Abstract Purpose This study aims to deepen the understanding of lifestyle entrepreneurs (LEs) by analysing their personal entrepreneurial motivations and examining how these motivations are related to their alliance orientation and business success, defined through firm performance and life satisfaction. While existing research has often focused on LEs in specific industries such as tourism, sports or cultural and creative industries, this study adopts a multi-sectoral approach. It addresses gaps in the literature by investigating the interactions between intrinsic, extrinsic, and familial motivations, and by nuancing the contrast stated in previous research between LEs and growth-oriented entrepreneurs. Design/Methodology A quantitative survey of 176 LEs was conducted across various industries in France. We used a cluster analysis to classify LE profiles, based on their personal entrepreneurial motivations (extrinsic, familial, and intrinsic motivations), following a two-step procedure: ascending hierarchical clustering, then k-means clustering to assign our observations to the different groups obtained. Findings Two distinct profiles of LEs were identified: plural-driven and intrinsic-driven. The two profiles differ primarily through the breadth of their motivations. Plural-driven LEs combine extrinsic, familial, and intrinsic motivations, whereas intrinsic-driven LEs are primarily motivated by personal development. Plural-driven LEs exhibit higher performance, alliance orientation, and a greater geographical embeddedness, but both have high levels of life satisfaction. This suggests that the equally high life satisfaction observed in both profiles is consistent with the very nature of lifestyle entrepreneurship. For LEs, life satisfaction is anchored primarily in the fulfilment of personal development needs rather than in the economic outcomes of the venture. The results also show that life satisfaction and performance constitute two independent criteria of success for this population. Originality/Value This research proposes a multi-sectoral typology of LEs revealing how motivational breadth is linked with success and alliance orientation. It nuances the distinction existing in previous research between LEs and growth-oriented entrepreneurs and demonstrates that lifestyle entrepreneurship extends across all industries, complementing previous studies restricted to specific sectors. It also offers support structures and policymakers a basis for designing interventions adapted to the heterogeneity of this population.
Abstract This study addresses fragmented crisis research that treats well-being in family businesses (FBs) and stakeholder theory as separate domains. Using a bibliometric review with a framework-building orientation, we analyze 277 peer-reviewed articles (1998–2025). Our findings reveal uneven attention to stakeholder mechanisms (i.e. salience, alignment, and engagement) and to well-being across micro, meso, and macro levels. In most studies, well-being remains underdefined, and FBs are often treated as contextual rather than central actors. In response, we propose a multi-level, stakeholder-driven definition of well-being in FBs and develop an antecedents–outcomes framework linking crisis disruptions, stakeholder mechanisms, and well-being outcomes. We conclude with a future research agenda aimed at integrating stakeholder theory with multi-level approaches to crisis and well-being in FB contexts.
Abstract Calls have been made to expand understanding of the values and motivations underpinning entrepreneurial intentions among nascent entrepreneurs. This nuanced study takes a social psychological perspective to examine the relationship between personal values and both ‘regular’ and social entrepreneurial intentions. Personal values are important cognitive structures that influence choice and behaviors and constitute a new and rapidly growing area of research into entrepreneurial mindsets. Based on survey data from 344 students at a research-led university in the UK, comprising entrepreneurship-educated and non-entrepreneurship-educated treatment groups; a potent Bayesian analysis revealed that educational experience was a more important predictor of regular entrepreneurship than personal values. However, specific personal values were found to be fundamental in predicting social entrepreneurial intentions. These results help to unpack the personal value–intention link in entrepreneurship. Specifically, the distinction we have revealed challenges the completeness of models grounded in the theory of planned behavior, to anticipate alternative forms of entrepreneurship activity.
