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THE STUDY OF MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS AMONG YOUTH ENTREPRENEURS

OF BUSINESS START-UPS IN BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

Thesis · July 2020

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 UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI BRUNEI

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

MSc RESEARCH PROJECT

THE STUDY OF MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS AMONG YOUTH

ENTREPRENEURS OF BUSINESS START-UPS IN BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

KHAIRUNNISA BINTI HAJI TAHAMIT

2020
Declaration

I, Khairunnisa, hereby certify that the contents of this dissertation are original and has
not been submitted in any part of other University. This dissertation is the outcome of
my own work and does not include the result of collaborative work.

I certify that, to the best of my knowledge, my thesis does not breach upon anyone’s
copyright nor violate any proprietary rights and that any ideas, quotes, or any other
content from the work of other individuals used in my dissertation are completely
acknowledged in compliance with the standard referencing procedure.

I declare that this is a true copy of my dissertation, as approved by the thesis review
committee.

Date: 2nd July, 2020

Student Signature:

Student Full Name: Khairunnisa Binti Haji Tahamit

Enrollment No: M20190045

ii
Acknowledgements

With the help and kind support of many people, this dissertation becomes a reality and
with that I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to them all.

I am most grateful to the Almighty Allah for giving me the strength, determination and
capability to study and complete this research report.

I wish to express my heartfelt appreciation to my supervisor, Dr Larry Su who helped

me with this research. He always gave me great freedom to pursue independent work.
On top of that, he also gave me profound comments in reviewing my writings which
helped me improve my work. I would not have accomplished this dissertation without
the encouragement, motivation, support, and guidance of him.

I would also like to express my deep gratitude to my parents and family members, who
throughout my whole life have been a constant source of support, concern, strength and
funding.

Last but not least, I wish to extend my thanks to all my friends who directly or indirectly
helped me to complete this research report.

iii
Abstract

This dissertation investigates youth motivation in the context of entrepreneurship.

Motivation is a crucial factor that differentiates the entrepreneurs’ feature from the non-
entrepreneurs. The problems identified is that there are not much of studies carried out
for youth entrepreneur’s motivation in Brunei. This research paper uses the Theory of
Expectation and Push and Pull theory with the hypotheses being tested. Based on a
questionnaire of 105 respondents, the data collected was used to test the hypotheses.
The main findings show that there are some motivations that are statistically significant
while some show the opposite. Overall, the results suggest that youth entrepreneurs
may be attracted to start a business as they find the opportunity that can be exploited,
achieve self-fullfilment, the need to achieve the reward for independence, followed by
the lack of employment offered or the difficulty in finding jobs. Future researchers can
implement mixed-method research to further confirm the findings and validate the
trends. It is suggested that the future researchers to approach the newly established
business motivation of an individual as when they started with when they have
successfully established may not be the same.

KEYWORDS:

Motivation, Youth Entrepreneurs, the Theory of Expectation, Push and Pull

Theory

iv
Table of Contents

Declaration..................................................................................................................... ii

Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... iii

Abstract ......................................................................................................................... iv

Table of Contents........................................................................................................... v

List of Figures ............................................................................................................. viii

List of Tables ................................................................................................................ ix

1. Introduction ........................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Research Background .......................................................................................... 1

1.2 Problem Statement ........................................................................................... 3
1.3 Aim and Objectives ......................................................................................... 3
1.4 Research Questions.......................................................................................... 4
1.5 Justification of the Study ................................................................................. 4

2. Literature Review ...................................................................................................... 5

2.1 Youth Entrepreneurs ............................................................................................ 5

2.2 Motivation ........................................................................................................... 6

2.3 The Theory of Expectation .................................................................................. 8

2.3.1 Expectancy.................................................................................................... 9
2.3.2 Instrumentality ............................................................................................ 10
2.3.3 Valence ....................................................................................................... 10

2.4 Theory of Push and Pull .............................................................................. 11

2.4.1 Push Factors .................................................................................................... 12

2.4.2 Pull Factors ..................................................................................................... 12

3. Research Methodology ........................................................................................ 14

3.1 Conceptual Framework.......................................................................................... 14

3.1.1 Dependent Variable ........................................................................................ 14

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 3.1.2 Independent Variables .................................................................................... 14

3.2 Research Design ................................................................................................ 16

3.3 Population and Sampling Design ...................................................................... 16

3.4 Data Collection Method..................................................................................... 16

3.5 Data Analysis Method ....................................................................................... 17

3.6 Limitations ......................................................................................................... 18

4. Research Hypotheses ........................................................................................... 19

4.1 Analysis of Hypotheses ..................................................................................... 20

5. Findings and Results ............................................................................................ 25

6. Discussion ............................................................................................................ 49

6.1 Expectancy......................................................................................................... 49
6.1.1 Working Experience ................................................................................... 49
6.1.2 Education and Skills ................................................................................... 50

6.2 Valence ........................................................................................................ 50

6.2.1 The need for independence ......................................................................... 50
6.2.2 Profit Reward .............................................................................................. 51
6.2.3 Reward of satisfying the way of life ........................................................... 51

6.3 Push Factors ................................................................................................. 51

6.3.1 Lack of Job or the Difficulty in Finding Job .............................................. 51
6.3.2 The need to supplement household income ................................................ 52
6.3.3 Job Dissatisfaction ...................................................................................... 52
6.3.4 Inflexible Working Schedule ...................................................................... 53

6.4 Pull Factors ........................................................................................................ 53

6.4.1 Opportunities .............................................................................................. 53
6.4.2 Encouragement from family and friends .................................................... 54
6.4.3 Self-fulfillment ........................................................................................... 54

7. Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 55

8. Recommendations ............................................................................................... 56

9. List of References ................................................................................................ 57

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10. Appendices ...................................................................................................... 61

Appendix 1- Educational level ................................................................................ 61

Appendix 2- Employment Status ............................................................................. 62

Appendix 3- Family and friends’ opinion ............................................................... 63

Appendix 4: Research Questionnaires ..................................................................... 64

Appendix 5: Gantt Chart.......................................................................................... 76

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List of Figures

Figure 1: Conceptual Framework ................................................................................ 15

Figure 2: Age of the samples ....................................................................................... 25
Figure 3: Respondents' Gender .................................................................................... 26
Figure 4: Working Experience as Self-Employed/Entrepreneurs ............................... 29
Figure 5: Working Experience as Employee ............................................................... 30
Figure 6: Respondents' with Business Studies Background ........................................ 31
Figure 7: Stage of Learning Business Studies Subject ................................................ 32
Figure 8: The competencies that the school has prepared and help in the business start-
up ................................................................................................................................. 33
Figure 9: Youth Entrepreneurs and Their Need of Independence ............................... 34
Figure 10: Youth Entrepreneurs and Gaining Financial Reward and Increasing Wealth
..................................................................................................................................... 35
Figure 11: Youth Entrepreneurs and The Reward of Satisfying the Way of Life ....... 36
Figure 12: Youth Entrepreneurs and Pursuing the Opportunity in the Market ........... 37
Figure 13: Types of Opportunities Discovered ........................................................... 38
Figure 14: Youth Entrepreneurs and Social Networking ............................................ 39
Figure 15: Youth Entrepreneurs and Encouragement from Family and Friends ........ 40
Figure 16: Youth Entrepreneurs and Family Approval on Business Creation ............ 41
Figure 17: Youth Entrepreneurs and Friends' Approval on Business Creation ........... 42
Figure 18: Youth Entrepreneurs and to be own boss and self-employed .................... 43
Figure 19: Youth Entrepreneurs and Achieving Self-Fulfillment ............................... 44
Figure 20: Youth Entrepreneurs and the need to supplement the household income . 45
Figure 21: Youth Entrepreneurs and Job Dissatisfaction ............................................ 46
Figure 22: Youth Entrepreneurs and Shortage of Jobs ................................................ 47
Figure 23: Youth Entrepreneurs and Inflexible Working Schedule ............................ 48

viii
List of Tables

Table 1: Types of Training Received for Business Creation....................................... 27

Table 2: Overall Result of Hypothesis Testing using Chi-Square Independence Test 28

ix
 1. Introduction

Since a long time ago, entrepreneurship and motivation are the studies that have
attracted a lot of attention from researchers or academics. In general, all companies
began in the same way; it starts with a single individual or group of people having the
idea and taking action to make the idea come true in which it contributes to the
development or establishment of a company. There may be many motivations that can
drive an individual to come up with the idea and take action from it.

1.1 Research Background

Entrepreneurship is identified as a manner to stimulate the growth of the economy as it

creates jobs for people in many countries. After the technological revolution,
entrepreneurship is largely driven by the technologies with further product information
and knowledge being developed meanwhile, the world’s economy has steadily
introduced opportunities for young entrepreneurs across the globe. Young people act as
the nation’s valuable possession and make an important contribution to formulate
prosperity and encourage regional growth.

The establishment of small business start-ups made a significant contribution to the

economic needs despite the contributions not solely mentioned by the previous
researchers. In Brunei Darussalam, His Majesty of Brunei has steadily invited the youth
and job seekers to take courageous action in starting a business. In addition, His Majesty
also underlined the significance of shaping up the spirit of entrepreneurship, the spirit
of traders, the spirit of self-reliance, and the spirit of the farmers and peasantry.

There has been a rising number of young entrepreneurs in the country to take on the
challenge and heeding the entrepreneurship call. In 2018, according to the Global
Entrepreneurship Index (GEI), Brunei Darussalam came fifth in the region for
entrepreneurship’s environment, notching a score of 34 per cent. As claimed by
Owualah (1999); Ryan (2003), young people have seen entrepreneurship as a profitable
alternative to earn a living and is now being highly acceptable as a significant

1
professional career. Furthermore, Kazmi (1999) mentioned that youth are seen as
individuals that are actively involved in the social sphere, and have the talent required
to be innovative as to exploit the entrepreneurial opportunities. The statement can be
supported as Frosch (2011) points out that youth in today’s generation are perceived as
having the capability to introduce to the advancement in technologies and the processes
of regional innovation (Cassia, Criaco & Minola, 2012).

