From intention to start-up: the effect of professional support

摘要

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to assess the effect of professional preparation support on the transformation of nascent ventures into actual start-ups. Design/methodology/approach - An intention-based approach is used. Longitudinal data concerning 228 nascent entrepreneurs are analysed using hierarchical binary logistic regression. Findings - The positive effect of professional preparation support on start-up outcomes is apparent in the results. However, self-selection effects are detected concerning the use of individual preparation support. The results hold after controlling for these selection effects, intention and other project- and individual-level influences. Research limitations/implications - The sample size limited the number of variables that could be analysed and the operationalisation used for support could be refined. In addition, the macro-economic context in which the study took place influenced the results. The results concur with those which consider pre-start-up preparation support as a valuable tool to help individuals carry their projects through. In addition, they illustrate the relevance of intention-based entrepreneurship research and show how this approach can be used to study various factors influencing entrepreneurial processes. Practical implications - The results show that support actors can contribute to start-up projects getting launched. They also highlight the presence of self-selection issues that may be important for support networks to take into consideration when designing their programmes. Originality/value - To the author's knowledge, this is the first application of an intention-based approach to study the effect of professional support on a group of nascent entrepreneurs identified so early in their preparation.