Broken Out and Bust: Ayub Khan Clothing Ltd

Abstract

This case focuses on the strategic concepts of motivation, resources and the notion of ‘breakout’ which is a common strategic growth strategy associated with ethnic entrepreneurship. The breakout strategy encourages small ethnic businesses, which typically operate in ethnic enclaves serving their co-ethnic populations, to modify their strategy and alternatively target the indigenous population. In doing so, this case relates to the owner of Ayub Khan Clothing Limited being advised by a business support agency to relocate his business from an ethnic enclave of Manchester to the city centre of Manchester to target a wider range of native customers. Although academic literature encourages ethnic businesses to breakout into the mainstream market, little work has been done in considering the implications on practice for ethnic-owned businesses. Such a risky growth strategy could also lead to failure for owners of ethnic businesses. This case also highlights whether local business support agents and agencies should consider ethnic businesses to be identical to mainstream (native) businesses. Some may argue that these difficulties contributed towards the bankruptcy of Ayub Khan Clothing Limited which once was a successful business operating in a vibrant ethnic enclave of Manchester.