Day to Day Entrepreneurship

more value or making place for instability. In this sense, we also touch upon the criticism that social networks can focus on power inequalities within a network.

6.1.2.4. Summary - Starting Entrepreneurial Activities

The section devoted to the building of the social network has highlighted the importance of this action given the new context. This is followed by the role of family and friends support in their network. These actors are of high importance as they create unity amongst the entrepreneurs through similar norms and values. The lack of ties between organizational actors and the entrepreneurs, resulted in them creating alternatives amongst their own community.

The section on grabbing opportunities has highlighted the independence of some entrepreneurs through the process of starting their businesses on their own, even with a weak social network. Entrepreneurs have shown different ways in order to overcome the challenges given their poor network development. Including the utilization of the ethnic community to acquire different types of assistance, as well as innovative thinking in order to overcome the barriers encountered. In regards to the elements of the social network we touch upon size, positioning and relationship structure. The size of a social network has shown to be an important aspect for the entrepreneurs to reach the resources needed and allows them a certain mobility given the choices having to be made. They acquire the freedom to position themselves specifically in their own network allowing them to build an external one and reach other resources which might not be available within their current network. Finally, the relationship structure has shown how single stranded relations are beneficial to an extent. While, the multiplex ties have shown the importance of having several layers to a relationship.

competitive advantage (Mohamed et al., 2019). Our data has shown that indeed family has been an important support system. There is a family structured business such as Mrs. Helli’s, where the family gives a helping hand in ensuring that the business idea was created and stays afloat. However, the data has shown that this type of family network may not be the only one which is essential in order for the business to further develop. For instance, we have the case of Mr. Kabbani who had a continuous partnership with his business partners from Syria. This type of network helped them establish their business in a new market and become competitive both in and outside of Turkey. Additionally, we encountered the type of entrepreneur, such as Mr. Alakkad, who did not have such a family structured business or partnership, yet still made it on his own. In this case, Mr. Alakkad made use of the Syrian community to benefit his business. Nonetheless, he did note the importance of knowledge of the Turkish language as he acknowledged being limited in reaching potential Turkish customers. This posed as a barrier that he hoped to overcome by learning Turkish and thereafter expand his business ties.

Taking these structures into consideration, on one hand we have a group of entrepreneurs who have an existent social network in the form of family members, friends or business partners, which is a similar scenario immigrants manifest. This is due to the view that immigrants can many times leave their home countries with their families. However, we also came across entrepreneurs who, due to the circumstances had to abruptly leave their social network behind and in comparison to economic immigrants, these entrepreneurs cannot just go back to Syria to obtain resources from their networks. Whereas economic immigrants have more freedom of mobility in this case (Berns, 2017).

6.1.3.1.1. Business Environment

According to Mohamed et al. (2019), minority businesses can be at a disadvantage since they are owned by individuals who do not hold the necessary managerial skills to run the business.

Amongst the entrepreneurs not having a business background is Mr. Nasher, who used to be a Judge in Syria. Nonetheless, to provide for his family he had to take this entrepreneurial path. He shared that there were details about his business that he could not follow. This can be a result of his lack of experience in this field. Other entrepreneurs do not possess the required skills and therefore, needed to take business related courses. Additionally, the

obstacles they face with the Turkish language can come into play. Mr. Akil shared that Turkish people do not speak English, hence, creating problems for them. This can result in these entrepreneurs missing opportunities or encountering problems due to this language barrier. To overcome these language barriers, it was noticed that many entrepreneurs made use of their family, friends, professional networks, and organizations to overcome these barriers in their respective business sectors. In addition, these entrepreneurs face discrimination, regardless of their business background, which can also have an affect on limiting their opportunities and resulting in the failure of their business. Therefore, indeed those that do not possess the necessary business skills may not be able to fully compete in the Turkish market. Nevertheless, in this scenario, the language and discrimination that they face can play a role in their competitiveness or overall success in Turkey. Additionally, we have the case of Mr. Abu Deb who was able to develop a successful business along with his Turkish business partner. His business partner was able to help in avoiding some of the barriers that emerge given the Turkish business regulations and culture, since he has knowledge of the context and has a network of his own. As a result, Mr. Abu Deb was able to acquire opportunities that would otherwise be unavailable to him. To be able to lean into his business partner was a way in which Mr. Abu Deb also overcame barriers deriving from not speaking the Turkish language.

