The New Zealand hospitality industry is characterised by a high rate of business start-ups and closures, especially in small and medium enterprises (Inland Revenue Department, 2011). One reason for this is that many businesses are not financially viable. There are, however, successful hospitality entrepreneurs who are leaving self-employment to return to paid employment. This research presents evidence that some entrepreneurs leave self-employment in favour of paid employment from choice rather than being forced to take this step. Data are derived from interviews and placed into themes by using an interpretive paradigm. As many motivational push and pull factors are identified (family, work-life imbalance, health and stress, age, planned exit, security and stability of paid employment, education, expectations of others, lack of personal and professional development during the operation, and intuition) a diagram is designed to provide a broader overview. It shows entrepreneurs from a larger perspective, and that the exit process is influenced by a combination of factors such as their personal environment, personal goals and personal beliefs, social and economic factors, and the external environment

Andringa, S

Pernecky, T

Poulston, J

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From self-employed hospitality entrepreneur to paid employee: the motivational factors behind the transition

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Tourism and Global Change: On the Edge of Something Big.   
CAUTHE 2013 Conference Proceedings 
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F R O M SE L F-E MPL O Y E D H OSPI T A L I T Y E N T R EPR E N E UR T O PA ID 
E MPL O Y E E : T H E M O T I V A T I O N A L F A C T O RS B E H IND T H E 
T R A NSI T I O N 
Siets Andringa 
Whitireia New Zealand 
Jill Poulston 
A U T , New Zealand 
Tomas Pernecky 
A U T , New Zealand 
 
ABSTRACT 
 
The New Zealand hospitality industry is characterised by a high rate of business start-ups and 
closures, especially in small and medium enterprises (Inland Revenue Department, 2011). 
One reason for this is that many businesses are not financially viable. There are, however, 
successful hospitality entrepreneurs who are leaving self-employment to return to paid 
employment. 
 
This research presents evidence that some entrepreneurs leave self-employment in favour of 
paid employment from choice rather than being forced to take this step. Data are derived from 
interviews and placed into themes by using an interpretive paradigm. As many motivational 
push and pull factors are identified (family, work-life imbalance, health and stress, age, 
planned exit, security and stability of paid employment, education, expectations of others, 
lack of personal and professional development during the operation, and intuition) a diagram 
is designed to provide a broader overview. It shows entrepreneurs from a larger perspective, 
and that the exit process is influenced by a combination of factors such as their personal 
environment, personal goals and personal beliefs, social and economic factors, and the 
external environment.  
 
KEYWORDS: Entrepreneurs, hospitality, exit entrepreneurship, motivation  
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
Three key elements have been identified that contribute to the high rate of business start-up in the 
hospitality industry: minimal capital investment is required, specialist knowledge is not needed, and 
the qualification barriers to entry are low in comparison to many of those other industries (Lockyer & 
Morrison, 1999). Also, external elements such as location, density, and affiliation affect the survival 
of restaurants (Parsa, Self, Sydnor-Busso, & Yoon, 2011). However, the most critical factor 
contributing  to  a  restaurant’s  success  or  failure  is  the  internal  environment,  “with  the  owner’s 
characteristics and goals serving as the guiding force” (Parsa, Self, Njite, & King, 2005, p. 316). The 
key statistic of small, independent restaurants is a cumulative failure rate of almost 60 percent in the 
first three years (Parsa et al., 2005). This study’s focus is on the 40 percent of hospitality owners that 
survived and passed the three and a half year mark of hospitality entrepreneurship but still decided to 
return to paid employment.  
 
This research used a qualitative approach with an interpretive paradigm. Ex-entrepreneurs of small 
New Zealand hospitality businesses were interviewed for the research. The focus was on small 
business owners because the majority of the New Zealand hospitality industry is represented by small 
sized businesses (Restaurant Association of New Zealand, 2008; Statistics New Zealand, 2010) and 
these small businesses are vital to New Zealand’s economy (Hospitality Standards Institute, 2012).  
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Each of the 16 participants communicated a wide variety of push and pull motivational factors. 
Narrative analysis was used to interpret data in this study. Narrative analysis permits a holistic 
approach to discourse that preserves context and particularity (Riessman, 1993), when the researcher 
is working in an interpretive paradigm. Ten themes on influences on leaving the hospitality 
entrepreneurship emerged during the analysis: family, work-life imbalance, health and stress, age, 
planned exit, security and stability of paid employment, education, expectations of others, lack of 
personal and professional development during the operation, and intuition.  
 
Themes were not derived from existing theories; rather, the researcher immersed herself in the 
interview transcripts and let categories emerge on their own. Although some themes, for example 
‘family’ and ‘health and stress’, were mentioned by the majority of participants, the themes were not 
chosen by quantifying the data. Some themes, such as education, planned exit, and intuition, were 
chosen because they stood out; ‘education’ because it was inconsistent with findings of prior studies 
and ‘planned exit’ and ‘intuition’ because they had not been identified in prior studies. Some themes 
were straightforward and could be easily identified because of their transparent content, while others 
were harder to identify because they were partially based on the hidden content in the text. 
  
1. There was clear evidence that family was important for the majority of the participants. 
Family contained both push (dependent children, marriage breakup, and aging and ailing 
parents) and pull factors (grandchildren and unborn children).  
 
