 interviews, out of which 8 were immigrants (4 new and 4 old immigrants business houses) and 6 were from different organizations (both represented by government and private organizations). They help immigrants to start their business in Sweden. Finally, we have prepared a model based on immigrants’ business network and the situation. Results: The results of our findings show that the main reason for immigrants starting their own business is because of scarcity of specific jobs (matching their qualification and experiences) in the Swedish labor market and immigrants being ambitious to making money and wanting to be self sufficient and not to stay un-employed for longer period of time. The network connected to the immigrants is very important in order to start their own business, both for success and establishment. Again, support from friends, family and relatives are the critical point of departure for their business establishment.