Survivalist Pro
Survivalist Pro
Photo: Anna Shvets
Survivalist entrepreneurs are individuals involved in microenterprises with a specific survivalist objective. A microenterprise is owner-managed and is assisted by unpaid family and/or fewer than five employees (according to the classification of the National Small Business Amendment Act 26 of 2003).
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Abstract Purpose: This exploratory study aimed to provide a description of the experiences and perceptions of survivalist entrepreneurs in under-resourced communities. These survivalist entrepreneurs perceived themselves as ‘temporary’ entrepreneurs. They engaged in entrepreneurial ventures, whilst actively searching for secure formal employment. Design/methodology/approach: Qualitative interviews were conducted with four informal survivalist microenterprise entrepreneurs (ISM-E entrepreneurs). Narratives relating to their experiences and perceptions of their environment, community and government support and their experience of owning a microenterprise in an impoverished community were analysed inductively. Findings/results: Fourteen themes were identified and were grouped under two broad topics, namely the characterisation of the entrepreneur and the surrounding setting of the ISM-E entrepreneur. The discussion of the findings was presented in a positive deviance framework. Practical implications: It was proposed that the ingenuity and strengths of these ISM-E entrepreneurs be acknowledged and that their positive discourses be cultivated and encouraged in order to inspire unemployed people around them. These ISM-E entrepreneurs could, ideally, point social scientists to possible context-appropriate solutions to the huge unemployment challenge experienced in disadvantaged communities. Originality/value: This study addresses a knowledge gap pertaining to the exploration of micro-entrepreneurship in under-resourced communities within a positive deviance framework. Keywords: unemployment; positive deviance; under-resourced communities; microbusiness entrepreneurs; informal entrepreneurs; South Africa. Introduction Informal enterprises is an alternative available to unemployed individuals (Fourie, 2011; Ligthelm, 2006; Ranyane, 2015; Robertson & Choto, 2015; Yu, 2012). Research has shown that unemployed people become informal entrepreneurs not because they see it as a preferred career choice, but singularly driven by necessity (Ligthelm, 2006; Woodward, Ligthelm, & Guimarães, 2011). Morris and Pitt (1995) argued that personal survival rather than profit-driven motivation is the most important force behind entry into an informal entrepreneurial venture. South Africa’s informal entrepreneurial sector appears to be particularly underdeveloped (Yu, 2012). Especially given the reality of a steadily increasing unemployment rate over the past nine years (Yu, 2012). For the first quarter of 2020, the official unemployment rate reached 30.1%, with the expanded unemployment rate reported at 39.7% (Statistics SA, 2020). Academics have, therefore, posed the following questions: ‘Why do the unemployed not enter the informal sector, as is common in other developing countries?’ (Kingdon & Knight, 2004, p. 391) and ‘Where are the South African entrepreneurs?’ (Manyaka, 2015, p. 2). Depending on the definition used, it is estimated that between 1 and 2 million people are involved in small informal self-owned entrepreneurial undertakings (Bradford, 2007, p. 95; Statistics South Africa, 2014). However, many people involved in this sector are survivalist entrepreneurs and may leave the sector when they enter formal employment or when a family member is employed. Survivalist entrepreneurs are individuals involved in microenterprises with a specific survivalist objective. A microenterprise is owner-managed and is assisted by unpaid family and/or fewer than five employees (according to the classification of the National Small Business Amendment Act 26 of 2003). Survivalist entrepreneurs are thus involved in the informal selling of services and products with a very small profit margin in order to earn an income for the basic survival of their families. The survivalist entrepreneurial venture is almost exclusively there to be a buffer against starvation and other poverty-related issues (Fourie, 2011; Ranyane, 2015; Robertson & Choto, 2015). The extent of the sluggish flow from unemployment to informal entrepreneurship becomes clear when the estimated number of 1.4 m informal entrepreneurs given in the Quarterly Labour Force Survey, Quarter 1 of 2017, is compared with the 9.2 m unemployed people for the same quarter. Except for informal self-employment not being taken up by enough unemployed South Africans as an alternative to formal employment, a further challenge is that 70% to 80% of informal entrepreneurial ventures fail in the first year, and only 50% of the remaining group survive after 5 years (Strydom, 2017). Defining ‘positive deviance’ and ‘entrepreneur’ The concept of positive deviance (PD) originated in the 1970s in the healthcare field. The concept was used to explain the occurrence of children who, unexpectedly, did not suffer from malnutrition, despite having the same environment as the majority of children who were suffering from malnutrition. Positive deviance cases are thus seen as those individuals or occurrences that can be typified as exceptional cases amongst the general population of cases. The deviance is termed positive because the outcome of the behaviour of these deviants results in improved situations or positive changes. Positive deviance