ACHIEVING ‘BREAK‐OUT’: DEVELOPING MAINSTREAM ETHNIC MINORITY BUSINESSES

It is widely accepted that many ethnic minority firms continue to rely on their own community for their survival, and that growth is only likely to be achieved by tapping into wider markets. In short, ‘break‐out’, which is the focus of this paper, is critical to ethnic minority firms' survival and development. Using a combination of consultancy and qualitative approaches, the progress of three ethnic minority businesses over a twelve month period in pursuing such a development strategy is reported on. The findings shed light on the marketing approaches of such firms; the feasibility of break‐out; the management implications of such a process; and the lessons for business support agencies.