The Effect of Entrepreneur Spirits on the Success of Muslim Millennial
SMEs
NADRATUN NAFISAH ABDUL WAHAB1, SITI NUR ZAHIRAH OMAR2,
ZURAIDAH ZAINOL1, SITI ASMA MOHD ROSDI1, NURUL FADLY HABIDIN1
Faculty of Management and Economics, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris,
35900 Tanjong Malim, Perak,
MALAYSIA
Faculty of Business and Management,
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Kelantan Branch, Machang Campus,
Bukit Ilmu, 18500 Machang, Kelantan,
MALAYSIA
Abstract: - The entrepreneurship education of Muslim SME millennials is still a question. This issue needs to
be the main focus of developing an education model for youth that can be applied in their career and potentially
become entrepreneurs who build their dynamic and successful SMEs. The purpose of this research is to
determine the effect of entrepreneurial spirits, namely innovative, risk-taking, and proactive, on the success of
Muslim millennial SMEs. The study employed a quantitative and deductive approach. The questionnaire was
used as a data collection instrument. Data were gathered from a random sample of 150 respondents, comprising
millennial entrepreneurs in Malaysian public universities, aged 22 to 38 years old and with at least three years
of business experience. Proposed hypotheses were tested using Multiple Regression analysis. The findings
reveal the significant and positive effect of innovation, risk-taking, and proactive on Muslim millennial SMEs'
success, implying that a higher level of innovation, risk-taking, and proactive, is more likely to yield in Muslim
millennial SMEs' success. Thus, Muslim millennial SMEs' success can be generated by instilling
entrepreneurial spirit. In addition to empirical evidence, the findings provide fresh insights into how
entrepreneurs can formulate strategies to achieve business success.
Key-Words: - Muslim millennial SMEs success, innovation, risk-taking, proactive.
Received: November 27, 2022. Revised: March 23, 2023. Accepted: April 16, 2023. Published: May 5, 2023.
1 Introduction
The favorable entrepreneurial spirit is the catalyst in
driving the company’s performance and survival. It
helps companies to grow, evolve, outperform non-
entrepreneurially oriented organizations, and settle
employee issues at work by increasing satisfaction,
retention, and productivity, [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6],
[7], [8], [9], [50]. Hence, it is a must for every
company to foster an entrepreneurial spirit within
the company.
In Malaysia's context, concern has been raised
about the growth and survival of the Bumiputera
(indigenous) entrepreneurs, mostly Muslims.
Despite various support have been provided in
almost every critical aspect of entrepreneurship
including finance and infrastructure, most of these
entrepreneurs still fail to create a pace to be
independent and competitive, [40]. It was reported
that more of the younger generation are venturing
into entrepreneurship with a privileged mentality,
where they expect help, especially in getting
business and market opportunities. Without
government assistance, young Bumiputera
entrepreneurs are seen as not yet confident enough
to compete in this field, let alone spread their wings
further.
Realizing that excessive reliance on business
assistance can hinder the progress and survival of
the business and that only entrepreneurs that best
encapsulate the entrepreneurial spirit will thrive, the
young Bumiputera entrepreneurs who invest in
small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) must
maintain their entrepreneurial spirit when the
company expands. They need to embrace the
“underdog mentality” to fuel fighting in their
venture. They must become more risk-averse,
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on BUSINESS and ECONOMICS
DOI: 10.37394/23207.2023.20.84
Nadratun Nafisah Abdul Wahab,
Siti Nur Zahirah Omar, Zuraidah Zainol,
Siti Asma Mohd Rosdi, Nurul Fadly Habidin
E-ISSN: 2224-2899
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Volume 20, 2023
innovative, proactive, and protective of what they
have established.
Muslim SME millennials' entrepreneurial
education is still up for debate. The creation of an
educational model for young people that they may
use in their careers and possibly follow to become
entrepreneurs who create their dynamic SMEs has
to be centered on this problem. Accordingly, this
study seeks to determine how well thriving
entrepreneurial spirit is nurtured within the young
Bumiputera entrepreneurs by investigating the effect
of entrepreneurial spirits, namely innovative, risk-
taking, and proactive, on the success of Muslim
millennial SMEs.