refers to strategies that enable some individuals to overcome their challenges better than other individuals faced with exactly the same difficult situations and equal lack of resources. From the literature, the following definition was constructed: Positive deviance is extraordinary, non-normative, unconventional, conscious and unexpected strategies and behaviour employed by individuals that put them in an enhanced position in relation to others in the same situation or context (Bhattacharyal & Singh, 2019; Huffman, Tracy, & Bisel, 2019; Marsh, Schroeder, Dearden, Sternin, & Sternin, 2004; Rose & McCullough, 2017; Spreitzer & Sonenshein, 2004). The fact that these positive deviants succeed in overcoming barriers in the same challenging context points to possible context-appropriate solutions ‘that are currently feasible because someone is already employing them [in that context]’ (Rose & McCullough, 2017, p. 1208). The term ‘entrepreneurs’ refers to all persons who manage enablers and constraints in order to engage in actions for the purpose of earning an income by establishing an enterprise that provides a service or trades products (Mazzarol, 2013; Ramoglou, 2011). From an integration of the definitions given by Hartnack and Liedeman (2017), Jackson (2016), Ligthelm (2006) and Woodward et al. (2011), this study used the following definition of an informal enterprise: any enterprise that is small, community-based, owner-managed, unregistered, unregulated, untaxed, unrecorded and resultantly unprotected. The emphasis in this study was particularly on South African nationals in informal survivalist microenterprises (ISM-Es) operating only in the townships and, additionally, on entrepreneurs who could be described as ‘unwilling, survivalist, necessity-driven’ entrepreneurs (Bradford, 2007; Hartnack & Liedeman, 2017; Ligthelm, 2006; Rakabe, 2017; Woodward et al., 2011; Yu, 2012). The terms ‘enterprise’, ‘business’, ‘undertaking’, ‘operation’ and ‘venture’ are used interchangeably here to refer to the activity or concern in which the entrepreneur is involved. In addition, the term ‘informal entrepreneur’ refers to the self-employed entrepreneur. Context of the informal entrepreneur The informal township entrepreneur Acknowledging the taxing environment and the apparent lack of support experienced by township entrepreneurs, it seems logical that they should be able to manage limited resources in an unpredictable environment (Mazzarol, 2013). Much of the literature depicts the ISM-E entrepreneur as having, first, a lack of inherited business acumen and experience because of the country’s history (Ntema, 2016; Perks, 2010), second, a strained development of the social capital necessary in the business domain as well as a limited social network – also because of the particular historical background (Kingdon & Knight, 2004) – and, third, ‘alarmingly low levels of education’, especially because of poverty and the deprived township community (Willemse, 2013, p. 169). Most township entrepreneurs do not have the benefit of role models (Donaldson & Du Plessis, 2013; Ntema, 2016). Moving from unemployment to an informal venture in impoverished and marginalised communities means that there are limited resources available to these entrepreneurs to start a business (Bradford, 2007; Woodward et al., 2011). Informal entrepreneurship is primarily regarded as an interim plan to survive or as a stepping stone to a formal job (Fourie, 2011; Rakabe, 2017; Ramoglou, 2011; Woodward et al., 2011). Township reality: The space and relations that have an impact on informal entrepreneurship The term ‘township’ refers to spaces on the periphery of formal developed villages, towns or cities, typically situated between 3 and 8 km from the formal economic hubs of the region. These living spaces are characterised by dilapidated infrastructure and limited access to modern facilities; they are sometimes described as emerging Third World environments (Donaldson & Du Plessis, 2013; Du Toit & Neves, 2007; Rakabe, 2017). This geographical organisation of the urban and rural landscape of South Africa is a remnant of the pre-democratic era of South African history (Du Toit & Neves, 2007, p. 20) and continues to have an impact on the informal entrepreneurs of today (Kingdon & Knight, 2004; Pranger, 2006; Willemse, 2013). A challenge for many entrepreneurs is fierce competition in their township environment. The first source of competition is the growing number of foreign nationals opening informal businesses in the townships (Hartnack & Liedeman, 2017; Manyaka, 2015; Ntema, 2016; Rakabe, 2017; Willemse, 2013). The second source is the current trend of erecting shopping malls containing large retail stores on the outskirts of townships (Du Toit & Neves, 2007; Ligthelm, 2006; Ntema, 2016; Strydom, 2017). The third source of competition is other members of the community. Woodward et al. (2011) termed it the ‘copy-cat mentality’ (p. 67), where those entrepreneurial ideas that are cheap and easy to set up are duplicated by others in the community (Du Toit & Neves, 2007). Relations with the township community constitute an additional taxing situation for the informal township entrepreneur (Du Toit & Neves, 2007; Hartnack & Liedeman, 2017; Parkinson & Howorth, 2017). A conducive relationship with other members of the community is of the utmost importance to informal township entrepreneurs, as these people are their customers. Therefore, conflict with the people in their immediate environment will affect their business negatively. South African government and informal entrepreneurship Judging