Invandrarföretagares användning av bootstrapping

: en kvalitativ studie om invandrarföretagares användning av bootstrapping beroende på företagets livscykel och företagarens egenskaper

Abstract

Both entrepreneurship and immigration has increased dramatically in Sweden, as well as globally. Today there are over a million companies in Sweden where one-person (74.8%) and micro enterprises (21.7%) represent the largest portion. This gives a clear view that the Swedish economy is dominated by small firms. Behind many of these smaller companies are individuals with a foreign background. In 2010 it was shown that every seventh company that was started in Sweden, operated by a person with roots from another part of the world.One of the main forces of a country's economic growth is the companies, which is a major reason that focus lies on how they choose to finance their business. The problem for many immigrant entrepreneurs is difficulty in obtaining external financing during its life-cycle, which leads to alternative financing methods used, named bootstrapping. Bootstrapping means to “lift oneself up” and make sure to become “self-sufficient”. Scientists believe that the entrepreneur's characteristics also play a significant role in the choice of financing.The purpose of this paper is to explore whether immigrant entrepreneur's use of bootstrapping is affected by the entrepreneur's characteristics and the company’s life cycle. A hermeneutic research philosophy has been used in conjunction with a deductive and a qualitative approach. The reason for using a qualitative approach is to create a deeper understanding of an unfamiliar area. The qualitative study has been performed with the help of eight respondents to answer the study's problem and purpose.The paper indicates that immigrant entrepreneurs mainly uses owner-financed in the introduction and growth phase. The study demonstrates that delaying bootstrapping is also a common method that immigrant entrepreneurs use during the growth phase. Another method that is also used but not as much as the other two methods is relationship oriented bootstrapping. The most influencing characteristics when using bootstrapping is the need of control over the business and risk aversion against external financiers.