Abstract This study examines the resilience of women entrepreneurs in Lebanon amid compounding crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic collapse, and the 2020 Beirut Port explosion, focusing on their interactions within family, community, and society to uncover the factors driving their capacity to recover and adapt. Using 45 semi-structured interviews guided by Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory (EST) (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, 2000), the research explores the experiences of female entrepreneurs leading small businesses in Beirut and Mount Lebanon. Thematic analysis reveals patterns across four EST levels: at the microsystem level, adaptability, proactive resourcefulness, and managed vulnerability characterize resilience; at the mesosystem level, empathy-driven customer relationships, teamwork, and family ties provide critical support; at the exosystem and macrosystem levels, community resilience initiatives, local sourcing, shifting gender norms, and ethical business practices collectively shape broader ecosystem adaptation. Crucially, the study also documents failure cases, identifying four structural vulnerability factors that distinguish discontinued businesses from survivors. By moving beyond trait-based views, this study advances a model of “embedded resilience,” demonstrating that entrepreneurial survival in poly-crisis environments is structurally dictated by localized resource substitutions across ecological layers rather than individual endurance alone.
Abstract Smallholder family farms are often depicted as constrained, subsistence-oriented, or pressured to “grow or go.” However, some small family farms outperform others despite operating under similar resource constraints. Using configuration theory, this study examines how family entrepreneurial climate (EC), entrepreneurial orientation (EO), and strategic intentionality (SI) combine to influence performance in coffee and banana family farms, and how these configuration–performance relationships depend on crop system and land rights. Using survey data from 318 smallholder family farms in Kabarole (Uganda), we estimate a latent class model of EC–EO–SI that yields four configurations. Multinomial logit regression shows that coffee family farms are more likely to belong to innovative configuration, while restricted land rights reduce such membership. A control function regression addressing technology-use endogeneity indicates that innovative and deliberate family farms are associated with stronger performance outcomes than conservative reference configuration, especially in coffee farming systems where secure land tenure further enhances these advantages. The findings also challenge the prevailing “grow or go” assumption common in Western agribusiness contexts by showing that small, innovative family farms can achieve high performance and resilience without large-scale expansion, underscoring that strategic fit and innovation, rather than size, drive success in smallholder family farms. We contribute a family configurational and context-theorizing account of smallholder entrepreneurship, contingent on family embeddedness and value chain architecture, and validate importance-weighted subjective performance as a meaningful outcome in family farms.
Unlike wage earners, who benefit from institutional scaffolding, entrepreneurs operate in a structural vacuum when it comes to retirement, bearing the full burden for their future security. Our 4-year study of 191 senior Finnish small business owners investigates the psychological mechanisms, cognitive, conative, and affective, that drive financial security in this high-autonomy context. We find that financial planning knowledge, retirement goal clarity, and positive affect are significant antecedents of security, but active financial planning behaviors fully mediate these relationships. These findings make two key contributions. First, we resolve the "optimism paradox" in entrepreneurship; contrary to speculation that optimism leads to negligence, we find that positive affect serves as a vital resource that fuels planning efforts. Second, the full mediation effect confirms that in the absence of external "opportunities" such as mandatory pensions, psychological dispositions do not passively translate into wealth; they must be catalyzed into behavioral execution to prevent resource deficits.
Abstract This study examines how key resilience factors are associated with the ability of Lebanese SMEs and entrepreneurs to withstand and adapt during Lebanon’s severe economic crisis. Using survey data from 66 companies, we analyze the relationships between strategies, support, and ecosystem actors amid prolonged instability. Our analysis reveals that proactive strategic orientations and targeted ecosystem support are positively associated with the resilience of businesses. In addition, the study identifies the main forms and sources of external assistance associated with the survival and growth of SMEs in a context of institutional fragility. By situating these findings within existing frameworks, our paper provides empirical insights relevant to research on SME resilience, strategic orientation, and entrepreneurial ecosystems. This study contributes to the understanding of entrepreneurial responses to multiple shocks in emerging markets and offers avenues for policy interventions aimed at supporting the resilience of SMEs in a context of extreme uncertainty.
By categorizing resignees into "genius," "traditional," "forced," and "trapped," this study examines the relationship between different types of resignees and entrepreneurial intention and action. Furthermore, we argue that anticipated regret and dormant tie reactivation moderate this relationship. An analysis of survey data from 781 participants in the United States indicates that the types of resignees exert varying influences on entrepreneurial intention and action. Compared with "traditional" and "trapped," but not "forced," the "genius" group have high intention of starting their own enterprises. However, the "trapped" group engage in more entrepreneurial activities than "genius." Further, the "trapped" group with high anticipated regret are more likely to take entrepreneurial action while dormant tie reactivation can enhance the entrepreneurial intention of the "traditional" group. We discuss our findings and elaborate on their theoretical and practical implications.
