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Sustainable Business Through Local Strength: A Qualitative Study of Financial, Social, and Cultural Strategies in Bandung’s Culinary Micro-Enterprises

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This study examines how entrepreneurial finance, entrepreneurial networking, and entrepreneurial culture contribute to sustainable business among culinary micro-enterprises in Bandung City, Indonesia. This study fills a gap in the literature by highlighting that micro-enterprises’ sustainability, from economic, social, and environmental aspects, is not always underpinned by formal institutional support. Using a qualitative approach and semi-structured interviews with 10 culinary micro-enterprise owners whose businesses have been able to survive across generations, this study found that business owners manage their finances adaptively, build trust-based social networks, and apply local cultural values to sustainable business practices. The findings show that trust and flexibility in informal funding play a crucial role in entrepreneurial finance, while challenging the view that access to formal financing is the main prerequisite for sustainability. Entrepreneurial culture proves to be a strategic internal resource in strengthening environmentally friendly practices. The originality of this study offers an alternative perspective that is more contextualized and grounded in understanding the sustainability strategies of micro-enterprises in developing countries.

Source: Sustainability

DOI: 10.3390/su17115028

Authors: Dinna Charisma, Bambang Hermanto, Margo Purnomo, Tetty Herawati, Anne Charina

Institution: Padjadjaran University

Language: English

Topic: Entrepreneurship Studies and Influences

Subfield: Management of Technology and Innovation

Field: Business, Management and Accounting

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Decent work and economic growth, No poverty

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,896