2 Literature Review
2.1 Muslim Millennial SMEs’ Success
SMEs have been and will continue to be the key
drivers of economic progress. Small and medium-
sized businesses (SMEs) contribute more to the
growth of economies in terms of employment and
GDP because of their agility and quick reaction to
market demands, [27]. The performance of SMEs is
determined by a range of entrepreneurial traits and
talents, such as leadership skills, management and
networking ability, technological prowess, and
entrepreneurial education levels, [31]. As a result,
together with an individual's entrepreneurial spirit,
strong managerial qualities are critical for business
management. Researchers have used a variety of
elements and hypotheses to ascertain success among
the younger generation. The SMEs sector has
garnered considerable attention. It has been studied
from a variety of perspectives, including
entrepreneurship theory [11], as well as
entrepreneurial orientation (EO) characteristics like
risk-taking, innovativeness, and proactiveness, [4],
[43]. Numerous empirical studies demonstrate that
individual variables, external circumstances, and
firm characteristics all have a direct effect on the
performance of small businesses, [38], [27], [28]
[29]. Some relevant studies can be found in [11],
[12], [13], [14], [16], and [18].
2.2 Entrepreneurial Spirits
Entrepreneurial Spirit Theory (EST) highlighted that
a strong entrepreneurial spirit is needed to ensure
the successful implementation of business ideas and
the continuity of productive entrepreneurial efforts,
[26], [47]. That is, entrepreneurial spirit emphasizes
the need for entrepreneurs to think differently to be
able to capture business opportunities and fight
various obstacles in business. The entrepreneurial
spirit is regarded as a soul in entrepreneurship which
in principle is an attitude of being willing to
creatively create innovative ideas in the real world,
having self-determination and the capacity to realize
and foresee future expectations, and daring to be
tough in various challenges and risk-takers, [59]. To
succeed, entrepreneurs must instill entrepreneurial
spirit characters, particularly market sensitivity,
creativity and innovation, and calculated risk-takers,
[47]. Besides, it is revealed that the positive
significant effect of entrepreneurial spirit on
business self-reliance and success is that stronger
entrepreneurial spirits are more likely to boost
business success, [59]. Hence, it could be expected
that the success of Muslim Millennial SMEs will be
impacted by strong entrepreneurial spirits of
innovative, risk-taking, and proactive, [24], [25].
2.3 The Relationship between Innovative and
The Success of Muslim Millennial SMEs
The willingness of a business to innovate its
business operations is referred to as innovation, [5].
It is a business strategy that refers to the
implementation of novel ideas that result in the
development of new products and services, [7].
Innovation enables a business to capitalize on new
opportunities, address customer needs through new
products and services, and establish itself as the
industry's first mover, [19]. Firms increase their
industry position as a result of the innovativeness
and value-added nature of their products and
services, which enables corporate growth and
success, [19].
In today's competitive market, innovation is
critical to a small business’s success, [6]. In [8], [48]
the authors showed that when there is a lot of
freedom for new ideas, business performance
improves, particularly among SMEs in Malaysia,
Spain, and Finland. That is, the capability for
innovation has a favorable effect on business
success, notably the financial success of the
organization. Recent studies also found that SMEs'
performance is significantly and positively impacted
by innovation, [30], [31], [32]. In [45] the authors
asserted that innovation's ability to provide business
results ensures managerial effectiveness and the
success elements for innovation include innovation
capability, innovation kind, innovation performance,
market performance, and financial performance.
