Entrepreneurs in Times of Uncertainty: Proactive Strategies to remain Successful
Ren茅e Boesten's demonstrates how entrepreneurs can thrive despite the many uncertainties they face.
In her PhD research from the HPM group demonstrates how entrepreneurs can thrive despite the many uncertainties they face.
Challenges
Entrepreneurs often face sudden and unpredictable challenges, such as a crisis, that can affect their well-being and performance. Unlike employees who have the support and benefits of an organization, entrepreneurs must manage additional pressures related to their business, financial security, and personal lives. Even though their work increases their autonomy and meaningfulness, this places significant demands on their ability to balance these different aspects effectively, especially during periods of uncertainty.
Proactive Strategies
Research from Boesten鈥檚 dissertation demonstrates that entrepreneurs can better navigate demanding situations by employing proactive behavioral strategies across various life domains. A weekly diary study during the COVID-19 pandemic revealed that crisis-related demands worsened entrepreneurs' work-life balance due to increased financial stress. However, the use of financial resources and engaging in meaningful leisure activities helped mitigate some of these pressures. Moreover, during weeks of high income loss, the crafting strategy seeking resources mitigated the negative effect of income loss on entrepreneurs鈥� goal attainment, while the crafting strategy optimizing demands aided their well-being.
Intervention Programs
Boesten also developed and evaluated two intervention programs: a face-to-face workshop and an online self-training. Both approaches proved to be successful in equipping entrepreneurs with the skills to manage demands and optimize resources. As such, this dissertation not only expands the knowledge of proactive strategies that can be used by entrepreneurs to enhance their success and thrive in the face of uncertainty, but also provides practical insights into how these strategies can be trained.
Ren茅e Boesten defended her thesis 10th January. Title of PhD thesis: 鈥溾�� Supervisors: Evangelia Demerouti and Pascale Le Blanc and (Tilburg University)