The internal factors influencing restaurant owners’ growth decisions : Small and medium restaurants in Xiaogan

Catering industry in China is a traditional and generally upward industry; most restaurants are small entrepreneurial restaurants, and growth is a trend. Consequently, there is a need to research the factors of owners influencing the growth decisions, and this thesis will focus on the internal factors of small entrepreneurial restaurant owners. The research method was interviews, five interviewees were chosen as samples, and the whole process was recorded by camera. D. J. Storey. Factors Influencing Growth in Small Firms (1994) was chosen as the main theory for analysis of the situations. The results revealed that higher education, management experience, more than one founder, functional skills, as well as training have a positive influence on restaurant entrepreneurial owners to make growth decisions. By contrast, growth decisions are negatively influenced by old age, unemployment experience, prior self-employment, and prior business failure experience. Other factors mentioned in Storey's theory such as family history, social marginality, prior sector experience, and prior firm size experience does not show an obvious influence on entrepreneurs to make growth decisions