A person-centered perspective on entrepreneurial success: combining proactive behavioral strategies across various life domains

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Purpose
This study adopts a person-centered perspective to explore how entrepreneurs combine multiple proactive behavioral strategies across the business, personal and business-environment domains. We research whether certain combinations of proactive behavioral strategies (i.e. seeking resources, optimizing demands, seeking challenges, idea generation, environmental exploration, network crafting, self-insight and boundary management) relate to well-being and business performance. Moreover, we investigate whether entrepreneurs’ daily use of these strategies aligns with their general profiles.

Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 286 Dutch entrepreneurs participated in a general survey study. Moreover, 49 of these entrepreneurs also participated in a six-day diary study (N = 255). Latent profile analysis was used to find specific profiles and multilevel regression to understand the daily patterns.

Findings
We uncovered four meaningful profiles: the minimum business effort entrepreneurs, the solid and self-caring entrepreneurs, the needy and self-ignorant entrepreneurs and the proactive business entrepreneurs, each with different outcomes in business performance and well-being. Daily proactive behavior showed stability, suggesting a foundation deeply rooted in their general proactive behavior.

Originality/value
The study highlights the value of proactive strategies across all life domains, as profiles encompassing this combination show greater entrepreneurial success.
Original languageEnglish
JournalCareer Development International
VolumeXX
Issue numberX
Early online date13 Jan 2025
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 13 Jan 2025

Keywords

  • Entrepreneurial success
  • Entrepreneurs
  • Latent profile analysis
  • Proactive behavioral strategies

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