Further, [12] demonstrated a favorable and
significant association between entrepreneurship,
innovation, and business strategy through a
competitive advantage theory approach and a
resource-based perspective, in which innovation had
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DOI: 10.37394/23207.2023.20.84
Nadratun Nafisah Abdul Wahab,
Siti Nur Zahirah Omar, Zuraidah Zainol,
Siti Asma Mohd Rosdi, Nurul Fadly Habidin
E-ISSN: 2224-2899
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Volume 20, 2023
a significant role in business success. Along a
similar line, [35] highlighted that new product
innovation is the critical factor to expand e-
commerce business, while [53] indicates that
businesses that promote innovation, particularly
SMEs, may gain in terms of company growth and
financial success. Even the findings of [6], [54]
supported that the ability to innovate is an essential
condition for improving performance and generating
corporate value as well as ensuring the success of
SMEs, [23]. Thus, this highlights the critical role of
innovation in the success of SMEs, accordingly, it
could be expected that:
H1: Innovation has a significant relationship with
the success of Muslim Millennial SMEs.
2.4 The Relationship between Risk-Taking
and The Success of Muslim Millennial SMEs
The proclivity of an organization to take risks and
engage in activities with unknown consequences is
referred to as risk-taking [20], while [23] defines
risk-taking proclivity as a personality trait
characterized by an inclination to take or avoid
risks. In addition, risk-taking may also refer to an
organization's readiness to make decisions and act
without certain knowledge of prospective revenue
and maybe speculate on personal risk, financial risk,
and business risk, [10], [33], [34]. However, the
study in [10] emphasized that entrepreneurial risk-
taking should only take calculated and controlled
risks to realize rewards, rather than taking hazardous
risks that have a detrimental influence on business
performance. See also [37], [39], and [40].
Entrepreneurial activities are connected with a
greater degree of risk, [35], [36]. Entrepreneurs, in
general, take calculated risks to separate themselves
from their competition. In today's competitive
corporate world, those prepared to take calculated
risks establish themselves as leaders, while those
unwilling to do so fall behind, [22]. Hence, when an
entrepreneur is ready to take risks that their
competitors are not, they can advance to the top of
their field, [38]. According to [48], the more risk-
taking an entrepreneur is, the more profitable
entrepreneurial projects are. Similar to big
companies, risk-taking has a substantial influence
on the success of SMEs, [17], [23]. Due to a scarcity
of resources, SMEs are associated with high-risk
endeavors, [49]. Thus, being proactive in identifying
potential sources of uncertainty and calculating the
potential impact of risk will indicate the SMEs'
ability to successfully navigate turbulent business
environments, [51]. The article in [42] also revealed
a statistically significant positive correlation
between risk-taking and performance, notably in
terms of sales, profitability, and staff growth.
Hence, there is no doubt that entrepreneurial risk-
taking is correlated with a better level of SME
performance, [52], potentially earning a profit for a
long period and developing more rapidly, [1], and
can be a source of competitive advantage in
developed and transition economies and
consequently having a positive and long-term effect
on SMEs' growth and financial performance, [55].
Thus, it could be hypothesized that:
H2: Risk-taking has a significant relationship with
the success of Muslim Millennial SMEs.
2.5 The Relationship between Proactive and
The Success of Muslim Millennial SMEs
Proactiveness refers to the capacity to anticipate
new ideas, identify market possibilities and respond
proactively to consumer requirements by supplying
novel goods and services that no one else in the
industry is aware of, [21]. Proactiveness
encompasses both present and future company
actions as it relates to how well the organization can
examine existing market demand and estimate
prospects, [15]. Being proactive requires a forward-
thinking attitude that demonstrates the foresight to
seek out chances in advance of future requests as
well as an active role in influencing and leading the
future rather than waiting for influence to come,
seizing opportunities, accepting responsibility for
failure, anticipating future problems, changes, and
improvements, [41], and responding to
environmental opportunities, [52].
Proactive is the fundamental determinant of an
organization's performance, which enables the
organization to capitalize on the industry's early
adopters, suggesting a high level of entrepreneurial
activity, [19]. Besides, being able to examine the
existing business landscape, foresee prospects, and
satisfy future consumer expectations will result in
business growth and performance improvement,
[15]. It was also highlighted that a proactive attitude
has a favorable influence on corporate success, [56],
[46], [55] and proactive founders are more likely to
help their businesses enhance their financial
performance, [1]. Concerning SMEs, it was revealed
that SMEs’ abilities to adapt rapidly to market
possibilities and capitalize on them not only
guarantee the possibilities of the SMEs to remain in
business, [2], [3] but also secure the success of
SMEs, [24]. Therefore, proactive entrepreneurs are
more likely to induce the success of SMEs.