This study investigates how crisis uncontrollability affects the mental well-being, along with the mediating roles of cognitive load and social comparison orientation, as well as the moderating role of entrepreneurial grit. Drawing on conservation of resources theory, the data from 304 CEOs was collected and analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results support the dual mediation pathway, with both cognitive load and social comparison orientation significantly transmitting the negative effects of crisis uncontrollability to mental well-being. Interestingly, we found that entrepreneurial grit positively moderates the relationship between crisis uncontrollability and cognitive load, which showed that determination may lead to greater psychological costs when directed toward uncontrollable challenges. These findings contribute to entrepreneurship research by (1) identifying specific cognitive and social mechanisms linking crises to well-being, (2) challenging assumptions about grit's universally protective role, and (3) integrating cognitive and social psychology perspectives into entrepreneurial stress models. Practical implications suggest the need for targeted interventions that help entrepreneurs manage cogni-tive load, engage in adaptive social comparisons, and apply grit more strategically during crises.
This study examines how immigrant entrepreneurs in tourism use digital innovations to overcome structural barriers while integrating environmental, socio-cultural, and economic sustainability principles. Existing research treats social, institutional, and market embeddedness as static constraints that immigrant entrepreneurs must navigate. This study draws on mixed embeddedness theory and employs Total Interpretive Structural Modelling-Polarity (TISM-P) to identify seventeen factors and relationships that determine successful digital transformation pathways. The hierarchical model reveals collaborative networks and continuous skills training as independent drivers, while adoption challenges emerge as negative drivers. The study outlines four critical pathways through which immigrant entrepreneurs progress from basic digital knowledge to sustainable, culturally informed business transformation. Critically, the hierarchical relationships suggest that resource scarcity may encourage necessity-driven innovation and adaptive capability development. The study advances theoretical understanding by extending the entrepreneurial ecosystem framework to incorporate technology-facilitated sustainability practices and cultural exchange as a distinctive competitive advantage. Practical implications include recommendations for tourism-specific digital competencies targeting seasonality management and experience co-creation, and culturally diverse metrics for assessing immigrant entrepreneurial contributions to sustainable destination development.
This research explores the internal antecedents that affect business model innovation in family firms, with a particular focus on organizational inertia. While existing research has mainly focused on family management, we investigate instead the role of non-family employees. Their actions can be crucial in shaping the success of the business model innovation process, with prior research recognizing organizational inertia as a significant obstacle. We conducted qualitative research using a single case study on a family firm engaged in business model innovation. Our research suggests that psychological ownership among non-family employees may act as an enabling mechanism for overcoming organizational inertia. Our theoretical model illustrates how psychological ownership manifests in specific behaviours that appear to reduce insight, psychological, and action inertia, potentially facilitating the success of the business model innovation process. This study contributes to the understanding of the enablers of business model innovation in family firms and expands our knowledge of psychological ownership, proposing its previously unidentified outcome of reducing organizational inertia.
The purpose of this study is to develop and validate a scale that captures entrepreneurial culture and leadership (ECL) within family-owned firms in an emerging economy context like India, where family enterprises dominate the business landscape. Drawing on prior literature, an initial pool of items was generated and refined through expert review and pilot testing. Data from 394 family businesses were collected using a structured survey, analyzed, and tested using structural equation modeling in AMOS. The results yielded a reliable and valid multi-dimensional ECL construct, comprising entrepreneurial culture and leadership support. For nomological validity, it demonstrates a positive and significant relationship with family business performance. By offering a context-sensitive measurement instrument, this study extends family business research beyond Western settings and highlights how entrepreneurial culture and leadership operate as complementary organizational capabilities in Indian family firms. The research instrument provides researchers and practitioners with a diagnostic tool to assess and strengthen cultural and leadership capacities. The findings contribute to the scale development in family business research and open pathways for examining how family-specific factors shape the culture-leadership and performance nexus in emerging economies.
