This study aims to explore the experiences of entrepreneurs with fibromyalgia, the particular challenges they encounter, and how they regulate their symptoms and govern business. A qualitative approach was employed, consisting of 12 semi-structured interviews to entrepreneurs diagnosed with fibromyalgia. The results revealed that fibromyalgia sufferers are considerably less productive as entrepreneurs, and this is primarily linked to the symptoms that inhibit them from accomplishing tasks. Also, the necessity to hide their condition for professional perception contributes to social isolation, stress, and burnout. Moreover, entrepreneurs are more likely to embrace fibromyalgia adaption methods, such as varying the types of work and pacing.
Entrepreneurs' earnings are shaped by both individual and family health, yet the interdependent effects of entrepreneur, spouse, and child health remain understudied. National Health Interview Survey data from 2010 to 2018 show disproportionate and contrasting effects of family health on an entrepreneur's earnings for married vs. single parents and male vs. female entrepreneurs. While an entrepreneur's poor health negatively impacts their earnings, a spouse's health only affects the earnings of male entrepreneurs. Poor child health negatively impacts the earnings of married mothers but not fathers. However, poor child health negatively impacts the earnings of single fathers. The study highlights the need for effective health management plans targeting entrepreneurs' heterogeneity by marital status and gender, focusing on the family rather than the individual.
The ability to recognize or create new opportunities is one of the key prerequisites for a novice entrepreneur to engage in the new venture creation process. Despite the existence in the literature of multiple theoretical frameworks for opportunity recognition or creation, very few involve technological external enablers such as crowdsourcing initiatives into the opportunity recognition process, especially for novice entrepreneurs missing the required prerequisite individual assets. This study is undertaken to contribute to the current theoretical opportunity recognition literature by developing a new framework for opportunity recognition with a focus on novice entrepreneurs such as early-stage small business entrepreneurs. A multi-method research design is used and includes data collected from four different sources: (1) qualitative data from a series of open-ended interviews conducted with crowdsourcing platforms managers and entrepreneurs (2) data from a bibliometric study analyzing case studies of crowdsourcing projects that led to successful introduction of new products or services by entrepreneurial ventures less than ten-year-old; and (3) data from a review of online case studies detailing successful entrepreneurial use of crowdsourcing on crowdsourcing websites; and (4) data from internet search. This study' findings confirm the initial assumption regarding the needs for specific entrepreneur' individual assets and the key roles they play in the process of opportunity recognition. In addition, it contributes to the existing literature with the identification of determinants related to individual assets such as work ethic, emotional intelligence, humility, the ability to adapt to shifts in environmental factors and the availability of personal financial resources. The findings also support the existing literature as it pertains to the key role of experience and prior knowledge for opportunity recognition. However, it was also found that knowledge could be gathered from other sources such as firm internal knowledge base created from customer feedback, experimentation, social networks and competitors. A new framework is developed from the findings. It incorporates the level of the entrepreneur's absorptive capacity which determines the ability to recognize opportunities while complementing or compensating for the lack of key individual assets through crowdsourcing strategies. In addition, the theoretical implications related to the cognitive and knowledge processes involved in entrepreneurial opportunity recognition are discussed. Finally, practical steps for using the proposed framework are provided to help unlock new possibilities for novice entrepreneurs such as early-stage small business entrepreneurs.
This study investigates how pricing mechanisms on peer-to-business (P2B) crowdlending platforms influence the cost of entrepreneurial capital and access to finance. Drawing on a dataset of 1,240 campaigns from 16 French platforms active in 2017, we leverage a unique institutional setting where crowd-determined and platform-determined pricing coexisted, providing a rare opportunity to compare alternative governance arrangements within the same market environment. We find that platform-determined pricing is associated with significantly lower interest rates than crowd-based pricing, suggesting that centralized pricing authority may help reduce the cost of entrepreneurial capital. Platform-determined pricing are more closely associated with hard, objective information, while decentralized pricing reflects greater heterogeneity in the assessment of entrepreneurial risk. Furthermore, platforms with larger market shares are linked to higher interest rates, indicating that competitive position also shapes entrepreneurial financing conditions. Overall, our results show that the allocation of pricing authority is a key governance choice influencing the pricing of entrepreneurial risk, the cost of entrepreneurial capital, and the distribution of financial resources within digital entrepreneurial finance. By considering pricing as a governance issue rather than a technical market mechanism, this study advances understanding of how digital financial intermediaries shape entrepreneurial finance.
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.
