Australia has a long history of immigrant entrepreneurs, dating back well over a century in the case of Chinese, Lebanese, and Greek migrants.
More recently Thai, Sri Lankan, Indian and South Korean migrants have also taken the plunge into small business.
Few areas would be as diverse as Bankstown in Sydney's south-west when it comes to the range of businesses and the people who run them.
A paper recently published in the Labour and Management Development Journal says migrants tend to get involved in small business activity.
The reasons why aren't clear, but Bankstown Councillor Toan Nguyen has his own theories.
“I think with a lot of migrants, like my parents for example, they tend to run their own business or work on the farm so they don't have that habit of working with other people,” he said.
“Sometimes, it's good to be your own boss. I think that's sort of the mentality, so I think a lot of migrants they like to establish their own business when they have the opportunity to do so.”
Samuel Rajasuriar
Samuel Rajasuriar runs a small photography, print shop and JP service in Bankstown.
“Photography has been my passion from a very young age and my father was a crazy photographer himself, just family and all of that,” he said.
“It’s always been a passion and I have been so passionate to get into this industry and I loving every day of it."
He’s also one of the shop owners featured in an exhibition currently on at the Bankstown Arts Centre, celebrating the rich history of migrant shop-owners in the area.
Mr Rajasuriar, who came to Australia from Sri Lanka when he was 15, said much has changed in Bankstown since he established his business in the area almost three decades ago.
“Over the 29 years I've seen massive changes, especially in my industry the photographic industry,” he said.
“Now we are in the digital age. From film to digital technology changes every third year, sort of a thing and you have to keep up with that. We had something like eight stores in that area, and now we only got two. So you can see the massive changes.”
Peter Karpouzis
Peter Karpouzis, who runs a local deli, has also seen the area change dramatically since he first opened his business in the mid-1950s.
Back then, he said Bankstown was a bustling shopping centre with a strong European influence of mainly Greek, Italian, Polish, Dutch, and Yugoslav immigrants.
These days, it's still bustling but the area is now home to a large Arabic and Vietnamese-speaking community.
Called the Olympic Deli, Mr Karpouzis explained how his shop got its name.
“1956 a fella was sick and he sold his shop to us,” he said.
“But it was a very small shop. And the Olympic Games was in Melbourne that's why we called the shop Olympic and since that time, Olympic.”
The business is primarily run by his children now, but Mr Karpouzis still fronts up to work most mornings.
He said many post-war Greek immigrants ran small businesses, a tradition that hasn't really been embraced by their children and grandchildren.
"So all business, cafes, fish shops thing like that - you know, food stuff - not too many now in business,” he said.
“[The] young generation doesn't want to work too hard.”
Mouhamed Codmani
Australian-raised Mouhamed Codmani, who was born into a Lebanese migrant family, said small business is in the blood of the Lebanese.
He's run a coffee shop in Bankstown for a number of years and says that at the start, the pressure and stress almost made him give up.
On an average day, Mr Codmani will chat with people from all walks of life, labourers, business and corporate people and people just hanging out.
He said he's glad he didn't give up, as running his own business has now worked out well for him.
"I had been working for a few different businesses over the years, and I found the business that I'm in by accident since I've been there I've probably realised that I could not go and work for anyone else,” he said.
“Only for the fact that I like to be able to do my own thing. Change put in what I do and don't like. I think I'm more of a person who likes to make their own decisions and much happier."
‘It's about a sense of belonging and place’
Vandana Ram is the director of the Bankstown Arts centre.
She said while the exhibition is celebrating the entrepreneurial spirit of local shop owners, it's also celebrating the relationships they form with others in their communities.
"It does reflect that kind of chronology but it wasn't necessarily the intention, it's about who is here now and how they come to be here now,” she said.
“And so it's really telling a contemporary story as much as the past, but I think it's about the relationships built over time so for me it's very much about that.
“It's about social interaction, social engagement, and a sense of belonging and place and community building.”
The exhibition Neighbours runs in Sydney at the Bankstown Arts Centre until August the 15th.