Accordingly, the following hypothesis could be
expected:
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on BUSINESS and ECONOMICS
DOI: 10.37394/23207.2023.20.84
Nadratun Nafisah Abdul Wahab,
Siti Nur Zahirah Omar, Zuraidah Zainol,
Siti Asma Mohd Rosdi, Nurul Fadly Habidin
E-ISSN: 2224-2899
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H3: Proactive has a significant relationship with the
success of Muslim Millennial SMEs.
Figure 1 depicts the hypothesized relationships to be
tested in this study and provides the possible key
success factors in the model of Muslim Millennial
SMEs’ Success.
Entrepreneurial Spirits
Fig. 1: The Hypothesized Model of Muslim
Millennial SMEs Success
3 Methodology Approach
The research design for this study was the
quantitative and deductive approaches. The
questionnaire was used as an instrument to collect
the data. All the questionnaire items were adapted
from past studies. In particular, the Muslim
Millennial SMEs’ Success was measured using 16
items, while the items measure innovation (five
items), risk-taking (four items), and proactive (five
items). Using pilot data gathered from 30
respondents, a reliability test was conducted to
ascertain the measures' internal consistency using
Cronbach's alpha value. The results in Table 1
showed that all Cronbach's alpha values for all the
constructs range from 0.70 to 0.96. Hence, the entire
constructs were deemed to be sufficiently reliable as
all the values are greater than the threshold of 0.6.
Table 1. Reliability Coefficients of Variables
Variables
Number
of Items
Deleted
Item
Muslim
Millennial
SMEs Success
16
0
Innovative
5
0
Risk-Taking
4
0
Proactive
5
0
3.1 Participants
This study's design is cross-sectional, meaning that
findings are reached at a specific moment in time
after the data have been gathered, examined, and
statistically summarized. Adopting the cross-
sectional study, the questionnaires were distributed
to a sample of 150 respondents, comprising
millennial entrepreneurs in Malaysian public
universities, aged 22 to 38 years old and with at
least three years of business experience. The
selection of the respondents to make up a sample
was made using cluster sampling. Meanwhile, the
data gathered were then analyzed using Multiple
Regression through the SPSS software version 22.
4 Results and Analysis
A total of 150 questionnaires were distributed to the
selected sample, but only 102 responses were valid
for further analysis after removing responses with
more than 10 percent missing. Hence, the valid
response rate accounted for 68 percent. Given that
the response rate is higher than 50 percent, the data
is considered sufficient to represent the population
and generalize the results.
Table 2 illustrates the profile of the respondents.
Most of the respondents are female accounting for
69.6 percent with the majority of them in the age
range of 18 to 25 years old (88.2%) and single
(96.1%). Based on their education, most of the
respondents are in their bachelor’s degree (48%)
and diploma (44.1%) studies, and their second year
of studies (38.2%). Finally, most of the respondents
reported that they have attended entrepreneurship
workshops (63.7%).
Muslim
Millennial SMEs’
Success
Proactive
Innovative
Risk-taking
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DOI: 10.37394/23207.2023.20.84
Nadratun Nafisah Abdul Wahab,
Siti Nur Zahirah Omar, Zuraidah Zainol,
Siti Asma Mohd Rosdi, Nurul Fadly Habidin
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Table 2. Respondents’ Profile
Frequency
Percent
Gender
Male
31
30.4
Female
71
69.6
Age
18 to 25
years old
90
88.2
25 to 35
years old
8
7.8
35 to 45
years old
2
2.0
45 to 60
years old
2
2.0
Marital Status
Married
4
3.9
Single
98
96.1
Education Level
Certificate
3
2.9
Diploma
45
44.1
Bachelor’s
degree
49
48.0
Master’s
degree
3
2.9
PhD
2
2.0
Level of Studies
First-year
14
13.7
Second
year
39
38.2
Third year
5
4.9
Fourth-
year
8
7.8
Completed
2
2.0
Total
68
66.7
Missing
values
34
33.3
Attendance of
Entrepreneurship
Workshop
Yes
65
63.7
No
37
36.3
Total
102
100.0
Table 3 demonstrates the multiple regression results
that test the effect of innovation, risk-taking, and
proactive on Muslim millennial SMEs' success.
