Entrepreneur sense-making of business failure

Abstract

Studies of business failure frequently focus on the positive aspects of failure such as learning experience. The aim of the research was to take a phenomenological hermeneutical view of the lived experience of failure, taking into consideration impact from the entrepreneur’s social environment. The study reveals how strong emotions were triggered by social interactions. I propose that entrepreneurs do take into account the feelings of their important others in their decision-making. These emotions can either be transient or long-term present and influence the process of sense-making. Long-term emotions are likely to interfere with learning from failure, and the willingness to start a new venture, as well as trigger changes in future decision-making. Furthermore, participants were actively looking for positive aspects as encouraging experiences that facilitate their coping with the event of failure.

Keywords:

• entrepreneurial learning
• venture failure
• grief recovery
• IPA
• qualitative hermeneutical Phenomenology