6.1.3.2. Minorities and Entrepreneurship

Basu et al. (2002) stated that ethinic minorities can more frequently go into the path of entrepreneurship in comparison to their peers (Mohamed et al., 2019). As aforementioned, the entrepreneurs work in very different areas. In spite of not possessing knowledge of the language and knowledge of the laws, entrepreneurship seems to be the best way to care for their families. Choosing this path can also spare them from encountering the labor market discrimination and cultural differences. Nevertheless, this can also mean that they might lean on their own communities to run the business, preventing quick personal and professional integration. This can also affect their learning of the Turkish language, since they are able to communicate in Arabic or English to conduct their business. Nonetheless, some entrepreneurs, such as Mr. Abu Deb, Mrs. Helli and Mr. Hayrullah have invested in learning the Turkish language on their own to overcome the barriers of a full integration and gain

business growth. In addition, some of these entrepreneurs were already working within the same or similar areas while in Syria, such as Mr. Chouihna’s family business. This is also valid for Mr. Alakkad, Mr. Kabbani and Mr. Hayrullah and their respective business partners. They all possess an entrepreneurial background and decided to proceed with it in Turkey. On the other hand, despite these entrepreneurs being more likely to start a business, they may have a high probability of failing in their starting process (Mohamed et al., 2019).

In the case of Mr. Akil, he faced challenges since he was still new to the Turkish business environment and the Turkish language. Nevertheless, being able to make use of his son's knowledge of the Turkish system provided him with guidance.

6.1.3.3. Communities

As presented by Mohamed et al. (2019), those businesses that indulged in a successful connection with the local community thrived. In this context the local community can be the Syrian or the Turkish community. Many of the businesses from our data either cater their services to the Syrian community, such as Turk Indirim, owned by Mr. Habob, who provides services from both Turkish and Syrian companies to Arabic speaking customers. Or those who cater to both communities and more, such as Mr. Vasoglu and Mr. Houbaity who own boutique hotels which are opened for tourists. Others were able to reach the Turkish community through their social networks. Nevertheless, it was possible to observe that there is still work to be done from both the entrepreneurs' side and the Turkish societies' side for a well-established relationship to blossom (Mohamed et al., 2019). For instance, facing difficulties with governmental institutions, discrimination, the negative portrayal of Syrians by the Turkish media and language barriers can also affect such relationships from developing. This leads us into the detail that ethnic entrepreneurs can share the same challenges as Turkish entrepreneurs. This correlates with other challenges from our findings which include competitiveness, laws, taxation, and so on. Nevertheless, these Syrian entrepreneurs also encounter other obstacles that are a result from their personal conditions.

Namely, many entrepreneurs face the consequences of not speaking the language, of discrimination and being victims of the stereotypes made by the Turkish society. As aforementioned, these challenges interconnect with the 3 remaining ones from Alrawadieh et al. (2018) typology, namely the legislative and administrative, market related issues and

finance. All of these areas pose challenges for these entrepreneurs that locals may not face.

Lack of general attentiveness from the Turkish government in terms of socio-cultural challenges complements to the daily barriers of these Syrian entrepreneurs. These are factors that can have an impact on their choice to start a business, however, in their situation we came to the conclusion that in many cases, starting a business was their only option.

6.1.3.4. Utilization of Ties

For the most part, being in a new context can result in refugee entrepreneurs finding it easier in creating long-term connections with others who share similarities (Alrawadieh et al., 2018). Mr. Akil, Mr. Habob, Mr. Alakkad and Mr. Abu Deb are entrepreneurs who either provide services only for Syrians or provide services for both Syrian and Turkish customers.

Thus, still keeping a close relationship with their Syrian community. In addition, some have shown to keep a strong relationship with other Syrian businessmen. This strengthens the perception that these individual’s relationships can in turn enable them to acquire the resources they need from each other (Ibid). In these cases, remaining in their own social networks may prevent them from creating unusual ties which could benefit their business.