by the many initiatives that have been put in place by the first democratic government of South Africa, it is clear that stimulating the development of small businesses and entrepreneurial ventures is a priority. To date, the South African government has undertaken the following initiatives to address this issue: the Small Business Development Agency (SEDA), Community Self-Employment Centres (COMSECs), the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) (Fury, 2010, p. 12). In addition, there are the South African Black Entrepreneurs Forum (SABEF) and the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (SEFA) (United Nations – Office of the Sectary-General Envoy on Youth, 2014). Rakabe (2017) wrote that ‘government has recently acknowledged that support for township informal enterprises is a key way in which township spatial and economic marginalisation can be addressed and local growth be ignited’ (p. 1). It appears that the strategies of both local and national government are ineffective. In the words of Xaba, Horn and Motala (2002): The Department of Trade and Industry acknowledged that the Small Business strategy had not been successful in relation to the poorest and most marginalised people it had been designed to assist. (p. 26) According to the available literature, there appear to be various possible reasons why the initiatives of the South African government fail to bear fruit. These include four constraining factors. First, there is a lack of consultation with informal entrepreneurs (Donaldson & Du Plessis, 2013; Jackson, 2016). Second, implementation strategies appear to be insufficient, and there is a lack of implementation. According to Bradford (2007), one possible reason for the lack of sufficient implementation might be the absence of necessary financial and human resources of the South African government in order to address the vast need and massive demand. Third, there is a failure to grasp the lived reality of the informal microentrepreneur and very small entrepreneur (Du Toit & Neves, 2007; Pranger, 2006). Lastly, the emphasis is skewed towards only the medium, more formal enterprises, whilst ignoring and failing to give support to smaller entrepreneurs; the emphasis also tends to be on regulating instead of supporting (Hartnack & Liedeman, 2017; Ntema, 2016). Aim of the study The aim of the study was to deduce from the narratives of the ISM-E entrepreneurs what aspects in their behaviour, attitude and/or perceptions (characterisation) could explain their apparent success in earning a living through entrepreneurship in a seemingly unconducive environment (positive deviance). Based on what we learnt from their positively deviant characteristics, suggestions will be made regarding context-appropriate interventions for unemployed people. Research method The purpose of the qualitative data collection was to elicit rich, nuanced narratives of the experiences of black South African-born informal township entrepreneurs. Qualitative research is highly suggested by most of the authors writing on the advantages of PD research because of the benefits regarding the understanding of context and nuances (Huffman et al., 2019; Rose & McCullough, 2017). The foundation of this study was a phronetic epistemology and a phenomenological approach. A PD framework was utilised to explain the findings. Phronesis, as explained by Flyvbjerg (2010) and Tracy (2013), means doing research in such a way that it involves caring and respect and adding practical value; it is performed in collaboration with the participants. Creswell and Poth (2018) defined phenomenology as the study of ‘the common meaning for several individuals of their lived experiences of a concept or a phenomenon’ (p. 75). The rigour, sincerity, credibility and resonance (Tracy, 2013) of the study were ensured by involving cultural experts, community experts and African language experts to thoroughly review the guiding interview questions and comment on all aspects of the data collection processes. A research advisory board was appointed, made up of community leaders, government officials, academics and business owners. At a biannual feedback session, this advisory board could provide input regarding the research processes and findings. In addition, the co-interviewers were considered experts in the specific context, culture and language of the communities involved in this research. Thus, they assisted in reviewing the interview transcripts to control for authenticity. Reflective conversations and discussion of the findings with them took place as well. Furthermore, a co-coder was involved in validating the coding of the data. Valuable rapport with members of the community was established over a 4-year period in which the primary researcher did voluntary work in the two communities. Research context, participants, and data gathering procedure Data were collected from two townships: Boipatong and Orange Farm. Boipatong has a population of 22 168, of whom 99.3% are black individuals. From the census carried out in 2011, it was reported that ‘Only 17.7% of the sampled population in Boipatong are formally employed’ (Frith, 2011a). The unemployment rate in the larger region in which Boipatong is situated was estimated to stand at 60.7% in 2003 (Slabbert, 2004). The much larger Orange Farm has a population of 76 767, of whom 99.4% are black people (Frith, 2011b). A report from the Affordable Land and Housing Data Centre (2012) estimated that approximately 60% of the total population in Orange Farm was unemployed in 2012. 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