While seeing there is a rise of entrepreneurship in Brunei Darussalam, it would be great

to understand the motivation behind these entrepreneurs particularly the young ones.
Motivation plays a crucial part in identifying the motives behind someone’s action or
behaviour. The success of a person is usually related to his or her strong motivation and
same goes to activities of entrepreneurship. Stuart & Abetti (1990) observed that the
business performance of individuals is strongly associated with the objectives that the
entrepreneurs wish to seek.

This report attempts to investigate the different motivations for existing youth
entrepreneurs in starting their businesses. This study will result in providing new
information on what motivates the youth entrepreneurs in Brunei. Wiklund et. al (2003)
stated that, in the entrepreneurial context, individuals may start and run their own
businesses for a variety reasons other than to obtain and maximize their income or
economic rewards.

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1.2 Problem Statement

● This thesis would address a gap in research by showing how the impact of youth
entrepreneurs’ motivation are routed to behavioural consequences that is the
start-up of a new business. As mentioned by Davidsson et al. (2002), one of the
most crucial result of entrepreneurial efforts is the new business formation, with
the effort perform intricately related to the individual’s motivation.

● There is a lack of studies on the application of the motivational context to start

a new business especially in demonstrating the usefulness of expectancy theory
and push and pull theory particularly in Brunei Darussalam.

1.3 Aim and Objectives

This research study intended to discover the primary motivation of the youth
entrepreneurs in starting their business.

The objectives of this research study are as below:

● To examine an individual’s belief in achieving the expected outcome when

starting a business.
● To discover the youth entrepreneurs’ attraction for starting a business.
● To evaluate which motivational factors are considered more contributing for a
person’s choice of creating a business.

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1.4 Research Questions

To make things clear, several research questions will be addressed:

1. What is the expected outcome or results that an individual would want to

achieve when starting a business?
2. What is an individual’s appeal to start a business?
3. What could be the factor of motivation that is considered more contributing to
a person starting up a business?

1.5 Justification of the Study

● This research study aims to fill the gap for the presented empirical studies,
which were lacking in the field of motivation particularly for youth
entrepreneurs in Brunei Darussalam.
● These research findings could have important implications and contribute to the
knowledge to further support what is needed for the relevant agencies and other
bodies.
● It also aims to enhance understanding and provide clearer picture on factors that
drive the young entrepreneurs and their entrepreneurial activity, which is
essential for not only the the development of the individual but also the country.
● To provide the young entrepreneurs with better strategies that can be developed
for their business once they have understood their potentials.

4
2. Literature Review

This part of the literature review contains several key elements relevant for this paper
including the definition of youth entrepreneurs, the definition of motivation, and
theories regarding the motivational factors based on the availability of the previous
data.

2.1 Youth Entrepreneurs

Youth can be described as those individuals that go through a transitional period from
the dependence of childhood to independence of adulthood (United Nations, n.d.).
They are known to have greater resilience than other fixed age categories. The best way
to identify this group of people are through their age with respect to their education and
employment status. For people within this age category, they particularly are in the
stage where they are leaving their education to find their first job.

Brunei's National Youth Policy indicated that young men and women between the ages
of 15 and 40 years are considered as youth in the country. According to the Economic
Planning and Development Department’s 2018 report, the total youth population
identified in Brunei as those between the ages 15 and 40 was 194,100 people.

As described by Ghai (1988), youth are known to be eager to try to prepare for new
approaches, to possess motivational qualities, enthusiastic, resilience, creative,
versatile, risk-taking, and full of resource. In this study, the definition by Schnurr and
Newing (1997) is used to describe what ‘youth entrepreneurship’ is. Youth
entrepreneurs can be referred to as someone who can practically apply the
entrepreneurial qualities using his proper skills and knowledge towards accomplishing
success in a precise culture and circumstances followed by the person’s ability to be
innovative, creative, willingness to take the risk, and determined regardless of whether
he is self-employed or working as an employee in small business companies.
Furthermore, they will be expected to completely develop and make use of their own
capabilities, whether when they are on their own or in groups; those who identify their
own problems, recognize solutions and find ways to achieve their goals; and those who

5
are confident, active within their own community, and understand their own vision and
capability.

On the other hand, according to Luc Lalande (n.d.), not all youth are able to make
entrepreneurship the perfect solution for any problem. Based on the study carried out
to Ottawa, it was discovered that about 80 percent of the population is comfortable
keeping the traditional job as their professional career with 10 percent has the potential
to select entrepreneurship as their career choice and the other 10 percent is at the early
stage of entrepreneurial activities (Riahi. S, 2010).

2.2 Motivation

Motivation is characterized as something that plays a vital role as it involves a certain

action and behaviour towards achieving the goal especially in the new creation of
organization (Herron and Sapienza, 1992). Kuratko et al. (1997) mentioned that there
are four variables that lead a person to start a new business, and they are a family
tradition which usually associate with those that has a family business background,
followed by freedom, recognition and finance.

While entrepreneurial activity is often related to the need for profit, Timmons and
Spinelli (2003) suggested that financial gains are the traditional reason why a person
chooses to be an entrepreneur. According to recent research, apart from satisfying an
individual need for economic reasons, gaining social or lifestyle reasons could also be
the driver for a person to take part in entrepreneurial activities.

Different individuals may have different motivations, ability, and desire to seize the
opportunity they see in becoming entrepreneurs. The human capabilities to perform in
such a more advanced manner can be established by what motivates them, as it is part
of the individual’s essential component. Motivation has been a significant force behind
career progression in this dynamic global environment. In addition, it is also a
significant determinant of organizational as well as individual growth towards fulfilling
a respective objective. Alvarez et al. (2010) support this statement by stating that
understanding what drives a person to pursue entrepreneurship can become an adequate
element in offering an explanation on the business creation and the process of
entrepreneurship.

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Generally, motivation can be sorted into two categories; (1) intrinsic and (2) extrinsic
motivation. Lai (2011) indicated that the drivers of intrinsic motivation are often
internal which involve satisfaction or own personal gain, whereas extrinsic motivation
is something one does in order to obtain a measurable reward or simply to escape from
some unfavourable circumstance. In both cases, the interest may be different.

According to a study conducted by Mason (1989) concerning the motivations of two

groups of entrepreneurs, it was found that the first group which consist of individuals
that started their business during a pre-recession period tend to be motivated by pull
factors. By contrast, the second group which consist of the business founders that
started their business throughout the period of the recession were found to be rather
motivated by push factors in particular work-related insecurity and unemployment
(Giacomin et. al, 2011).

In comparing entrepreneurs by country, it was discovered that there are various reasons
for why the business is created among entrepreneurs. Bewayo (1995) pointed out that
the underlying motivation in creating a business for Ugandan entrepreneurs was to earn
money or make a living. On a side note, it was found that Filipino entrepreneurs are
driven by the desire to be self-reliant and earn more money (Chu, Leach & Manuel,
1998). In addition, as reported by Swierczek and Ha (2003), at the Northern, Central,
and Southern part of Vietnam show that the entrepreneurs were motivated by challenge
and achievement as well as the need to provide jobs for themselves and the family
members and the need to achieve self-satisfaction (Benzing, Chu & Callanan, 2005).
Benzing et al. (2009) mentioned that in increasing income, having personal
independence and freedom as well as having secure employment are important
motivation for entrepreneurs in Turkey. Additionally, as reported by Benzing et. al.
(2015), Romanian entrepreneurs are stimulated by the opportunity to boost their income
and have security in employment.

In the case of sub-Saharan Africa, it is the youngest region with over two-thirds of
Africa’s population below the age of 25. Young people in the area are not in a position
to get a job due to not many job availabilities and a mismatch between the jobs being
offered with what they have learned in schools and universities. This eventually leads
to young people in sub-Saharan Africa experiencing social tensions as there are wide

7
income equalities. In taking care of such a problem, the nations are encouraged by the
government to venture into entrepreneurship as a way of earning a living while
minimizing cases of youth unemployment.

Although much research has been done to examine the entrepreneurial motivation, not
many of the studies have focused on the youth entrepreneurs, particularly in Brunei
Darussalam. It is therefore believed that the motives of youth entrepreneurs need to be
understood as they constitute a substantial chunk in the economy.

Motivational theories have been developed as a foreknowledge to gain insight into what
motivates people to do what they do in various environments of their lives. The goals
and aspirations of an individual and a team could have been well-planned to meet the
needs, especially when driven by motivation. Researchers have developed these
theories of motivation to guide the path toward achieving such efforts.

2.3 The Theory of Expectation

In 1964, the Theory of Expectation by Victor Vroom was developed to study the
motivation of individuals and explain the processes that a person undergoes when
making choices. In “Theory of Expectation” developed by Victor Vroom, the model
essentially suggested that the three components; expectancy, instrumentality and
valence are crucial for understanding motivation. The model proposed that people will
perform or act in a certain manner as to accomplish the expected result. Vroom (1964)
highlighted that the following equation can be used to make it clear as to why a person
might select an option with the greater motivating forces:

MF = expectancy x instrumentality x valence

Gatewood (1993) points out that people make rational choices by considering the
possible consequences of their decisions meanwhile the decisions made are based on a
combination of the outcomes value and the contingency that the results will be
accomplished.

8
In addition to that, Locke and Baum (2007) claimed that the theory can provide a
foundation for explaining the reasoning behind people that choose to be entrepreneurs.
The Expectancy theory involves the cognitive processes in correspondence to make
choices. In a specific case, people combine their beliefs with their needs as well as
expectations of the success chances.