This research explores the psychological factors that engage, disengage, and re-engage entrepreneurs after they have previously failed in their ventures. Employing a qualitative approach, the authors conducted semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs who were currently involved in their ventures (engaged), those who had started but failed (disengaged), and those who had restarted after failing in their previous ventures (re-engaged) in England. The results of the thematic analysis using NVivo revealed that the ambidextrous role of need for power significantly influenced entrepreneurs' engagement and disengagement in their entrepreneurial ventures. Conversely, the need for achievement emerged as critical for entrepreneurs to re-engage in their ventures. The research findings offer the missing pieces of the puzzle, investigating factors that engage, disengage, and re-engage entrepreneurs in their ventures. Based on these insights, the authors propose a theoretical model that illustrates how entrepreneurs' decisions to engage, disengage, and re-engage with ventures are ultimately driven by their core psychological needs.
Entrepreneurship research has traditionally emphasized the economic and societal benefits of entrepreneurial activity, portraying entrepreneurs as engines of innovation, growth, and value creation. More recently, however, scholars have increasingly acknowledged that entrepreneurial engagement is also accompanied by significant psychological, emotional, and physical health challenges. Despite this growing interest in the "dark side of entrepreneurship", the literature remains fragmented across disciplines, levels of analysis, and conceptual definitions. In particular, individual-level suffering has often been examined in isolated streams without an integrative synthesis that clarifies patterns, mechanisms, and research gaps. To address this gap, we conduct a systematic literature review of research published in leading entrepreneurship, management, psychology, and ethics journals. Drawing on a rigorous multi-stage review process across Web of Science and Scopus, we identify, evaluate, and synthesize 84 high-quality studies examining the psychological, emotional, and health-related consequences of entrepreneurial engagement. We focus explicitly on individual-level outcomes and adopt a phase-based perspective that structures findings across three stages of the entrepreneurial journey: initiation and ideation, growth and expansion, and exit or failure. Our review makes several contributions. First, we provide conceptual clarity by distinguishing the dark side from related constructs such as financial downside and societal destructive effects, thereby delineating the micro-level focus of individual suffering. Second, we develop an integrative framework that maps three dimensions of entrepreneurial suffering, psychological, emotional, and physical health challenges, across the entrepreneurial lifecycle. This phase-based synthesis reveals both stage-specific stressors and recurring patterns that persist throughout the entrepreneurial process. Third, we identify and categorize coping mechanisms into cognitive and behavioral, social, and practical and contextual strategies, highlighting their dynamic and context-dependent nature. Beyond synthesizing existing findings, we systematically outline conceptual, methodological, and contextual gaps in the literature and propose a structured future research agenda that calls for longitudinal designs, deeper integration of physical health outcomes, greater attention to contextual and structural influences, and more comprehensive models of coping and recovery. By consolidating fragmented insights into a coherent framework, this review advances theory development in entrepreneurial psychology and provides guidance for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners seeking to better understand and address the darker aspects of entrepreneurial engagement.
This study examines how entrepreneurship training, specifically the National Science Foundation (NSF) Innovation Corps (I-CorpsTM) program, acts as a Lean Startup (LS) based learning intervention. We analyze role-differentiated mechanisms using structural equation models informed by the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to assess how the I-Corps National training influences the attitudes, the perception of subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control (PBC) of Principal Investigators (PIs) and Entrepreneurial Leads (ELs). ELs, who engage directly in customer discovery and evidence gathering, demonstrate substantially stronger gains in entrepreneurial confidence and Business Model Canvas understanding than PIs. Yet these learning gains do not consistently translate into entrepreneurial action. Both roles commercialize at similar rates but through different pathways: PIs via institutionally aligned channels and ELs through venture-oriented efforts. Weak associations between intentions and behavior challenge standard assumptions about attitude-driven entry and suggest that I-Corps' impact lies more in its action-oriented pedagogy than in altering psychological predispositions. We further distinguish between execution-oriented no-action among ELs, who acquire skills but face structural barriers, and legitimacy-oriented no-action among PIs, who express readiness without follow-through. Overall, the findings shift the focus from whether entrepreneurship training "works" to understanding what works, for whom, and why, highlighting the need to tailor interventions to the differing incentives, constraints, and learning pathways of academic roles.