Specifically, the results show the R² value is 0.581,
indicating that 58.1 percent of the variance in the
dependent variable, i.e. Muslim millennial SMEs'
success is explained by the independent variables,
i.e. innovative, risk-taking, and proactive, while the
remaining 41.9 percent might be explained by other
factors that were not investigated in this study. The
ANOVA results reveal the F value of 45.379 with a
p-value that is less than the significance value of
0.05.
Hence, the results confirm that at least one of
the tested independent variables will significantly
affect the dependent variable. It is therefore, the
coefficient results are examined next. Inspection of
the p-value and t-values reveals the significant
effect of innovative (t=5.358 < CR=2.58, p=0.000 <
α=0.01), risk-taking (t=1.682 < CR=1.65, p=0.096 <
α=0.1), and proactive (t=2.011 < CR=1.96, p=0.000
< α=0.05) on Muslim millennial SMEs success at
the corresponding critical and significance values.
The examination of the standardized beta values
further shows the positive effect of innovation, risk-
taking, and proactive on Muslim millennial SMEs'
success with a value of 0.516, 0.139, and 0.198,
respectively. Comparing the factors, it is apparent
that innovation turns out to be the dominant factor
affecting Muslim millennial SMEs' success. Hence,
all the tested hypotheses are supported. As
illustrated in Figure 2, it can be affirmed of the
model of Muslim millennial SMEs' success. That is,
the achievement of the Muslim millennial SMEs'
success can be realized by improving the
entrepreneurial spirit, particularly by incorporating
innovative, risk-taking, and proactive culture in the
SMEs.
Table 3. Regression Results
Model
summary
R Square
0.581
Adjusted
R Square
0.569
ANOVA
F
45.379
Sig.
.000
Coefficients
Independe
nt
Variables
Stan
dardi
zed
Beta
t
Sig.
Dependent
Variable:
Success
Innovative
0.516
5.358
0.000
Risk
0.139
1.682
0.096
Proactive
0.198
2.011
0.047
Fig. 2: Model of Muslim Millennial SMEs Success
5 Discussion and Recommendations
The findings reveal the significant and positive
effect of innovative, risk-taking, and proactive on
Muslim millennial SMEs' success, implying that
higher levels of entrepreneurial spirit, specifically
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on BUSINESS and ECONOMICS
DOI: 10.37394/23207.2023.20.84
Nadratun Nafisah Abdul Wahab,
Siti Nur Zahirah Omar, Zuraidah Zainol,
Siti Asma Mohd Rosdi, Nurul Fadly Habidin
E-ISSN: 2224-2899
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Volume 20, 2023
innovative, risk-taking, and proactive, are more
likely to yield Muslim millennial SMEs success.
In particular, the findings support the past
studies that freedom to innovate is more likely to
improve business performance and guarantee
business success, [8], [47], [48]. Besides, the
findings expose innovation as the dominant factor
affecting Muslim millennial SMEs' success, which
asserts that the ability to innovate is the most
essential and critical factor for ensuring the success
of SMEs, [6], [23], [53], [54]. Therefore, to gain
success and survival, Muslim millennial SMEs
should be able to encourage novelty ideas in the
development of new products and services, [7], and
be daring enough to be the first to address customer
needs by introducing new products and services,
[19].