2.3.1 Expectancy

As suggested by Vroom, the former belief of the relationship between people’s effort
and their goals might require individual factors particularly in relation to his or her
capabilities, skills, knowledge, individual’s characteristics as well as successful or
failure experience faced in regard to the activities that could be similar followed by
whether the person feels thinks that he is able to gather the resources needed. These can
all have an impact on the performance of an individual in general. Apart from that,
factors that could boost an individual’s expectation in this study involves the person
having the skills that are necessary with the necessary support given so that the job can
be carried out in the correct way followed by the availability of the appropriate tools
and resources.

Earlier research has indicated that an individual’s ability could have been derived from
skills or knowledge that they had previously learned through years of studying. An
individual is said to have a higher self-confidence to pursue the desired outcome when
they have the required skills and knowledge. As stated by Ferris et. al (2005), people
can confidently engage in the environment that changes over time as they effectively
adjust their pattern of behavior to familiarize oneself with uncertain conditions.

Manolova et. al. (2012) claimed that the prospective entrepreneurs are most likely to be
drawn by the anticipated results while putting in so many efforts to accomplish it. In
addition, as mentioned by Shapiro (2014), a person may consider a particular way of
doing things which is high in probability can lead to achieving the desired outcome.

9
2.3.2 Instrumentality

Instrumentality is described as the belief that the performance is necessary to

accomplish a particular result or objective. It is the belief that if the expectation of the
performance is met, an individual will receive a reward. The reward could be in the
form of promotion, sense of achievement, recognition and an increase in pay. For
instance: before the person wishes to start a business, the thought of receiving the
financial rewards in return to the business start-up could have been set earlier at the
back of his mind.

Instrumentality is a tie that binds the expectancy and valence in that adjustment on the
behaviour leading to an outcome that makes it possible for the person to reach the
desired goal. In other words, as the person makes a greater effort, he or she becomes
more motivated which was the desired objective. However, as the concepts of this
theory are cognitive in nature, an individual’s beliefs are simply contingencies. Belief
in these contingencies is all that is required, not the presence of such contingencies.

2.3.3 Valence

Valence is the value an individual place on the rewards of an outcome, which is based
on their source of motivations, needs, values and goals. It is distinguished by the degree
to which the person values the result or a reward given. It is not an actual level of
satisfaction but rather the satisfaction expected of a particular outcome.

The valence model has been identified as a useful predictor for an individual’s attraction
(valence) to achieve a particular result. As suggested by the valence model outlined in
the Vroom’s expectancy theory of motivation (1966), the cognitive process of
developing job preferences is based on the one that most closely identifies what has
been practiced by the prospective entrepreneurs. The possible rewards of
entrepreneurship and the extent of one’s belief to achieve that reward is identified as
what attracts the individual to proceed with the decision whether to proceed with the
entrepreneurial activity or find a more safe and traditional means of employment.

10
In addition to that, valence shall be related to the compelling need. Hence, valence
model is a multiplicative function of the valence of potential outcome of entrepreneurial
activity and the instrumentality that the occupation choices specifically in becoming
entrepreneurs will lead to these valuable outcomes.

2.4 Theory of Push and Pull

Gilad and Levine (1986) suggested an entrepreneurial motivation theory called “push”
theory and “pull” theory (Koranteng & Mensah, 2017). Amit and Muller (1994)
reported that people decide to start a new business because of two decisions and the
decisions are simply due to wanting to explore the opportunity or because people is not
satisfied with their present situation (Zaouali, Khefacha and Belkacem, 2015).

In addition, as claimed by Birley and Westhead (1994), the involvement of various

motivations and stimuli can occur during the business start-up stage as it can be
considered as a complicated procedure. As specified by Baum & Locke (2004); Aidis
et al (2006), there may be potential entrepreneurs who are driven by a combination of
push and pull factors next to the ‘pure’ push and pull motivated individuals.

Dawson & Henley (2012) points out that the motivating factors can be classified into
either internal reason which refers to pull factors and also external which refers to push
factors. Generally, many scholars believe that individuals may choose their
entrepreneurial career as they are affected and shaped by the two main factors: push or
pull factors (Sondari, 2014).

11
2.4.1 Push Factors

As claimed by Oxenfeldt (1943), an unemployed individual or individuals with low

hope for wage-employment may become self-employed (Koranteng & Mensah, 2017)
followed by to earn a living and find a source of income to support themselves or as a
means of survival (Tipple, 2005).

Additionally, Kirkwood (2009) stated that push factors can be referred to as conditions
that are typically unfavorable particularly due to insufficient or inappropriate job
choices which cause individuals to choose entrepreneurs and be engaged in self-
employment.

Block & Sandner (2009) stated that the entrepreneurs that are driven by push factors is
many times associated with lower entrepreneurial skills. On the side note, Levie & Hart
(2013) argued that necessity entrepreneurs shall not necessarily have a clear link with
low entrepreneurial skills but more preferably due to them being discriminated in the
workplace especially those female entrepreneurs and minority entrepreneurs (Stephen.
U, Hart. M & Drews. C. C, 2015).

The statement can be further supported as Sharafizad & Coetzer (2016) claimed that
self-employment is associated mainly due to the lack of job opportunities, loss of a job
as well as unemployment.

2.4.2 Pull Factors

Pull factor can be defined as the internal motivation factor which is spontaneous and
perceived as something that is attractive and achievable through entrepreneurship. One
of the pull factors is self-fulfilment. As Goldstein (1939) has stated, self-fulfilment can
be referred to as an individual’s preference and desire to become more of what he or
she is, putting forward the ultimate qualities, and doing what one certainly eligible to
do. Furthermore, as stated by Mitchell & Moudgill (1976), self-fulfilment is the place
for personal development and growth, as well as the opportunity to create goods or
services based on that person original or innovative idea.

12
On top of that, as distinguished by Giacomin et al. (2007), there are three pull
motivations, and they are profit, social status and market opportunity. Orhan & Schott
(2001), Maritz, (2004); Aidis et al., (2007); Kirkwood (2009) stated that the factors can
be considered as something that pulled an individual into the opportunity discovered,
and is out of their intention to take advantage on the business opportunities (Nasip,
Sorayah & Sulong, Rini & Amirul, Sharifah, 2019). Opportunity entrepreneurs are
common in countries with proportionately high educational levels and high economic
growth rates. As Simpson and Christensen (2009) have suggested, an individual may
become an entrepreneur as a person has the opportunities that can be seized within the
environment.

Furthermore, Gilad & Levine, (1986); Birley & Westhead, (1994); Amit & Muller,
(1995), Burke et al., (2002); Kautonen (2008) stated that the pull factors also include
an individual’s need for independence, to use the skills, knowledge or experience
gained, the determination to be one’s own boss, to improve his lifestyle, and to increase
income. According to the research, the desire for independence is found to be the
primary reason for many people to become an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs are more
likely to achieve greater freedom than others.

Independence in the entrepreneurship context is relevant to the ability to be free from

external decision-making control, which is often signified by the desire for flexibility,
with no employer as he is creating the job on his own (Giacomin et al. 2011). A research
carried out by Ismail et. al (2012) revealed that a significant degree of the female
entrepreneurs in northern Kedah, Malaysia were driven by pull factors in particular due
to challenge, recognition from society, the desire to seek their own ideas as well as the
need for independence.

13
 3. Research Methodology

This chapter provides an explanation on the methods used in this study that include the
conceptual framework, research design used, population sampling, primary data and
secondary data description, data analysis techniques, and the drawbacks of using
adopted research method.

3.1 Conceptual Framework

As mentioned by Kohari (2004), a conceptual framework consisting of independent

variables and dependent variables. The use of a conceptual framework is intended to
clarify concepts and propose relationships in a study between the concepts. The
independent variables are assumed to have an effect on entrepreneurs’ motivation. Each
of them will be made clear below in the context of this study.

3.1.1 Dependent Variable

For this research study, youth entrepreneurs are set as the dependent variable.

3.1.2 Independent Variables

There are several independent variables used to assess the context of the entrepreneur’s
motivation to start a business which was retrieved from the Theory of Expectation, and
they are expectancy and valence. As for expectancy variables, work experience,
entrepreneurship education and opportunity are used. On the other hand, valence
variables involve the reward which drives the entrepreneurs to become motivated and
valence which include the profit reward, independence, as well as the reward of
satisfying way of life.

Additionally, other variables retrieved from the push and pull theory include the need
to increase the income of the household, shortage of job opportunities, job
dissatisfaction, insufficient salary and inflexible work schedule for push factors
followed by the opportunity, encouragement from family and friends, self-fullfilment
and to be their own boss for pull factors.

14
Figure 1: Conceptual Framework

15
3.2 Research Design

This study adopted an explanatory study which emphasizes on studying a situation that
could explain the relationships between variables. A quantitative research perspective
was used with the survey was conducted to collect the data. The data is then used to
suggest possible reasons for the relationships between variables.

This research study particularly used cross-sectional studies for the time horizons as the
time given to complete the research was quite limited.

3.3 Population and Sampling Design

This research study used non-probability sampling method particularly the self-
selection. The aim of using self-selection method is so that individuals are not forced
to take part in the research but rather because they are willing to participate. The
questionnaire survey was distributed and sent through the entrepreneurs E-mail via link
followed by the entrepreneurs’ social medias including Facebook, Instagram and
WhatsApp.

The population sampling for this research survey was aged between 15 and 40 years
just according to Brunei's National Youth Policy. The sampling size for this study was
105 in total consisting of 19 respondents aged between 15 and 20, 70 respondents aged
between 21 and 30 and 16 respondents aged between 31 and 40 years old.

