Preparation for Entrepreneurship after Retirement of the Teacher Civil Servants in the Eastern Region

Abstract

             This research has three main objectives, namely 1) to survey teachers’ 7-dimensioned preparation to start up a business and 9-component business understanding of retired teachers who run their own businesses, 2) to survey teachers’ 7-dimensioned preparation to start up a business and 9-component business understanding of teachers who intend to run their own business after retirement, and 3) to develop teachers’ preparation process to become entrepreneurs after retirement.  The study was based on mixed-methods research implementing a qualitative approach followed by quantitative approach. Qualitative data was collected from at least 5 persons or until the data was saturated. The criteria for selecting the target group comprised four aspects including 1) type of business and sole proprietorship, 2) business operation (i.e. manufacturer, middleman, service provider) 3) experience in doing that business for five years or more, and 4) business operation of not more than 10 million baht with the use of Triangulation Technique. Collection of data was done from questionnaires given to 300 people in order to find out frequency. Based on the concept of Hair, Black, Babin, and Anderson (2010), the ratio between a sample to the number of parameters or variables to be suitable for measurement is 15 samples per parameter or variable. There are 16 variables in this research, comprising the preparation for starting a business after the retirement of a government teacher in seven areas and the knowledge and understanding of nine business models. Further, the researcher added 60 additional samples to 300 samples to increase the confidence of the research data. Mean percentage, standard deviation, and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) were the tools used for identifying common factors. The results showed that teachers’ preparation to become entrepreneurs after retirement in the Eastern region could be divided into three groups, which included the four-dimensioned Balanced Scorecard management group, the three-dimensioned health and life quality group, and the business-understanding group. These three groups represent the teachers’ preparation for becoming successful entrepreneurs after retirement in the Eastern region.