TAIPEI - COMPUTER salesman Ke Teh-an quit his job with a major Taiwanese manufacturer to open an American-style diner that he hopes will make him rich.

Such stories are not unusual in Taiwan, which has one of the largest pools of entrepreneurs in the region.

Becoming an entrepreneur is a way of life in Taiwan, where go-it-alone businessmen are driven by a desire to become their own boss as well as to make their fortune.

'It is tough, that is for sure, but it is a dream,' Mr Ke said as he worked in his Taipei diner, which employs four people and serves an average of 250 customers per day.

'It is a mess out there. Everyone wants to be his own boss,' said Mr Ke, who has added a second diner to his burgeoning LaGuardia chain, and is already saving up for his third outlet.

Running a business is so popular in Taiwan that more people are employed in small businesses than in Thailand, which has almost three times the population.

The entrepreneurial streak in Taiwan dates back to as early as the 1940s, when many of the Chinese businessmen and refugees fleeing the communists on the China mainland opened shops on the island as there was no major industrial base to provide jobs.

Easily available business permits and government micro-loans keep the entrepreneurial spirit alive today, while poor working conditions and a do-it-yourself spirit also contribute to the desire of many in Taiwan to open their own business.

About 70 per cent of Taiwanese companies are listed by the government as 'small-to-mid-sized', which means they have fewer than 200 employees.

The 1.24 million small- to medium-sized firms employed around 7.8 million of the island's 23 million people in 2006 and contributed about 30 per cent of the income generated in Taiwan.

Economists say the large number of small businesses has helped cultivate a versatile economy, which has been more resilient than it might have been in the face of poor economic performance over the past few years characterised by inflation, wage stagnation and employment barricades.

'They (small businesses) tend to have a bit more ability to react faster than big companies,' said Mr Vishnu Varathan, a regional economist with Forecast in Singapore.

Meanwhile, ordinary folk benefit from a wide range of choices and inventive ideas.

Seaweed cakes from the island's north coast, party balloons shaped as giant animals and miniature paper houses for burning at traditional Taiwanese funerals are among the one-of-a-kind products that have spawned small, successful Taiwanese businesses.

'Price is not necessarily the most important thing,' said Mr Robert Lai, small-business director at the Economics Ministry. 'Speciality is key.'

Mr Ke's LaGuardia diner, for example, offers New York bagel sandwiches and burgers alongside traditional Chinese food. He started the business even though he had no previous restaurant experience.

The large number of small businesses in Taiwan was apparent at the 2008 Computex Taipei this month, a five-day international computer show which showcased many of the small companies plying home-grown products from gadgets to software.

'We are not a big factory, but if you can provide personal service, that helps,' said Mr Jacky Chen, owner of Items Technology, a computerised TV equipment exporter with 50 workers and annual revenues of NT$400 million (S$18 million). --REUTERS