Good Example Of Small-Scale Qualitative Research Project—the Interview Guide Creative Writing

​Startup Obstacles and Experiences of Minority Small Business Owners

Initial probe questions
In your understanding, what is the aim of this interview?
What type of business entity do your operate?
Depending on whether the business is a sole proprietorship or a partnership, what influenced your decision on the business entity?
What is your responsibility in the business?
Targeted Concept Questions
Given that many small businesses fail before the end of the first year, what measures did you take to ensure that your business is not another statistic?

What are some of the challenges that you faced when starting up your business?

What influence did the availability of capital have on your ability to startup the business and the subsequent operations?
Given that you are members of minority communities, how would you rate the influence of social perceptions in you start up process?

What do you think is the most common cause of failure for small businesses in the first year of operation?

Targeted Follow up Questions
What is the biggest obstacle for small business owners?
What are your experiences with your startup business?
What source of capital did you use when starting up your business?
How would you rate the ease of getting the startup capital, especially for the small business owners from minority communities?
How does this affect the success of the business in the long run?
Wrap-up Question
In retrospect, what would you wish was different when you were starting up and how would this have affected the outcome of your startup differently?
With regards to eliminating the obstacles to startups, what might you suggest to potential entrepreneurs?

References

David G. Blanchflower, P. Levine, and D. Zimmerman, (2003). Discrimination in the Small Business Credit Market, Review of Economics and Statistics 85 (4): 930-943.
Kakkar, Arjun. (2009). Small Business Management: Concepts & Techniques for Improving Decisions. Global India Pubns.
United States. (1994). Availability of credit to minority-owned small businesses: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions Supervision, Regulation, and Deposit Insurance of the Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs, House of Representatives, One Hundred Third Congress, second session, October 6, 1994. Washington: U.S. G.P.O.