New venture creation : resistance, coping and energy

Abstract: Entrepreneurship can be described as the creation of a venture out of nothing, except for an entrepreneur’s idea. No manuals or blueprints for entrepreneurs‘ particular ideas exists. Add to this plenty of adversities along the way. For many, the entrepreneurial journey ends long before their products or services have reached the market. How do entrepreneurs deal with adversities and goal disruptions on the path to venture creation, and what effects does this have on their ventures? This study focuses on the goal disruptions that entrepreneurs experience and builds a model of perceived resistance. The model illustrates how entrepreneurs appraise goal disruptions, choose certain coping strategies, either eventually overcoming the goal disruptions or terminating their venture creation journey. The key issues affecting how novice entrepreneurs cope with goal disruptions are entrepreneurs’ emotions, life life goals, as well as their energetic resources.