Financing decisions of migrant family businesses: the case of a Ghanaian-owned shop in Kent

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how a Ghanaian migrant family business in Kent makes financial decisions and measures business growth within the framework of Social Network theory and focussing on influences such as family, cultural and social factors.

Design/methodology/approach

Case study: migrant Ghanaian family business owner in Kent, first generation who migrated to the UK after the year 2000. The business is a small and medium enterprise and running the business as a family.

Findings

The narrative highlights important aspects of cultural and social factors that are not usually considered in credit analysis or applications for a relationship with a mainstream financial services institution. It is also indicated that family and personal attributes and culture had the most social capital for the shop owner to use or explore in taking her financial decisions. The discussions provide a basic framework for future research.

Originality/value

There is a gap in the research of Ghanaian migrant family businesses in the UK, in particular of their financial decision making process.

Citation

Boateng, B., Silva, M. and Seaman, C. (2019), "Financing decisions of migrant family businesses: the case of a Ghanaian-owned shop in Kent", Journal of Family Business Management, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 24-39. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFBM-11-2017-0037