I would like to thank my Professors at Hannam University to help me find the

participants who had business experience before they emphasized the 

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56 
benefit of prior experience in owning other businesses because they think no 
matter what business you do it always teaches you lessons that can be 
helpful for taking other initiatives. Those 3 participants who had no 
experience of running a business before also agreed that the lack of business 
experience was somehow covered by the jobs they did in the food industry 
but they still wish to have business ownership experience on hand to avoid 
mistakes as an immigrant on a foreign land.
4.10.1 Reasoning behind partial confirmation of Work Experience as a survival 
factor 
Among our participants, 2 of the participants who had relevant work 
experience emphasized the benefits they had, having worked before: 

“
I believe that work experience helps especially in the field of 
business where people more from mistakes than listening to others 
about do
’
s and don
’
ts. I was running my trading company before 
opening a restaurant back in 1988 and that experience helped me in 
various ways. I knew if I needed some specific spices who should I 
contact and also I was aware of the business mechanisms. I knew 
what process it will take to deal with the legal matters successfully 
without making a mistake. I was more confident because of the fact 
that I business before so yeah, it helped me not to make the same 
mistakes I made before
”
. (Case 1) 

“
I never did a job and I will never do it no matter how many times I 
fail to make the right decisions in my business. I was doing a crane 
business before and it has nothing to do with food industry but it gave 
me more confidence on myself. If this business fails as well I will not 
hesitate to start another business because opportunities have no limit 
so no matter what I do, I know that I am learning. Another aspect is, 
instead of working for someone as a manager or other higher position 

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57 
I will always get the same promised salary from the beginning until 
the end but in business if I put more effort and I learn more I will get 
the monetary benefit directly.
”
(Case 3) 
In contrast, the other 3 entrepreneurs had job work experience and they 
considered it irrelevant to their businesses. They verbatim it as follows: 

“
I had no experience of owning or running the business so when I 
came to Korea I felt lost but my co-ethnic community helped me in 
various ways to understand and deal with business challenges. If I 
had business experience, I am sure I would have avoided the 
mistakes I made in the beginning
”
. (Case 2) 

“
I worked as a part time employee for the restaurant I own now and I 
couldn
’
t agree that my work experience helped me in any way. 
Owning the business is an entirely different story and despite failing 
at achieving a certain goal in my business, if I can travel back in time 
I would prefer doing a business instead of working for someone else.
”
(Case 5) 

“
I had an experience of working in food industry as a manager for 
several years before coming to Korea so I was cooking Uzbek and 
Turkish foods back in Tajikistan. I came to Korea and tried to find a 
job but I had no luck in that. I took loan from friends and family to 
start a business and I opened the restaurant. Although my work 
experience helped but being in a position of running a business is a 
total different story. I learnt more in owning the business than I ever 
did.
”
(Case 4) 
 
4.11 Risk Aversion 
Proposition No 7: The lower the risk aversion of the necessity
immigrant entrepreneur, the better the survival of his or her business. 

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58 
Result: Risk aversion which is our proposition 7 is partially confirmed. The 
immigrant entrepreneurs in this study had various opinions over risk 
aversion. When we look at the results in Table 2 we can see that 2 of them 
reported low risk aversion and 3 of them reported high risk aversion. Those 
2 immigrant entrepreneurs who had low risk aversion were advocate of an 
idea that risks can lead to bigger success. They also expressed that they will 
be interested to take bigger risks and will learn from their mistakes because 
they listen to the voice in their head instead of getting influenced by anybody 
else. They told that they make decision as per their analysis and it doesn
’
t 
matter even if they end up losing everything because they trust their 
instincts. On the other hand, 3 of the participants confirmed that they would 
never like to take uncalculated risks because they have responsibilities of 
taking care of their families. They also added that taking risks blindly can 
lead to blunders and the businesses can be successful by taking measured 
risks and their impact instead of jumping into situations where you can lose 
everything due to your one mistake.
4.11.1 Reasoning behind partial confirmation of Risk Aversion as a survival 
factor 
2 of the interviewees described themselves as high risk takers and they 
made the following statements: 

“
I listen to the voice in my head so no matter what others say even if 
it looks like a complete risk that can affect my life, I still do what I 
always wanted to. I sometimes think that starting a restaurant wasn
’
t 
the greatest option but I still did it because I saw my future that 
others couldn
’
t see
”
. (Case 1) 

“
I take decisions just listening to the inner voice in me not what 
others say because it
’
s my business and I created it so I want the 
best of it than anyone else. I believe that taking risks can lead to 

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59 
bigger achievements so I tell myself take risks no matter if they turn 
into failures.
”
(Case 5) 
The other 3 participants were furious of the idea of taking risks and they 
made the following statements: 

“
I would like to take calculated risks instead of just jumping into a 
situation that can cause a big damage to my business. My business is 
my everything and I would not make a choice that lead to disaster
”
. 
(Case 2) 

“
I believe that I am not a risk taker so if I am in a situation where I 
have to choose between 2 choices, I will avert the risk and I will go 
for less risky situation.
”
(Case 4) 

“
I think risk taking depends on a certain situation and time. By the I 
mean, if I you ask me the same question few years ago I would have 
said I am a risk taker but now I will try to not take risk. The younger 
you are the more energy you have to deal with unfavorable situations 
but the older you get the more tiring it looks to spend energy on a 
situation you could have avoided
”
. (Case 3) 
4.12 Commitment 
Proposition No 8: The higher the level of commitment of the necessity 
immigrant entrepreneur, the better the survival of his or her business. 
Results: Proposition 8 for the survival of necessity immigrant entrepreneurs 
is partially confirmed. Among all the immigrant entrepreneurs 4 of them 
confirmed that they are highly committed to their businesses but one