Team aspects of leisure-based entrepreneurship

ABSTRACT

This research investigates how startup team characteristics correlate with a probability that a leisure-based entrepreneur forms a new profitable firm. We found that leisure-based ventures are more likely to stay longer in the startup process but do not differ from other ventures in the probability of forming a new profitable firm. Leisure-based startups are more likely to form a new firm if owners are solo founders or keep a larger ownership percentage in their hands and are less likely to form a new firm if teams are bigger or more functionally diverse. We conclude that the entrepreneurs who start their ventures from a serious pursuit of a personal hobby may benefit from finding team members who share their hobby, keeping a larger percentage of ownership of their business, or even pursuing solo entrepreneurship. The leisure-based startups should also be particularly attuned to the importance of team building in order to foster trust and reduce conflict.

KEYWORDS:

• Serious leisure
• hobby
• passion
• entrepreneurship
• monetisation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Agnieszka Kwapisz

Agnieszka Kwapisz is an Associate Professor at the Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship at Montana State University. She uses an array of statistical methods to explain and predict human behavior and form a scientific basis for achieving socially or economically desirable outcomes. She explored extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, organizational learning, assessment of learning, entrepreneurial network support, and gender effects. Currently, she focuses on nascent entrepreneur success.