3.4 Data Collection Method

This research study uses primary and secondary data collection method to collect the
relevant information needed for the analysis. As for primary data, the information was
collected via questionnaire survey using the Google Form with the questions were
designed and developed based on the theoretical contribution of The Theory of
Expectancy by Vroom Victor as well as Theory of Push and Pull by Gilad and Levine.

16
There was a total of twenty-two questions consisting of questions asking about the
respondents’ expectation, motivation, educational background as well as other factors.
The questions consist of multiple-choice questions as well as using 5 Likert scales in
studying the motivational factors.

On the other hand, secondary data involves data that is collected from the originator
such as journal articles, books, electronic documents which is not only limited to Brunei
locality but also around the world. The data is generally selected based on the theme of
the topic.

3.5 Data Analysis Method

For data analysis, descriptive statistical analysis is used to provide the data set with the
use of several methods. The first one is the use of Statistical Package for the Social
Sciences (SPSS) software. The used of this software is to produce hypotheses results
and charts based on the collected data from the questionnaire survey. The Chi-Square
test is used to perform and evaluate the relationship strength between two categorical
variables (youth entrepreneurs and other relevant variables particularly the listed
motivation for the business start-up) in the sample.

A Pearson’s Chi-Square statistic is used to calculate the probability whether the two
categorical variables are related to each other. In this study, probability levels p=value
is set at .05. Next, the use of frequency under the SPSS software. Frequency is used to
study the type of training that the samples received when creating a business.

Apart from that, Microsoft Excel is also used to construct some simple graphs for
instance: age and gender as well as the respondents’ educational level.

17
3.6 Limitations

This study presents some limitations. The first is the time constraint which leads to
limited data can be collected to support this whole study. The survey questionnaire was
distributed within a limited time period and was only able to gather 105 samples in total
with most abundant data coming from the 21 to 30 age group. Therefore, due to the
limited time given to gather more respondents, the results will not represent the entire
youth entrepreneurs in Brunei.

In addition, there were difficulties in the samples’ readiness in participating. Despite

the questionnaire survey being sent individually via email, WhatsApp and social media
such as Facebook and Instagram, there are few samples that responded back.

Furthermore, in some aspects, a more in-depth analysis could be carried out with certain
analysis and improvement on the theoretical framework. This is because this study is
limited to using the two motivational theories; the Theory of Expectation and the push
and pull theory and thus did not take into account the other possible motivational
factors.

18
 4. Research Hypotheses

This section addresses the research questions. The original research question of the
thesis was “what is the expected results that individuals would want to obtain as they
created a business”, “what is the attraction for the youth in starting a business”, and
lastly “which factor is considered to be more contributing for the youth in business
creation”. Based on the research questions, there are seven hypotheses of the thesis
created:

H1: The past working experience of youth entrepreneurs has a positive relationship with
the creation of a business.

H2: Skills and knowledge obtained through education has helped the youth
entrepreneurs to pursue the entrepreneurial career.

H3: Youth entrepreneurs are attracted to the rewards (valence).

H4: Pull factors motivates the entrepreneurs to start their business.

H5: Encouragement from family and friends has developed the entrepreneur’s
motivation to start a business.

H6: Youth entrepreneurs are attracted to achieving self-fulfillment as their motivation

to start a business.

H7: Push motivations motivate the entrepreneurs to start a business.

19
4.1 Analysis of Hypotheses

Hypothesis 1: The past working experience of youth entrepreneurs has a positive

relationship with the creation of a business.

The first hypothesis of this research paper is the previous working experience of youth
entrepreneurs. The results of the study by Parker (2004) has supported the assumption
of the first hypothesis. Parker (2004) stated that the impact of human capital can be
accurately related through experience captured. It was discovered that there is a
consistent positive relationship between experience and entrepreneurship.

According to previous research, it was suggested that in anticipating the engagement in

entrepreneurship, individuals often accumulate experience from their employers which
then alter their natural tendency to become involved in entrepreneurship or continue to
be an employee in the organization.

Hypothesis 2: Skills and knowledge obtained through education have helped the
youth entrepreneurs to pursue the entrepreneurial career.

The second hypothesis of the study is education which refers to the skills and
knowledge provided at school or universities. Sullivan (2000) stated that understanding
the learning process related to entrepreneurs is of excellent importance in the education
and training of entrepreneurs. In the context of starting up businesses or entrepreneurs,
such learning and training will be able to support the person individually.
Entrepreneurship education essentially focused on creating a culture of
entrepreneurship. It helps to identify and pursue opportunities for potential
entrepreneurs. The education is not only restricted to boosting start-ups, new jobs and
innovative ventures, but it also supports young people to build self-confident and be
more creative in anything they do.

Türker & Selçuk (2009) reported that based on the research conducted to several
students in Turkey, it has been discovered that the education introduced in college had
a positive impact on the rise of a passion to be entrepreneurs. To top it off, Mumtaz et.
al. (2012) study which carried out similar research in Malaysia was found that education

20
offered in the college in fact do influence the intention of the students to become
entrepreneurs (Nasiri and Hamelin, 2018).

Moreover, the result of the study by Leddy & Gazette (2013) as well as Sundheim
(2013) supports the assumption of the second hypothesis. The writers claimed that the
school plays a key role in ensuring students are encouraged and motivated to become
successful entrepreneurs and become involved in entrepreneurial activities.

On top of that, in 2014, Connor stated that schools and universities are considered as
one of the contributing factors which are liable for promoting or hindering
entrepreneurship in society.

Hypothesis 3: Youth entrepreneurs are attracted to the rewards being offered.

The third hypothesis of the study is the reward that the youth entrepreneurs wish to
achieve. The result of the study conducted by Longenecker, Moore & Petty (2003)
supports the assumption of the third hypothesis. The researchers mentioned that some
powerful rewards that individuals would want to achieve can be categorized into three,
and they are independence, satisfying the way of life as well as profit.

According to the researchers, the reward if independence can be referred to as the

expectation of free from being controlled and rules, as well as bureaucracy. Next, the
reward of satisfying the way of life. Longenecker, Moore, & Petty (2003) claimed that
satisfying the way of life refers to the expectation of freedom from the job that requires
very little effort, the way of living as well as the usual routine that can be tedious. It
was also mentioned in his study that people start a business because they want to make
advancement and alternative to the dead-end job. Last but not least, the profit reward.
The writers mentioned that the expectation of the entrepreneur to make a profit is
associated with the entrepreneurs aim to indemnify risks and initiative they took to run
the business followed by the time and money that they have invested.

21
Hypothesis 4: Pull factors have attracted the youth entrepreneurs to pursue and start
a business.

The fourth hypothesis of the study is the motivation that attracted the youth
entrepreneurs to pursue entrepreneurial path career. Long and McMullan (1984); Hills,
Lumpkin & Singh (1997); Hindle (2004) reported that recognizing the opportunity do
not only consider the analytical skills such as forecasting the market demand and
financial analysis aspects, but also in terms of concrete aspects such as leadership, team
building, problem solving and innovation.

Giacomin et al. (2007) reported that there are three pull motivations, and they are profit,
social status and market opportunity. The opportunity may include an individual finding
the need to provide and satisfy the customer’s demanded service or product followed
by having the opportunity through hands-on experiences or knowledge in a particular
area, followed by having the connections, contacts as well as resources needed.

Ucbasaran et al. (2008) mentioned that people with a higher education level who are
driven by the opportunity often have a wider social network that is beneficial for
starting up business because they have been in an education program for such a long
time (Nasiri and Hamelin, 2018).

Hypothesis 5: Encouragement from family and friends has developed the

entrepreneur’s motivation to start a business.

The fifth hypothesis of the study is the support from the family and friends. As reported
by Sequeira, Muller & Mcgee (2007), part of an individual pursuing its career to
become entrepreneurs is at times due to the entrepreneurs’ strong ties with its family
member whereby the person is provided with support, encouragement as well pieces of
advice from the family members.

There is a difference between the one with more experience with those young
entrepreneurs, thus, as suggested by Kim et al. (2013), young entrepreneurs generally
need more social support from their family members and at this stage, the find it
particularly significant for them. In addition, the support can also be in terms of task-
related social support especially when the young entrepreneurs have just started doing
a business. It is commonsensical to expect that the support from family, especially in

22
term of economic support, emotional, and intellectual, would be a crucial resource for
sustaining entrepreneurship, particularly for college students who are lacking in
experience and still economically and emotionally dependent upon their families.

Hypothesis 6: Youth entrepreneurs are attracted to achieving self-fulfillment as their

motivation to start a business.

The sixth hypothesis for this research study is related to accomplishing self-fulfillment.
Naffziger, Hornsby and Kuratko (1994) suggested that due to the desire to attain high
achievements, entrepreneurs tend to pursue other measurable rewards that can be made
possible by the firm’s financial performance. On the side note, these entrepreneurs may
also pursue self-fulfillment which refers to the satisfaction of being more in control of
one’s own destiny, be one own boss and ultimately having responsibility for the success
of the venture.

Additionally, the empirical investigation by Scheinberg & MacMillan (1988); Carter,

Gartner, Shaver, & Gatewood (2003) has proven and verified that motivation for self-
fulfillment with financial achievement is interrelated, but has different scope in regard
to the general career motivation of the entrepreneurs. Furthermore, as reported by
Buttner & Moore (1997) and Sarri & Trihopoulou (2004), the goal of starting a business
can be related to self-fulfilment of an individual (Perret & Mainali, 2012).

Hypothesis 7: Push factors drives the youth entrepreneurs to start a business.

The seventh hypothesis is push factors that drives the entrepreneurs in starting a
business. In terms of other job satisfaction aspect, Freeman (1978) mentioned that
dissatisfaction serves as the element of society that has the capability to influence
people to be self-employed instead. Noorderhaven et al. (2004) study which observed
15 European countries particularly in studying the entrepreneurial intensity discovered
that being frustrated or unhappy with the job availability often results in choosing self-
employment as a profession (Kato, 2013).

