Entrepreneurial resilience during the time of crises: investigation of ethnic restaurants

ABSTRACT

Ethnic restaurants are a significant component of the hospitality and tourism industry. Unlike other entrepreneurial engagements, entrepreneurship in ethnic restaurants follows a different trajectory because of the involvement of individuals from different ethnic backgrounds with an intention to create a unique brand value. Meanwhile, due to the nature and scale of operations (i.e. independent, family-owned, small-scale businesses), evaluating their challenges and entrepreneurial resilience could further enhance our understanding of cultivating a sustainable business environment. Limited resources made these small-scale businesses vulnerable to crises. Using a qualitative approach, this study examined resilience among ethnic restaurant owners through 20 individual interviews. Through the application of Kao’s framework of entrepreneurship, unique themes under entrepreneurship components for ethnic restaurant owners were identified. These findings provide important theoretical and practical implications for promoting a sustainable business environment for ethnic restaurants during crises.

KEYWORDS:

• Ethnicity
• ethnic restaurant
• entrepreneurial resilience
• adaptability

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary Material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/15378020.2024.2387390