Why do wantrepreneurs fail to take actions? Moderators of the link between intentions and entrepreneurial actions at the early stage of venturing

Abstract

Thriving entrepreneurship is a necessary condition of long-term sustainability in all modern economies. However, many entrepreneurs-to-be fail to take real actions in their transition from dreamers to doers. In this paper, we demonstrate that there are significant gaps in the current understanding of the important pre-entrepreneurship stages of starting new companies. In particular, these gaps include a proper understanding of moderators such as procrastination, commitment, and acquiring entrepreneurial knowledge from informal and unstructured sources. A promising way to fill these gaps is researching a promising yet little-known group – wantrepreneurs. Our qualitative study of a group of wantrepreneurs who seriously consider becoming entrepreneurs but fail to take any concrete steps allowed us to propose a number of hypotheses in this area and propose an extension of the Entrepreneurial Event Model.

An action phase theory approach to the configuration of entrepreneurial goal and implementation intentions

“…This will make it possible to comprehend the influence of different variables and circumstances on the stability of intention and on the intention-action link; e.g. specialised knowledge (Blank and Gabay-Mariani, 2023), self-efficacy variability (Gielnik et al, 2020), fear of failure or commitment (Gabay-Mariani and Boissin, 2021;Mackiewicz, 2023). It will also help clarify contradictory results found in the literature regarding the relative influence of TPB antecedents on the entrepreneurial intention.…”

“…, 2018; Donaldson et al. , 2022; Mackiewicz, 2023; Shir and Ryff, 2022). External factors may affect progress in striving for the chosen goal after it has been set.…”

“…on its volitional strength (as compared with that of other competing goal intentions) and on how favourable the situation is for readily initiating the particular goal intention (as compared with initiating competing goal intentions and as compared with relevant future opportunities one hopes to encounter)" (Gollwitzer, 1993, p. 58). Additionally, certain internal factors, such as doubt and self-control (Van Gelderen et al, 2015) and procrastination and fear of failure (Mackiewicz, 2023), may contribute to accelerating or delaying the process and indirectly affect the level of both goal intention strength and planning.…”

“…Starting a venture is a complex process that involves various tasks and specific activities and takes a considerable length of time (Blank and Gabay-Mariani, 2023;Gielnik et al, 2014;Mackiewicz, 2023;Van Gelderen et al, 2018). Given its complexity, the advancement from goal setting to actual behaviour is not automatic or obvious.…”

“…Starting a venture is a complex process that involves various tasks and specific activities and takes a considerable length of time (Blank and Gabay-Mariani, 2023; Gielnik et al. , 2014; Mackiewicz, 2023; Van Gelderen et al. , 2018).…”