Abstract

The informal business in Malawi presents a worthwhile income generating option to many individuals who are unable to secure employment in the formal sector. There are so many ventures that are run as personal businesses owned by individuals or family commonly known as vendors. This article presents part of a big study which was assessing informal entrepreneurial training needs in Malawi. This article specifically presents the entrepreneurship motive and performance of the informal business in Malawi. This was an interpretive paradigm study, which involves qualitative research. The study adopted purposive sampling and data was collected using individual in-depth interview guided by a semistructured questionnaire. 20 vendors were interviewed and data was analysed through ground theory by constant comparison approach. The finding from the study shows that informal business typically earn less income, have unstable income and don’t have access to basic protection and services. Most vendors are self employed and this motivates the direct interest for the success of the business. Most vendors operate the business for survival. In conclusion the informal business is more of distributive than productive as demonstrated. It is recommended that for vending to be effective there is need to develop informal business development agencies and encourage a link between informal business agencies and informal business.