Furthermore, the findings highlight the
significant effect of risk-taking on Muslim
millennial SMEs' success. The findings are in line
with the findings of past studies that readiness to
take risks would advance companies and generate
success, [30]. Despite the scarcity of resources, a
high-risk endeavor in identifying potential sources
of uncertainty and calculating the potential impact
of risk would increase the SMEs' ability to
successfully navigate turbulent business
environments and be successful, [17], [23], [40],
[41], [42], [49], [51]. Given that all entrepreneurial
activities are connected with a greater degree of
risks, [45], business success either in terms of sales,
profitability, or staff growth, can only be realized by
having the willingness to take calculated risks, [22],
[56], [58], while avoiding hazardous risks that have
a detrimental influence on business performance
[10].
In addition, the significant positive effect of
proactive on Muslim millennial SMEs' success is
also recognized. That is, the findings concur with
the fact that being able to examine the existing
business landscape, foresee prospects, and satisfy
future consumer expectations will result in business
success, [15], [37], [43], [44]. Along a similar line,
it could be assumed that to remain in business and
secure business success, SMES must be able to
anticipate new ideas, identify market possibilities
and respond promptly to consumer requirements,
[37], [24], [46].
6 Conclusion
Theoretically, this study provides empirical
evidence of the critical nature of entrepreneurial
spirits, which includes innovation, risk-taking, and
proactive, in the success of Muslim millennial
SMEs. Practically, this study offers fresh insights on
how to deal with the worrying issues of Muslim
millennial entrepreneurs, which pertain to the over-
reliance on business assistance from the
government. In particular, the Model of Muslim
Millennial SMEs Success which was developed in
this study suggests that to ensure the progress and
survival of SMEs, Muslim millennial entrepreneurs
must keep their entrepreneurial spirit alive as the
organization grows. That is, by becoming more risk-
averse, innovative, proactive, and protective of what
they have established. As to enhance the limitation,
that is to enhance the explanatory power of the
model and improve generalization, future studies
might want to test moderating or mediating effects,
add possible independent variables that are omitted
in this study, and increase the sample size.
Acknowledgment:
Nadratun Nafisah Abdul Wahab is a Senior Lecturer
of Management, the Faculty of Management and
Economics, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris,
Perak, Malaysia. The author would like to thank The
Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) for granting
this research under the Fundamental Research Grant
Scheme (FRGS) and Research Innovation
Management Centre (RIMC) Universiti Pendidikan
Sultan Idris. This article is under FRGS grant
research, (Project ID: 18915, Grant Code: FRGS/1-
2020/SS0/UPSI/02/2).
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Nadratun Nafisah Abdul Wahab,
Siti Nur Zahirah Omar, Zuraidah Zainol,
Siti Asma Mohd Rosdi, Nurul Fadly Habidin
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Siti Asma Mohd Rosdi, Nurul Fadly Habidin
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Contribution of Individual Authors to the
Creation of a Scientific Article (Ghostwriting
Policy)
-Nadratun Nafisah Abdul Wahab - methodology and
data analysis.
-Siti Nur Zahirah Omar - editing, conducting a
review of the literature, and preparing the
manuscript for publication.
-Zuraidah Zainol - editing, conducted a review of
the literature, and the research framework.
-Siti Asma Mohd Rosdi - methodology and data
analysis.
-Nurul Fadly Habidin - responsible for formulating
the conclusions.
Sources of Funding for Research Presented in a
Scientific Article or Scientific Article Itself
This research was funded through Fundamental
Research Grant Scheme: Project ID: 18915, Grant
Code: FRGS/1-2020/SS0/UPSI/02/2.
Conflict of Interest
The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.
Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0
(Attribution 4.0 International, CC BY 4.0)
This article is published under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en
_US
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on BUSINESS and ECONOMICS
DOI: 10.37394/23207.2023.20.84
Nadratun Nafisah Abdul Wahab,
Siti Nur Zahirah Omar, Zuraidah Zainol,
Siti Asma Mohd Rosdi, Nurul Fadly Habidin
E-ISSN: 2224-2899
922
Volume 20, 2023