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The events which facilitate and hinder entrepreneurship

University of British Columbia

Entrepreneurship is very important primarily because of its role in providing jobs and economic growth in our society. By entrepreneurship, I am referring to "the launching and growth of profit making ventures through the use of innovative, risk-assuming management" (Fry, 1993, p. 27). My definition does not include intrapreneurship, that is, entrepreneurial activities carried on within an organization. Existing literature on entrepreneurship provides profiles and descriptions of entrepreneurs as well as differences between male and female entrepreneurs. However, there is a noticeable gap in the information available on the events which are instrumental in launching a new business. To address this gap, information on those critical events were elicited by conducting interviews with five entrepreneurs. In this study, an entrepreneur was defined as an individual who decides to start and is successful in a venture that leads to personal or monetary profit, [whether owning the business alone or with other partners] (Solomon & Winslow, 1988). Specifically, this study explored the critical events which facilitated and hindered entrepreneurial beginnings for five small-business entrepreneurs. One hundred and eight events were elicited using the Critical Incident Method (Flanagan, 1954). These events were organized into 22 categories and several procedures were used to determine the reliability of the categories obtained. Event categories were then organized into six themes which facilitated and hindered individuals in becoming entrepreneurs. The six themes were: gained knowledge and competence, reflected upon career goals, experienced progress in work, overcame obstacles, received support, and received an entrepreneurial opportunity. In this study, narrative accounts were analyzed to reveal how the events were dynamic. Three general patterns in becoming an entrepreneur were identified. One pattern was an experience of transition in which there was a movement towards self-fulfilment through work. The second pattern was an experience of catastrophe, followed by recovery. The third pattern was one in which individuals capitalized on entrepreneurial opportunities. The results of this study provide an incentive to further investigate actions which facilitate and hinder entrepreneurial beginnings. This type of research contributes to the development of a different type of model in launching a business, one which focuses on actions rather than on traits and characteristics. A model which focuses on action taking will not only help aspiring entrepreneurs, but will assist helpers in the field of career counselling.

Thesis/Dissertation

application/pdf

2009-01-21

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/3828

Counselling Psychology

University of British Columbia

UBCV

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