23
Brockhaus (1980) study suggested that the failure in the current job to provide the
person with a satisfaction is seen to be one of the push motivations that bring the
individuals to turn into entrepreneurial activity (Giacomin et. al, 2011). On another
note, Evans & Leighton (1989); Audrestch et al., (2002) reported that it is highly
possible for people that are unemployed to make entrepreneurial choices compared to
than those with a stable employment. In other words, people that are engaged in full-
time jobs are less persuaded by the thought to create their own business than students,
part-time employees or unemployed ones (Zaouali et al., 2015).

The statement can further be supported by which Cooper & Artz (1995) stated that
satisfaction on the job is usually the result that the entrepreneurs get from the business
start-up which Hundley (2001) further mentioned could result to facing a challenging
task, but with more work and time flexibility as well as higher freedom level. This can
be easily related to advanced countries, where most people prefer to be entrepreneurs
due to the pleasure that can be obtained particularly being self-employed and
independent. Bianchi (2010) further indicated that as for less developed countries, the
choice of being self-employed would compensate the shortages of income.

According to Forbes (2005); Koellinger et al. (2007), decision-making bias which is

overconfident is when a person know how well he can assess himself based on the skills
and knowledge in hand. Furthermore, Camerer & Lovallo (1999); Townsend, Busenitz,
& Arthurs, (2010) claimed that having the confidence to evaluate individuals’
capability can be a great illustration of startup behaviours. As a result, the study by
Koellinger et al. (2007) concludes that being confident is a key driver for self-employed
throughout different countries (Baron, Zhao and Miao, 2014).

Moreover, Alstete (2002) mentioned that the push factor include an individual having
the need to earn a reasonable living followed by Kumar (2007) ; Islam (2012) stating
that the external factors involve may be related to the level of income such as due to
the low income earn by the family, people may start a business so that they able to earn
more money and help their family members (Nasip, Sorayah & Sulong, Rini & Amirul,
Sharifah, 2019).

24
On the other hand, Block and Koellinger (2009) study claimed that entrepreneurs that
started a business because of push factors in particular due to a labour shortages
opportunities revealed to have a lower job satisfaction, and is suggested that the need
to be financially stable is also crucial apart from job satisfaction alone. Furthermore,
based on the study conducted by Fahed-Sreih et al. (2009), it was found that people are
driven by the factors to have flexible working hours, to be free, and to increase income
and family welfare. The factors mentioned are found to share almost identical
explanations as to why Indonesian entrepreneurs want to start a business. Based on the
study carried out in Indonesia, it has been found that some of them has the intention to
entrepreneurship because of high income influences, flexible working hours and family
welfare (Pinem, 2019).

5. Findings and Results

This chapter discusses the findings based on the questionnaire survey responses. The
results are based on the sample which is 105 respondents altogether.

Figure 2: Age of the samples

25
The average age of the youth entrepreneurs in the sample comes from 21-30 with 66.7
percent followed by the age 15-20 with 18.1 percent and lastly age 31-40 with 15.2
percent.

Figure 3: Respondents' Gender

Figure above shows the total percentage of the respondents in the sample. According
to the sample, 85 percent of the youth entrepreneurs are female while 15 percent of the
entrepreneurs are male.

26
Table 1: Types of Training Received for Business Creation

Above shows the type of training received by the respondents in creating a business
with the use of the frequency method. About 12.4 percent received training that helped
the respondents in business development, while 4.8 percent of the respondents have
received training about business development and business identification.

On the other hand, only one percent has done training on business development,
opportunity identification and marketing strategy. About 5.7 percent have received
training on business development, venture creation and opportunity identification.

The following table is the overall result of the research hypotheses for this study which
has been tested using Chi-square test.

27
 Table 2: Overall Result of Hypothesis Testing using Chi-Square Independence Test

MOTIVATION PEARSON CHI- df ASYMPTOTIC

SQUARE SIGNIFICANCE
VALUE (2-SIDED)

Past working experience as self- 32.776 8 .000

employed/entrepreneur

Past working experience as employee 43.204 8 .000

Stage of learning business studies 30.164 32 .560

Competencies that the school has 51.154 28 .005

prepared

Reward for independence 18.088 8 .021

Profit reward 12.880 8 .116

Reward for satisfying the way of life 4.633 8 .796

The need to supplement household 6.576 8 .583

income

Lack of employment/Difficulty in 15.299 8 .054

finding job

Job Dissatisfaction 6.142 8 .631

Inflexible Work Schedule 9.528 8 .300

Opportunity 18.867 8 .016

Social Networking 13.390 10 .203

Encouragement from family & 14.845 8 .062

friends

Family’s approval upon starting 22.613 10 .012

business

Friend’s approval upon starting 7.783 10 .650

business

Self-fulfilment 15.686 8 .047

To be own boss 5.995 8 .648

28
Table 2 shows the lists of motivations that have been put into tests based on the
motivational theories used; The Expectancy Theory and the Push and Pull theory. Each
column represents the result of the Pearson Chi-Square value, followed by the degrees
of freedom and the level of significance for the two variables.

Figure 4: Working Experience as Self-Employed/Entrepreneurs

The figure above shows the respondents in the sample that have work experience as a
self-employed or entrepreneur. About 13.4 percent of the respondents aged between
15-20 generally have no experience as self-employed or entrepreneurs and if they did,
only about 4.9 percent have a working experience for less than one year. Additionally,
about 20.7 percent of the respondents aged between 21-30 stated that they have no
working experience followed by 22 percent stated with less than one year of working
experience, 17 percent with 1 to 3 years of working experience and 6.1 percent of the
respondents within the age category have more than three years of working experience.
On the other hand, as for the age category within 31-40, 4.9 percents of the respondents
stated that they have working experience as a self-employed for at least less than a year
followed by 8.5 percent stating that they have a working experience of more than 3
years as self-employed or entrepreneurs.

29
A chi-square test of independence showed that there is a significant association between
the youth entrepreneurs and the working experience as a self-employed or entrepreneur.
The result shows a score of 32.776 and a p-value of .000. In this case, the hypothesis is
accepted.

Figure 5: Working Experience as Employee

The figure above shows the respondents in the sample that have work experience as a
self-employed or entrepreneur. About 9.4 percent of the respondents aged between 15-
20 generally have no experience as an employee and if they did, only about 6.3 percent
have working experience for less than one year. Additionally, about 12.5 percent of the
respondents aged between 21 and 30 stated that they have no working experience
followed by 32.3 percent stated with less than one year of working experience, 19.8
percent with 1 to 3 years of working experience and 2.1 percent of the respondents
within the age category have more than three years of working experience.

30
On the other hand, as for the age category within 31 and 40, about 5.2 of the respondents
stated that they have a working experience as an employee for at least less than a year
followed by 8.3 percent stating that they have a working experience of more than 3
years as an employee.

The results of the chi-square test result between youth entrepreneurs and the working
experience as an employee show a score of 43.204 with a p-value of .000. In this case,
the hypothesis is accepted because the p-value is less than the significant level being
set which is .05.

Figure 6: Respondents' with Business Studies Background

Figure 6 shows the result of the respondents with a business studies background in
which 58.7% of the respondents indicate that they have a business studies background
followed by 41.3% of the respondents with no business studies background.

31
 Figure 7: Stage of Learning Business Studies Subject

Figure 7 above shows the bar chart of the respondents’ educational background. A
significant majority of the respondents of about 14.9 percent comes from the group age
between 21-30 stated that they have learned the business studies subject during college
or through advanced vocational training. The youth entrepreneurs in the sample tend to
be well-educated with about 13.4 percent holding bachelor degrees or higher. In
addition, 13.4 percent of the respondents aged between 15-20 and 21-30 stated that they
have learned business studies subjects during secondary school.

According to The Pearson chi-square test of independence between youth entrepreneurs

and the business studies subject background result, the chi-square score is 30.164 with
the p-value is .560. This indicates that there is no significant association between the
two variables and thus, the hypothesis is rejected.

32
 Figure 8: The competencies that the school has prepared and help in the business
start-up

The figure above shows the results of the competencies that the school has prepared in
starting a business starting with general knowledge of the business. Based on the results
above, the majority of the respondents aged between 21-30 with 15.8 percent agreed
that the school has prepared them with general knowledge in business.

On top of that, 13.2 percent of the respondents stated that the school has provided them
with the combination of the general knowledge on business followed by the necessary
resources for developing a business, skills and handcrafting activity as well as specific
information regarding the business environment.

According to the Pearson chi-square test of independence between youth entrepreneurs

and the competencies that the school subject has prepared in helping individuals to start
a business, the result shows a score of 51.154 and a p-value of .005. The p-value
indicates that there was a significant association between the two variables and thus,
the hypothesis is accepted.

33
 Figure 9: Youth Entrepreneurs and Their Need of Independence

Figure 9 shows the result of youth entrepreneurs and the motivation on the need for
independence. Based on the result, entrepreneurs within the age 21-30 showing 34.3
percent have selected the need for independence as a perfect motivation for them to
start a business followed by 6.7 percent from the respondents aged 15-20 and 3.8
percent from respondents aged between 31-40.

On the other hand, only 1 percent from respondent age between 15-20 stated that the
need for independence is not a reason for starting a business followed by only 2.9
percent from the respondents aged between 31-40.

According to The Pearson chi-square test of independence between youth entrepreneurs

and the motivation on the need for independence as a reason to start a business, the
result shows that the score is 18.088 with the p-value is .021. The result indicated that
there was a significant association between the two variables and thus, the hypothesis
is accepted.