2. The second theme is work-life imbalance, and a correlation was identified between the theme 
of family and work-life imbalance. Many participants felt they could not start a family and 
combine it with the demanding operation or that they did not have sufficient family time. 
Many had a lack of holiday time, time with friends, and time for themselves. The majority of 
time was invested in the operation and although in the first few years of the operation that was 
not a problem, it eventually became a reason to exit self-employment. 
 
3. The third theme of health and stress identifies the physical, mental and even spiritual tension 
between the operation and the participants. The lack of days off and holidays meant that 
participants were unable to recuperate and eventually they became totally ‘burned out’. The 
older participants felt that physically the entrepreneurship was eventually too demanding.  
 
4. Age was identified as the fourth theme. Participants in the mid thirties wanted to start a family 
and participants over 50 wanted to work less. 
 
5. Several participants had planned to exit prior to the start of the business. They wanted to 
operate the business for a limited time depending on age, goal reached, or to sell the business 
for a profit. Many were aware that the demanding job could only be maintained for a limited 
period.  
 
6. All participants had experienced paid employment prior to the operation. They felt that the 
advantages of weekends off, holidays pay, regular income, study opportunities, working with 
colleagues to exchange knowledge, career progression, and regular working hours pulled 
them back into paid employment. 
 
7. The level of education prior to paid employment influenced their exit from self-employment. 
In particular, participants with a university degree typically left entrepreneurship earlier and 
left the operation to their partners while they went into paid employment.  
 
8. Expectations  of  the  participants’  parents  on  the  career  of  their  adult child influenced some 
participants. The parents felt that their child’s hospitality career was temporary and later they 
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CAUTHE 2013 Conference Proceedings 
9 
would get a ‘real’ job. Others had pressure from the community, as the hospitality career was 
not perceived as prestigious.  
 
9. Lack of development, either on a personal level or on a business level, meant that some of the 
participants felt they had become staid, bored and uninspired, so they returned to paid 
employment. 
 
10. Intuition is the last theme and several participants identified influences out of their control 
that decided their return to paid employment. Words such as serendipity, karma, meant to be, 
and lessons to be learned were used by participants during the interviews to express these 
unexplained phenomena.  
 
The many elements communicated by participants were placed in push and pull motivational factors 
alongside the appropriate themes and indicate that in all instances both push and pull motivational 
factors were involved. A diagram was used as a framework to indicate the many variables that are 
involved in the decision to exit self-employment and return to paid employment. 
 
CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS 
 
The matrix of motivations can be extended to infinitely small causes that motivate a person to leave 
self-employment. The findings show that the motivations behind the transition process back to paid 
employment  is complicated and  that many factors  influenced the entrepreneur’s final decision. This 
matrix of motivations does not stop with the hospitality entrepreneur but extents to all human beings 
in the world. The different environments that effect humans also affect the other environments. It is an 
infinite dance between all energies. Humans are just a tiny motivator, receiving and sending 
motivational factors, in the whole universe. Each human however is the centre of their universe and 
hopes to have some small control over it.  
 
Factors that influence decision making are discussed and compared to existing literature. Findings 
(themes) are juxtaposed with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Maslow’s needs are discussed in the 
final part of  this paper. The  findings  in  this  study are consistent with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs 
motivation. However,  this study believes  that Maslow’s motivations, and  the findings of  this study, 
need to be viewed in a larger universal perspective. Most people prefer making choices that involve 
pull factors, however, from the larger perspective, one might conclude that avoidance of push factors 
is impossible. 
 
REFERENCES 
 
Hospitality Standards Institute. (2012). Career in hospitality. Retrieved from 
http://www.hsi.co.nz/career-in-hospitality 
 
Inland Revenue Department. (2011). The hidden economy. Retrieved from 
http://www.ird.govt.nz/resources/a/f/af041480431e1a7c866ce75d5f60e4be/compliance-hidden-
economy.pdf 
 
Lockyer, C., & Morrison, A. (1999). The structure, characteristics and performance of the Scottish 
tourism industry. Glasgow: University of Strathclyde, Scottish Tourism Research Unit / Fraser of 
Allander Institute. 
 
Parsa, H., Self, J. T., Sydnor-Busso, S., & Yoon, H. J. (2011). Why restaurants fail? Part II - The 
impact of affiliation, location, and size on restaurant failures: Results from a survival analysis. 
Journal of Foodservice Business Research, 14(4), 360-379. doi:10.1080/15378020.2011.625824 
 
Tourism and Global Change: On the Edge of Something Big.   
CAUTHE 2013 Conference Proceedings 
10 
Parsa, H. G., Self, J. T., Njite, D., & King, T. (2005). Why restaurants fail. Cornell Hotel and 
Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 46(3), 304-322. doi:10.1177/0010880405275598 
 
Restaurant Association of New Zealand. (2008). 2008 Foodservice Facts - Restaurant/foodservice 
Industry Annual Sales Statistics and Analysis. 
 
Riessman, C. K. (1993). Narrative analysis. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. 
 
Statistics New Zealand. (2010). Tourism satellite account: 2010. Wellington: Statistics New Zealand. 
Retrieved from:www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/industry_sectors/tourism/tourism-satellite-
account-2010.aspx 
 
  


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From self-employed hospitality entrepreneur to paid employee: the motivational factors behind the transition

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