Entrepreneurs and risk: a study of German and UK entrepreneurs in Spain

This report details the research and findings of a comparative study of UK and German entrepreneurs establishing and running enterprises in Spain. For our study, we conducted 20 in-depth qualitative interviews and carried out extensive desktop research. Our research objectives were to understand more about the risk perceptions, behaviours and risk mitigation strategies of the two nationality groups in a third, neutral country, in order to understand more about the determinants of risk in entrepreneurship. In reporting our findings, we developed an initial typology of migrant entrepreneurs in Spain, reporting similarities in the types of people who decide to relocate to Spain and establish businesses as well as the push and pull factors that underlie these highly personal decisions. We found extensive differences in the risk mitigation strategies pursued by the two different nationality groups, with the overall conclusion that it is largely the ‘prepared professional’ and the ‘artisan’ groups of migrant entrepreneurs who appear to both understand the risks associated with their decisions more clearly, and seek to reduce their exposure to risk more astutely and more frequently.