34
Figure 10: Youth Entrepreneurs and Gaining Financial Reward and Increasing Wealth

The figure above shows the result of youth entrepreneurs and the motivation for gaining
financial reward and increasing wealth. According to the result, about 5.7 percent of
the respondents from ages 15-20 stated that gaining financial reward and increasing
wealth is perfectly applicable to them.

Moreover, 27.6 percent from the respondents aged between 21-30 stated that gaining
financial reward and increasing wealth is applicable as the motivation for them to start
a business followed by 19 percent stating that it is perfectly applicable as their
motivation in business creation. In addition, about 2.9 percent of the respondents aged
between 31-40 stated that it is perfectly applicable to them.

According to The Pearson chi-square test of independence between youth entrepreneurs

and the motivation on gaining financial reward as a reason to start a business, the score
is 12.880 with the p-value is .116. This indicated that there was no significant
association between the two variables. Thus, the hypothesis is rejected.

35
 Figure 11: Youth Entrepreneurs and The Reward of Satisfying the Way of Life

Figure 11 shows the result of youth entrepreneurs and the motivation for finding
alternative routes for advancement from a dead-end job. According to the result, about
4.8 percent of the respondents from ages between 15-20 stated that finding alternative
routes for advancement from a dead-end job is perfectly applicable for them.

On the other hand, about 22.9 percent from the respondents aged between 21-30 stated
that finding alternative routes for advancement from a dead-end job is perfectly
applicable as their motivation in business creation. In addition, about 7.6 percent of the
respondents aged between 31-40 stated that it is perfectly applicable for them.

According to Table 2, the chi-square score is 4.633 for the two variables youth
entrepreneurs and starting an entrepreneurial career as an alternative to the dead-end
job with the p-value is .796. In this case, the hypothesis is rejected because there was
no significant association between youth entrepreneurs and starting an entrepreneurial
career as an alternative to the dead-end job.

36
 Figure 12: Youth Entrepreneurs and Pursuing the Opportunity in the Market

Figure 12 shows the result of the youth entrepreneurs and the opportunity that can be
found in the market as a reason for them to start a business. About 9.5 percent of the
respondents aged between 15-20 stated that opportunity discovered is perfectly
applicable as to why they start a business, meanwhile about 25.7 percent of the
respondents aged between 21-30 stated that the motivation is perfectly applicable for
them and lastly only 7.6 percent of the respondents aged between 31-40 stated that
discovering opportunity in the market is perfectly applicable for them to start a
business.

The results of the chi-square test between youth entrepreneurs and finding opportunity
in the market show a score of 18.867. On the side note, the p-value which is equivalent
to .016. This indicated that there was a significant relationship between the two
variables and thus the hypothesis is accepted.

37
 Figure 13: Types of Opportunities Discovered

Figure 13 shows the kind of opportunities that the respondents discovered before they
start the entrepreneurial career. Generally, it can be seen that most of the respondents
have discovered more than one opportunity as to why they decide to start a business.

According to Figure 13 above, about 19 percent of the respondents stated that the kind
of opportunities that they discovered include the availability of resources, networking,
demand on the product or service followed by the knowledge that they have in the
particular industry.

38
In addition, 14.3 percent of the respondents stated that these three opportunities which
are the availability of resources, networking and demand on the product or service are
the reasons they decide to start the entrepreneurial career.

Moreover, 5.7 percent of the respondents stated that they basically are not relying on
the opportunity that could be discovered before they decided to start a business. Thus,
no specific opportunity was needed in their point of view. On top of that, one respondent
stated that the idea to start a business comes from the gap market.

Figure 14: Youth Entrepreneurs and Social Networking

Figure 14 shows the result of youth entrepreneurs and their social networking.
According to the result, about 7.8 percent of the respondents aged between 15-20, 9.7
percent of the respondents aged between 21-30 and only 1.9 percent of the respondents
aged between 31-40 stated that having a good social network is the motivation for them
to start a business.

The results of the chi-square independence test between youth entrepreneurs and their
social networking show a score of 13.390 with the p-value is .203. This indicated that
there was no significant association between the two variables. In this case, the
hypothesis is rejected.

39
 Figure 15: Youth Entrepreneurs and Encouragement from Family and Friends

Figure 15 shows the result of the youth entrepreneurs and the motivation on the
encouragement from family and friends. According to the bar graph, 9.5 percent of the
respondents aged between 15-20, 18.1 percent of the respondents aged between 21-30
and 1.9 percent of the respondents aged between 31-40 stated that the encouragement
from family and friends apply perfectly to them.

On the side note, about 1.9 percent of the respondents aged between 15-20, 6.7 percent
of the respondents aged between 21-30 and 1.9 percent of the respondents aged between
31-40 stated that the encouragement from family and friends does not apply to them at
all.

The result of the chi-square independence test between youth entrepreneurs and the
encouragement from family and friends show a score of 14.845 with a p-value of .652.
The result indicated that there was no significant association between the two variables.
Hence, the hypothesis is rejected.

40
 Figure 16: Youth Entrepreneurs and Family Approval on Business Creation

Figure 16 shows the result of the youth entrepreneurs and their family’s approval on
the decision to start a business. According to the bar graph, about 5.8 percent of the
respondents aged between 15-20, 23.3 percent of the respondents aged between 21-30
and 2.9 percent of the respondents aged between 31-40 stated that their decision on
creating business was strongly approved by their family. On the other hand, about 1.9
percent of the respondents aged between 15-20, 1.0 percent of the respondents aged
between 21-30 and 31-40 stated that their family strongly disapproved with their
decision to start a business.

According to Table 2, the results of the chi-square independence test between youth
entrepreneurs and family’s approval show a score of 22.613 in with a p-value of .012.
This shows that there was a significant association between family’s approval and youth
entrepreneurs’ decision to create a business. Therefore, the hypothesis is accepted.

41
 Figure 17: Youth Entrepreneurs and Friends' Approval on Business Creation

Figure 17 shows the result of the youth entrepreneurs and their friend’s approval on the
decision to start a business. According to the bar graph, about 5.8 percent of the
respondents aged between 15-20, 16.5 percent of the respondents aged between 21-30
and 2.9 percent of the respondents aged between 31-40 stated that their friends strongly
approve their decision on the business start-up.

On the side note, only about 1 percent of the respondents aged between 15-20, 1.9
percent of the respondents aged between 21-30 and 2.9 percent of the respondents aged
between 31-40 stated that their friends strongly disapprove with the decision to start a
business.

The results of the chi-square independence test between youth entrepreneurs and
friend’s approval show a score of 7.783 and a p-value of .650. This indicated that there
was no significant association between the two variables. In this case, the hypothesis is
rejected.

42
 Figure 18: Youth Entrepreneurs and to be own boss and self-employed

The figure above shows the result of the youth entrepreneurs and motivation to be their
own boss and self-employed. According to the bar graph, about 4.8 percent of the
respondents aged between 15-20 stated followed by 26.7 percent of the respondents
aged between 21-30 and 5.7 percent of the respondents aged between 31-40 stated that
to be self-employed and be their own boss is perfectly applicable for them to start a
business. On the other hand, about 1 percent for all respondents aged between 15-40
stated that being their own boss is not applicable to them at all as to why they started
the business.

The results of the chi-square test between youth entrepreneurs and motivation to be
their own boss and self-employed show a score of 5.995 with a p-value of .648. This
indicated that there was no significant association between the two variables and thus,
the hypothesis is rejected.

43
 Figure 19: Youth Entrepreneurs and Achieving Self-Fulfillment

Figure 19 above shows the result of youth entrepreneurs and the motivation on the need
to achieve self-fullfilment. According to the result, about 6.7 percent of the respondents
aged between 15-20, 27.6 percent of the respondents aged between 21-30 and 7.6
percent of the respondents aged between 31-40 stated that achieving self-fullfilment as
their motivation to start a business apply perfectly to them. On the side note, none of
the respondents stated that self-fulfilment does not apply to them at all.

The results of the chi-square test between youth entrepreneurs and motivation on the
need to achieve self-fullfilment show a score of 15.686 and a p-value of .047. The result
indicated that there was a significant association between youth entrepreneurs and the
need to achieve self-fullfilment. In this case, the hypothesis is accepted.

44
 Figure 20: Youth Entrepreneurs and the need to supplement the household income

The figure above shows the result of youth entrepreneurs and the motivation on the
need to supplement the household income. According to the result, about 4.7 percent
of the respondents aged between 15-20, 16.2 percent of the respondents aged between
21-30 and 1.9 percent of the respondents aged between 31-40 stated that the motivation
for them to start a business is because they have the need to supplement the household
income.

In addition, about 1.9 percent of the respondents aged between 15-20, 5.7 percent of
the respondents aged between 21-30 and only one percent of the respondents aged
between 31-40 stated that the need to supplement the household income does not apply
to them at all.

The results of the chi-square independence test between youth entrepreneurs and the
motivation on the need to supplement the household income show a score of 6.576 with
a p-value of .583. In this case, the hypothesis is rejected as there was no significant
association between the two variables.

45
 Figure 21: Youth Entrepreneurs and Job Dissatisfaction

Figure 21 shows a bar chart that indicates the result of youth entrepreneurs' motivations
for job dissatisfaction. Based on the result, only 2.9 percent of the respondents aged
between 15-20 followed by only 6.7 percent of the respondents aged between 21-30
and 3.8 percent of the respondents aged between 31-40 stated that job dissatisfaction is
a perfect motivation for them to start a business.

Furthermore, about 6.7 percent of the respondents aged between 15-20, 16.2 percent of
the respondents aged between 21-30 and 4.8 percent of the respondents aged between
31-40 stated that job dissatisfaction does not apply to them at all.

The results of the chi-square test between youth entrepreneurs and job dissatisfaction
show a score of 6.142 with a p-value of .631. The p-value indicated that there is no
significant association between the two variables and thus, the hypothesis is rejected.