As research on the emergent phase of entrepreneurship remains limited, little is known about what influences entrepreneurial intentions. In this study, we empirically investigate whether financial knowledge enhances entrepreneurial aspirations focusing on young adults. To explore whether financial literacy plays a role in shaping career aspirations, we use data collected in 2023 by the Bank of Italy on a representative sample of individuals aged 18-34. Our results show a positive and significant relationship between financial knowledge and young individuals' intention to become entrepreneurs. Our findings are confirmed using instrumental variable estimations, meaning that financial literacy increases entrepreneurial intentions. Moreover, we show that financial knowledge helps to reduce indecisiveness regarding future professional choices, making young people more focused on their aspirations. We also notice that the willingness to become an entrepreneur is lower among women, those holding a university degree, older adults, and those with lower risk tolerance.
This study examines how ownership structure mediates the relationship between market liberalization and firms' innovation-oriented entrepreneurial orientation (EO) in post-crisis Korea. Integrating institutional and agency theories, we conceptualize ownership as a governance mechanism translating macro-level reform into firm-level strategic behavior. Using panel data on Korean technology-intensive firms from 1998 to 2003, we measure innovation-oriented EO through a patent-based technological exploration ratio and analyze the mediating roles of inside, outside, foreign ownership, and ownership competition. The results show that inside ownership exhibits a curvilinear relationship with EO, while outside ownership constrains innovation-oriented behavior. In contrast, foreign ownership and ownership competition do not play significant mediating roles. These findings clarify the governance conditions under which institutional reforms foster entrepreneurial strategy and offer insights for transitional and emerging economies.
Family firms often operate at the intersection of multiple institutional logics. While prior research highlights tensions between family and market logics, the role of entrepreneurial-market logic in family firms and how competing logics are coordinated remain underexplored. This study examines the interplay between family and entrepreneurial-market logics in family firms. Drawing on an in-depth case study of a large family firm in the MENA region and analyzing the data using the Gioia methodology, we investigate how these logics are enacted. The findings show that family and entrepreneurial-market logics coexist across different organizational domains and generate distinct coordinating mechanisms. Rather than prioritizing one logic over another, the firm manages tensions through assimilation and blending. These mechanisms include practices such as ambidextrous governance systems and legacy-driven competitiveness, enabling the simultaneous preservation of family continuity and pursuit of entrepreneurial growth. Building on these insights, we develop the FABE typology, which distinguishes four types of logics based on variations in the source of authority and basis of strategy: Family Logic, Assimilated Logic, Blended Logic, and Entrepreneurial-Market Logic. These findings reveal how competing institutional logics translate into coordination practices and provide a framework for understanding how family firms navigate the dual demands of family and entrepreneurial-market logics.
The topic of social support has held a steady place in entrepreneurship over the years. While the literature addresses social support in various facets, peer-to-peer social support has yet to garner significant attention. This study evaluates entrepreneurial peer support and how it is measured. Specifically, both emotional and instrumental social support are examined to determine their influence on entrepreneurial outcomes. Small business owners are surveyed to validate the role of peer entrepreneurs in research. The results could revitalize a stream of entrepreneurial research that draws back to the value of personal connections, and point to new opportunities for research.
Entrepreneurship-through-acquisition (ETA), particularly via search funds (SF), is a growing niche in entrepreneurship and private equity research. Unlike de novo founders, SF entrepreneurs raise capital to acquire and transform existing firms, shifting investor attention toward the individuals' ability to identify and execute acquisition opportunities. Despite the increasing prominence of the model, little is known about how informal investors evaluate SF entrepreneurs and how these entrepreneurs communicate to investors during fundraising. Drawing on a qualitative multiple-case study of 25 SF entrepreneurs across 15 countries and 12 investors, we examine the role of informal investors and entrepreneur-investor communication in SF fundraising. To contextualize our findings, we incorporate investor perspectives on communication and the roles of informal investors in de novo ventures' fundraising. Analyzing the data through signaling theory and institutional logics, our findings indicate that in SF contexts, informal investors provide critical testimonial legitimacy, acting as a functional substitute for institutional validation. Moreover, SF entrepreneurs appear to tailor their communication strategies more extensively than de novo founders, using signaling as a pedagogical tool to bridge market knowledge and model familiarity gaps. We advance signaling theory by shifting the focus from what is signaled to who validates the signal in SF contexts, thereby positioning the SF model as a person-centric empirical category within the broader private equity landscape.
