International Entrepreneurship and Wealth Creation: A Nigerian Small Business Empirical Perspective

Abstract

Since the beginning of the current democratic dispensation in Nigeria in 1999, various administrations have been making efforts to expand through the implementation of variety of programmes to enable small businesses be self-sustaining and produce wealth for their owners. This paper investigates the effects of internationalisation on small businesses in the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria. It examines the motivation for internationalisation with a view to determining whether international entrepreneurship has the capacity to create wealth for small business owners. Examining this subject exposes the benefits derivable from internationalisation and the extent to which it can be used to sustain small businesses. Given that small businesses contribute a great deal to the growth of the Nigerian economy, this study accentuates the need to reduce the bottlenecks associated with export procedures in Nigeria to the barest minimum. The study employed interview design to carry out the investigation. The sample comprised nine small firms selected through convenient sampling. The interview was semi-structured and the respondents were interviewed personally with the aid of interview guide. The recorded tapes of the interviews were transcribed and analysed through general deductive process and reported in narrative form. The findings indicate that the driving force behind small business owners’ decision to internationalise is the desire to increase income and sales. Other motivations are for business growth and building collaborations and alliances.

Keywords: International Entrepreneurship, Wealth Creation, Small Businesses, Business Performance, Motivation for going Global, Effects of Internationalisation