46
 Figure 22: Youth Entrepreneurs and Shortage of Jobs

The figure above shows the result of the respondents and their motivation specifically
shortage of jobs. According to the bar chart above, about 5.7 percent of the respondents
from aged between 15-20 followed by 20 percent of the respondents aged between and
21-30 and 2,9 percent of the respondents aged between 31-40 stated that the difficulty
in finding jobs and lack of employment offered is the perfect reason as for why they
started a business,

Based on Table 2, the result of the Chi-square test between youth entrepreneurs and
lack of employment show a score of 15.299 with a p-value of .054. The p-value
indicated that there was a significant association between the two variables and thus the
hypothesis is accepted.

47
 Figure 23: Youth Entrepreneurs and Inflexible Working Schedule

Figure 23 above shows the result of the youth entrepreneurs and motivation on an
inflexible work schedule. According to the bar graph, only 1 percent of the respondents
aged between 15-20 followed by 8.6 percent of the respondents aged between 21-30
and 1.9 percent of the respondents aged between 31-40 stated that the reason for them
to start a business due to inflexible work schedule.

The results of the chi-square test between youth entrepreneurs and inflexible work
schedule variables show a score of 9.528 followed by a p-value of .300. The result
indicated that there was no significant association between the two variable and thus,
the hypothesis is rejected.

48
 6. Discussion

The purpose of this study was to investigate the motivational factors behind the business
creations among the youth entrepreneurs in Brunei. In this study, a list of motivations
is included based on the two theories selected; the Theory of Expectancy and the push
and pull theory. This study was highly participated by the respondents aged between
21-30 and among the female youth entrepreneurs.

Based on the theoretical framework, what drives an individual to start a business could
be because of their expectation as well as the reward that they wish to obtain as part of
their self-satisfaction. In addition, Zaouali et. al (2015) reported that the motivation to
start a business could be because the person wants to pursue an opportunity or because
of the discontentment process with the prevailing situation.

Based on the results, it has been discovered that there are some motivations that are
statistically significant among the youth entrepreneurs meanwhile some show the
opposite.

6.1 Expectancy

The following subsections discuss the hypotheses results on the youth entrepreneurs’
past working experience and the knowledge they have obtained.

6.1.1 Working Experience

A positive correlation was found to exist between youth entrepreneurs and their
working experience both as a self-employed or entrepreneurs and as employees. This
has proven that the Expectancy Theory is applicable as mentioned by Gatewood et al.
(2002); Manolova et al., (2007) that the positive feedback on past work raises peoples’
expectations for future outcomes. Additionally, the result supported Parker (2004)
study in which he claimed that the experienced captured has a positive relationship with
individual’s decision to entrepreneurial activity.

49
6.1.2 Education and Skills

It was interestingly found that a relationship between the youth entrepreneurs and the
education stage of learning business studies during the school year is negatively
correlated and is not statistically significant. However, when investigated further, there
is a positive correlation found between youth entrepreneurs and the competencies that
the school may have prepared in helping them to start a business. This shows that
regardless of what stage of education that an individual took during a school year, it
may not necessarily affect them but the important thing is how the school has provided
them with necessary knowledge and skills.

As claimed in hypothesis 2, training also gives excellent importance to support

individual into creating an entrepreneurship culture. This can be proven when looking
at Table 1 which shows the type of training the entrepreneurs received for creating a
business. The respondents were able to not only identify the opportunity but also learn
how to identify the marketing strategy, and how to develop the business. The result,
therefore, supports the assumption on the hypothesis that mentioned how learning and
training are able to support the person individually.

6.2 Valence

The following subsections discuss the hypothesis result on valance variables which
refers to reward that individuals wish to attain when they first decided to start a
business.

6.2.1 The need for independence

Based on the findings, it was found that there are a positive correlation and a statistically
significant relationship between youth entrepreneurs and the need for independence as
a motivation to start a business. The result indicated that the need for independence has
a notable relationship with the youth entrepreneurs’ motivation in starting up a business.
Therefore, the results of the study by Longenecker et. al (2003) support the assumption
of the hypothesis.

50
6.2.2 Profit Reward

The findings indicated that there was no significant association between youth
entrepreneurs and the obtaining profit as a reward. In this case, the results of the study
by Longenecker et. al (2003) do not support the assumption of the hypothesis
particularly in the case of youth entrepreneurs in Brunei.

On the side note, the result indicated that the study by Timmons and Spinelli (2003) is
more applicable because they suggested that financial return is the conventional
explanation why a person wants to be an entrepreneur, while people may have other
motivations that do not involve the intention to solely generate profit.

6.2.3 Reward of satisfying the way of life

The findings indicated that there was no significant association between youth
entrepreneurs and the obtaining reward of satisfying the way of life particularly in
selecting an entrepreneurial path to make advancement from what is considered as a
dead-end job. This can be related to the fact that youth entrepreneurs in the sample are
not working at the moment as most of them are still learning. Thus, the result of the
study does not support the assumption of the hypothesis.

6.3 Push Factors

The following subsections discuss the push variables which refers to the negative
conditions that push a person to start a business.

6.3.1 Lack of Job or the Difficulty in Finding Job

It was discovered that the lack of job being offered or the difficulty in searching for a
job has a significant relationship with the youth entrepreneurs. It cannot be denied that
there is an increasing number of graduates over the years while the job being offered is
not enough. The findings supported Sharafizad & Coetzer (2016) saying that people
may start a business or become self-employed due to being unemployed, lack of job
opportunities or losing a job. However, Block & Sandner (2009) claimed that those that
started an entrepreneurial career because of push factor is usually associated with lower

51
entrepreneurial skills were proven to be not necessarily the case for youth entrepreneurs
in Brunei. Most of the youth entrepreneurs in fact are well-educated with 24.8 percent
has a background of college or advanced vocational training followed by 22.9 percent
with a background of Higher Education Institutions with some of them holding a Master
degree background (see Appendix 1). On top of that, based on the finding (Figure 6),
it can be seen about 58.7 percent of the youth has the educational background on
business studies. Hence, the result of the study by Sharafizad & Coetzer (2016),
therefore, support the assumption of the hypothesis.

6.3.2 The need to supplement household income

It was discovered that the need to provide income for the household did not have a
significant association with the youth entrepreneurs. The result indicates that the youth
does not have the need to earn income because they wanted to help the member of their
family. The result of the findings thus, do not support the assumption on the hypothesis
section.

6.3.3 Job Dissatisfaction

The finding indicates that there was no significant association between youth
entrepreneurs and job dissatisfaction as their motivation in the business start-up. The
assumption that can be made due to the result is the fact that most of the youth in the
samples are currently still studying. It was discovered that 37 percent of the respondents
are still students with 19 percent of the samples are currently working as employees
(see Appendix 2). The result from the finding rather supported Noorderhaven et al.
(2004) statement in which they mentioned that being unhappy or dissatisfied with the
availability of job in the country is the reason why people decide to start a business and
become self-employed and in the case of youth entrepreneur in Brunei.

52
6.3.4 Inflexible Working Schedule

The finding indicates that there was no significant association between youth
entrepreneurs and inflexible working schedule as their motivation in starting up a
business. The explanation behind the result could be due to the fact that the youths may
not get to experience working for their first job or become an employee as they just
finish their education and is about to search for their first job as reported by the United
Nations. The result of the findings thus, do not support the assumption on the hypothesis
section.

6.4 Pull Factors

The following subsections discuss the pull variables which refers to the positive
conditions that pulled a person to engage in entrepreneurial activities.

6.4.1 Opportunities

The finding indicates that there was a significant association between youth
entrepreneurs and opportunities as driver for the business start-up. Based on the
findings, the type of opportunities discovered by the youth entrepreneurs in Brunei is
the need to provide the demanded products or services, networking followed by the
resources’ availability as well as having the knowledge in the particular industry.
Meanwhile, as mentioned in the hypothesis section, recognizing the opportunities could
involve the analytical skills as well as other skills such as team-building, creativity,
leadership, and problem solving. The findings thus support the assumption on the
hypothesis section as the result indicated that the youth entrepreneurs in Brunei
discovered the need to be a problem solver particularly in terms of providing the
product or services that are demanded in the market.

On the side note, it was interestingly found that there is a negative correlation between
the youth entrepreneur and social networking. This is assumed due to the networking
alone may not be possible for an individual to start a business but rather because there
is a combination of other different opportunity variables as listed in Figure 13. Thus,
the result does not support the assumed hypothesis for social networking particularly in
the case of youth entrepreneurs in Brunei.

53
6.4.2 Encouragement from family and friends

The finding indicates that there was no significant association between youth
entrepreneurs and encouragement from family and friends as driver for the business
start-up. However, when family and friends is put separately, family show a positive
correlation meanwhile friends are still showing negative correlation. This means that
friends’ encouragement and opinion could have been less impactful for a person to start
a business. As shown in Appendix 3, about 51 respondents stated that the opinion of
their family is very important to them compared to the opinion of my friends, which
was voted very important with only 24 respondents. The result, thus, supports Kim et.
al. (2013) statement on young entrepreneurs needing more social support from the
member of the family.

6.4.3 Self-fulfillment

The finding indicates that there was a significant association between youth
entrepreneurs and self-fulfillment as a driver for the business start-up. Based on the
findings, it was discovered the highest percentage comes from those age between 21
and 30 stating that achieving self-fullfilment is perfectly applicable to them with zero
respondents stating that self-fulfillment is not applicable for them at all. This shows
how important self-fulfillment is to be part of the people’s motivation in the business
creation. The result supported Buttner & Moore (1997) and Sarri & Trihopoulou (2004)
statement in which they mentioned that the objective to start a business can be related
to an individual’s self-fulfillment.

