This study examines how cultural heritage and gender roles shape achievement motivation among 12 women entrepreneurs in the batik and songket industries in Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu and Kota Bharu, Kelantan, East Coast Malaysia, using McClelland’s theory of needs as a conceptual framework. The study operationalizes the constructs of need for achievement (nAch), power (nPow), and affiliation (nAff) to analyze how family attitudes, socialization, inherited skills, and personal interests influence entrepreneurial motivation in heritage business contexts. A qualitative case study design was employed, with participants selected through purposive and snowball sampling from a population of 458 registered entrepreneurs. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews and analyzed thematically to identify patterns linking cultural and gender factors to motivational drives. Findings show that intrinsic achievement motivation (nAch) predominates over profit motives, while nAff and nPow are expressed through collaborative networks and leadership in business operations. The study’s original contribution lies in linking family heritage and gender roles with McClelland’s motivational constructs, providing a framework to support women-led heritage entrepreneurship and preserve Malaysia’s cultural crafts.

Women and business are a unique phenomenon that can only be observed in the East Coast state of Peninsular Malaysia. The involvement of women entrepreneurs in the batik and songket-based textile industry in the East Coast outweighs the involvement of male entrepreneurs. It is interesting to highlight that only women entrepreneur in Kelantan and Terengganu engaged more actively in market activities than women entrepreneurs in other states. Women entrepreneurs in the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia share the same entrepreneurial culture where entrepreneurship activities in two states in the East Coast have been held for a long time. This article aims to analyze the level of involvement of women entrepreneurs in the textile industry on the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Quantitative design methods based on descriptive analysis and structured interviews were used in this study conducted on 102 respondents in the states of Kelantan and Terengganu in the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Data obtained from structured interviews were analyzed descriptively and multiple regression analysis. The results show that the level of women’s involvement in the textile industry is at a high level. Five factors influence the involvement of women entrepreneurs in this study to venture into the textile industry, namely total of income, increased income, self-motivation, self-satisfaction, and social motives. This study suggests that the high profits that female entrepreneurs can generate will encourage other women to participate in this business.