However, the findings showed that unusual ties with Turkish individuals may be difficult to create since there is the language barrier and a risk of the Syrian entrepreneurs facing discrimination from the Turkish side. Thus their own Syrian networks have helped them to run their business, since in some cases the entrepreneurs main customers were Syrians. On the other hand, their own personal backgrounds can have an influence on their integration in the new context. To illustrate this, Alrawadieh, et al. (2018) mentions religion, as a socio-cultural element that in some cases can influence an individuals integration. Firstly, we have the scenario of Mrs. Muhibaldeen, who was able to adjust into her new reality through her religion, as well as connect with both Syrian and Turkish women who shared her religious beliefs. Thus showing a positive side of religion in terms of integration. Lastly, another side of religion is mentioned on one of the other challenges, namely ‘finance’, where some entrepreneurs shared that they did not make use of banks, in terms of asking for loans, since it is considered ‘haram’ (a sin) in Islam. Nevertheless, in this scenario, one could say that the negative effect can be faced by the entrepreneur himself, since he or she can struggle more to gain capital to start and run their business. In terms of the influence of their social

networks, when it comes to the individual's choice of surroundings, this can have an impact on their integration. Not speaking the language has shown to prevent them from fully integrating into the Turkish society and comply with its norms.

Most of the Syrian interviewees seemed to have strong ties in the form of friends, family and business partners. Nevertheless, there is a point of saturation to how much they can benefit from these sorts of ties. Very few entrepreneurs seemed to have weak ties, mainly due to their language barrier. Entrepreneurs having benefited from participating in competitions have been able to gain access to weak ties with resources they might not find within their strong ties. Moreover, Mrs. Muhibaldeen has developed a weak tie with a Turkish friend who helps her with events for both Syrian and Turkish women, allowing her to expand her network as an entrepreneur and an individual in the Turkish society. In contrast, these weak ties may not give their full advantages on different levels. Regarding the language, the lack of knowledge of the Turkish language can create significant communication gaps being a delaying factor for their integration and business growth. Furthermore, discrimination and culture can also be a delaying factor to the creation of ties. Our data has shown that having a varied group of strong ties opens for more opportunities. According to Alrawadieh et al.

(2018), in order for the entrepreneurs to access resources considered as out of their reach, they must invest in creating these strong ties with a variety of actors. This has in many cases been done by having a Turkish business partner in their early steps. However, this is not valid for all, as some entrepreneurs interviewed were able to access the needed resources despite the lack of these weak ties.

6.1.3.5. Summary - Day to Day Entrepreneurship

In terms of daily entrepreneurial activities, social networks reinforce the perception that the structure of ethnic minority businesses can include family and a given community (Mohamed et al., 2019). This connection can sequentially assist businesses with their competitive advantage. Regarding social networks and business structures, family showed to be part of some entrepreneurs' support system directly or indirectly. A second structure found was one composed by the entrepreneurs business partners. A third type of structure included entrepreneurs who were the sole owners of their companies. In this case, the

entrepreneurs were also able to make use of the Syrian community. Yet, to be able to reach more of the Turkish community, knowledge of the language was needed. The Syrian entrepreneurs with a family or business partner structure showed similarities with economic immigrants, due to having easier access to their social networks. While other entrepreneurs were limited in accessing the networks in Syria.

When it comes to the business environment we found that the two areas of experience and language are interconnected, since despite having background experience from Syria, language barriers resulted in the Syrian entrepreneurs having to engage in entrepreneurship to be able to access work. Nevertheless, being entrepreneurs did not shield them from challenges derived from not speaking the language. One disadvantage resulted from competitiveness, which was affected by discrimination and language.

In terms of minorities and entrepreneurship, it is shown that choosing entrepreneurship may make the interviewees more reliant on the Syrian community and their close ties, to be able to run their businesses and overcome barriers. In counterpart, this can result in slow personal and professional integration for the entrepreneurs.

This leads us to communities, where the entrepreneurs made mostly use of the Syrian community, while others made use of both the Syrian and the Turkish communities through their services and social networks. Through the social network theory it is possible to identify that Syrian and Turkish entrepreneurs may face similar challenges. Nevertheless, refugee entrepreneurs face more challenges, affecting their interaction with the society and its structures.

Lastly, when it comes to the utilization of ties, religion has been a way in which some entrepreneurs were able to create networks to overcome the challenges from cultural differences and integration. However, religion has also shown to create barriers to some entrepreneurs due to the restrictions it can pose when interacting with networks in the form of institutions. The Syrian entrepreneurs ties consisted of their family, friends and professional networks. In this section, language once again showed to have an impact on the entrepreneurs integration. This results in them not investing in creating other ties, preventing them from accessing other forms of resources for the benefit of their business.