54
 7. Conclusion

In conclusion, motivation can be used to offer an explanation on the process of

entrepreneurship and the creation of business. Motivational theories is used to gain
insight on what motivates people to do what they do with certain circumstances given
or faced. The two motivational theories used in this study is the Theory of Expectancy
and the push and pull theory.

Vroom (1964) claimed that the motivation factors are the underlying factors influencing
a person’s behavior to make the best choice since it is believed that the actions can lead
to the desired outcome. On the side note, Gilad and Levine (1986) theorised that an
individual may choose the entrepreneurial career as they are shaped by two main factors
and they are push or pull factors.

In answering the research questions, it was discovered that each individual does have
the expected results that they would want to achieve before and as they started a
business. In addition to that, in relation to the individual’s attraction for starting a
business, the findings indicated that the youth entrepreneurs in Brunei are attracted to
the combination of both push and pull factors rather than just the pure push and pull
motivations.

However, in explaining which factors are more contributing with the theories used to
study the field of motivation, it may not be insufficient for explaining motivational
factors of entrepreneurial motivation.

55
 8. Recommendations

For researchers

There are several recommendations for future researchers. The first is a need to conduct
qualitative analysis methods in order to further obtain more findings in addition to the
findings presented. This is also done so that the patterns among the youth entrepreneurs
can be identified easily.

Besides that, the mixed use of research methods can also be applied to future
researchers with more samples included. More samples mean that the study can be used
to validate the entrepreneurial trends.

Next, because an individual’s motivation at the time when an incident happened might
not be recalled properly and so that the motivation may not be true to the current
situation when they first started, it is recommended that the potential researchers should
approach those entrepreneurs that are new to the entrepreneurial career or activity.

For this research study

What can be recommended from this study is to provide different types of assistance
and support to those individuals that are driven by necessity or also known driven by
the push factors as the motivational factor so that they can flourish. This is because an
individual driven by a push factor of motivation will not find the assistance provided
for opportunity-driven entrepreneurship as something that is also necessarily beneficial
to them.

56
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 10. Appendices

Appendix 1- Educational level

Youth Entrepreneurs' Educational Level

None/Others

Polytechnic

Higher Education Institution

College/Advanced VocationalTraining

Pre-university

Secondary school

0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0%

College/Advanc
Higher
Secondary ed
Pre-university Education Polytechnic None/Others
school VocationalTrain
Institution
ing
Series2 31.4% 15.2% 24.8% 22.9% 1.0% 4.7%

Appendix 1: Youth Entrepreneurs’ Level of Education

61
Appendix 2- Employment Status

Employment Status

Student 37%

Employed for wages 19%

Self-employed 39%

Part-time job 5%

Appendix 2: Employment Status

62
Appendix 3- Family and friends’ opinion

Appendix 3: Family and friends’ opinion when making decision

63
Appendix 4: Research Questionnaires

Assalamualaikum and Hello. I am one of the postgraduate students from the University
of Technology Brunei. I am currently doing research on my topic: “The Study of
Motivational Factors Behind the Business Start-up Among Youth Entrepreneurs in
Brunei”. The purpose of this research would be to gain in-depth information in relation
to the youth entrepreneurs’ motivations. This study would be to gather information
from the youths age ranging from 18-40. This study will take approximately not more
than 30 minutes. Your individual privacy and confidentiality of the information you
provide will be maintained in all written data analysis resulting from the study.

Please understand your participation is entirely voluntary basis and you have the right
to withdraw your consent or discontinue participation at any time without penalty.

We would appreciate your time. Thank you.

Questionnaire

Kindly answer the following questions:

1. What age group do you belong to?

☐ 15-20

☐ 21-30

☐ 31-40

2. Gender

☐ Male

☐ Female

64
3. Which one best describe your employment status?

☐ Student
☐ Employed for wages
☐ Self-employed on entrepreneur
☐Part-time job
☐Others (Please specify):________________

4. Do you believe that motivation plays an important role for a person to start a
business?

☐Yes
☐No
☐Maybe

5. If you answer no previously, could you please state the reason why:

___________________________________________

6. What environment you think is more related to your decision in starting-up a

business?

☐ Family environment
☐Business environment
☐Physical environment
☐Socio-economic environment

7. Do you agree that it is important to discover the opportunity that can be

exploited before deciding to start a business?

☐Yes
☐No
☐Neutral

65
 8. What is/are the kind of opportunities you have discovered before deciding to
start your entrepreneurial career?

☐ Availability of resources
☐Networking
☐ Demand on the product or service
☐Knowledge you have in particular industry
☐ No specific opportunity
☐Others (Please specify): ____________________

9. Do you have previous work experience?

Indicator: None Less than 1 year 1-3 years More than 3

years
As self-
employed/Entrepreneur
As an employee

10. To what extent do you agree with the following statements about your
social network (family, friends, acquaintance, co-workers, other
entrepreneurs)?

1 means strongly disagree

5 means strongly agree

*Note: With values between 1 and 5, you can express where you lie between these two
extremes.

1 2 3 4. 5

Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly

disagree Agree

My social network is
very broad and
diverse

66
I often communicate
with members of my
social network

I easily get
information or other
resources from my
social network

Generally, I locate
myself in an
important position
within my social
network (a central
position with many
connections with
other members)

11. Have you received specific training to create companies?

*proceed to question 12, if you answer yes*

☐Yes
☐No

12. If you have received specific training, what was the content of that training?

Tick all that apply

Business Development

Venture Creation

Opportunity Identification

Others (Please specify):

___________

67
13. Do you have any educational background related to business studies
subject? *Proceed to question 14 to 16 if you answer yes*

☐Yes
☐No

14. At what stage did you get to learn the subject?

☐Secondary school
☐Pre-university
☐College/Advanced vocational training
☐Higher education institution
☐Others (Please state): ________________

15. Which of the following competencies that your school has prepared and
help you in starting a business? (You may tick more than one)

☐ General knowledge on business

☐The necessary resources for developing a business
☐Skills and handcrafting activity
☐Specific information regarding the business environment
☐Other (Please specify)_____________________

16. Tick to all that apply

Universities and Higher Education center

prepare me to be an entrepreneur

Universities and Higher Education provide

suitable and quality training for the creation of
new ventures
With the education provided, it has helped
me to build more self-confidence

With the education provided, I have become

more creative

68
 17. On the scale of 1 to 5, which one is more relatable to your expectation
before starting a business?

Please answer according to the following scale:

1 means “does not apply to me at all”

5 means “applies to me perfectly”

1 2 3 4 5
EXPECTANCY Does not Somewhat Neutral Applicable Apply to
ITEMS apply to applicable me
me at all perfectly

If I work hard, I can

successfully start a
business

Starting a business
is much more
desirable than other
career opportunities
I have

If I start a business,
it will help me
achieve other
important goals in
my life
Overall, my skills
and abilities will
help me start a
business
My past experience
will be very valuable
in starting a business

I am confident I can
put in the effort
needed to start a
business

69
 If I have the
opportunity and
resources, I would
like to start a
business

18. On the scale of 1 to 5, which one is more relatable to what motivates you
to start-up your business?

Please answer according to the following scale:

1 means “does not apply to me at all”

5 means “applies to me perfectly”

1 2 3 4 5

Motivations Does not Somewhat Neutral Applicable Apply to me

apply to me applicable perfectly
at all

Socio-economic
problems

Lack of
employment/Difficult
y in finding job

The need to
supplement
household income

Poverty

Job Dissatisfaction

Insufficient Salary

Inflexible Work
Schedule

70
Education/Training

Encouragement from
family members and
friends

Self-employed & To
be my own boss

Opportunity in the
market

19. Please answer according to the following scale:

1 means “does not apply to me at all”

5 means “applies to me perfectly”

*Note: With values between 1 and 5, you can express where you lie between these two
extremes.

1 2 3 4 5

I see myself as Does not Somewhat Neutral Applicable Apply to me

someone who apply to applicable perfectly
is…. me at all

Creative

Innovative

Risk-taker

Has the ability

to work alone/in
team

71
Has ability to
define own
challenges

Has the capability

to recognize
solutions

Has the capability

to find
opportunities in
achieving the
vision

Confidence

Take active
roles in your own
communities

Motivated

Flexible

Energetic

Resourceful

Always ready

72
 20. Please answer according to the following scale:

1 means “does not apply to me at all”

5 means “applies to me perfectly”

*Note: With values between 1 and 5, you can express where you lie between these two
extremes.

1 2 3 4 5
Expected Does not Somewhat Neutral Applicable Apply to me
Rewards apply to applicable perfectly
me at all
Gaining financial
reward and
increasing wealth
is important to
me

The need for

independence is
the reason why I
started a business

The need for

financial freedom
is the reason why
I started a
business

Self-fulfilment is
important to me
I want to be self-
employed and be
my own boss

I see the
entrepreneurial
career as an
alternative route
for
advancement
from a dead-end
job

73
 Starting up a
business help me
to obtain
additional money

21. Regarding the creation of your business, to what extent do the following
people approve your decision?

1 means strongly disapprove

5 means strongly approve

*Note: With values between 1 and 5, you can express where you lie between these two
extremes.

1 2 3 4 5
Strongly Disapprove Neutral Approve Strongly
disapprove approve

The opinion
of my family

The opinion
of my friends

Tick ☐

if you did not

ask for
anyone’s
opinion

74
 22. How important it is to have the following people’s opinion below for you to
make a decision?

1 means not important at all

5 means very important

*Note: With values between 1 and 5, you can express where you lie between these two
extremes.

1 2 3 4 5
Not important Somewhat Neutral Important Very
at important important
all

The opinion
of my
family

The opinion
of my
friends

75
 Appendix 5: Gantt Chart

Appendix 5: Monthly Task Gantt Chart

76

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