Immigrant entrepreneurs’ well-being

Existing well-being theories in entrepreneurship highlight business start-up and development as a way of achieving happiness, autonomy, and purpose in life. These theories on entrepreneurs’ well-being are, however, developed based on Western notions and constructs of ‘well-being’ without considering the circumstances under which immigrants venture into business or the racism, biases, and prejudice that they face. These factors affect immigrant entrepreneurs’ well-being. Although existing research acknowledges that ethnic and cultural resources help immigrant entrepreneurs cope with challenges, they do not elaborate on how ethnic migrants define their well-being or explain well-being management strategies. This project addressed these issues by answering: How do immigrant entrepreneurs explain well-being and manage their well-being during the business start-up and development process? Using a multiple comparative case study design, the project collected interview data from Indian and Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs based in the UK and New Zealand. The project found culturally embedded practices in well-being management and other well-being management strategies to improve immigrant entrepreneurs’ well-being.