Cecilia Dalborg

Beyond the numbers: qualitative growth in women's businesses

Purpose – The purpose of this research paper is to investigate the growth of womens businesses from a qualitative perspective. The paper identifies strategic building blocks for defining a set of different growth platforms. Moreover, the paper investigates growth ambitions for women inside each identified “type” of growth platform and identifies critical motivation variables that can influence the decision to move from growing one business platform to growing another platform.Design/methodology/approach – The results are based on 191 women entrepreneurs. Data were analyzed by coding narrative statements from the survey into overarching themes for business platforms, descriptive frequency analysis and logistic regression analysis techniques.Findings – The paper discerned five different growth platforms and noticed intrinsic or extrinsic growth ambitions for platform growth. The extrinsic platforms are the most common, but all platforms can be characterized by equally high growth aspirations. Each of the i...

Risk perception matters: why women’s passion may not lead to a business start-up

Purpose – This paper aims to explore whether nascent women entrepreneurs perceive more risks than men, and to determine how higher risk perceptions might limit start-up decisions by mediating the potential influence of passion and self-efficacy. Design/methodology/approach – This study surveyed 103 participants in Sweden – both women and men – who, in the period 2008 through 2011, intended to start a business. ANOVA tests and binominal logistic regression models were conducted to test hypothesized framework. Findings – The authors found that nascent women entrepreneurs perceive more risk than nascent male entrepreneurs, that risk perceptions influence start-up decisions and that risk preferences partial out the otherwise identified influence of passion on start-up decisions. Research limitations/implications – The authors reveal a consequence of gender socialization and how it impacts the start-up decisions of nascent women entrepreneurs. Support systems should consider developing activities that change t...

The idea is not enough : The role of self-efficacy in mediating the relationship between pull entrepreneurship and founder passion – a research note

This research note demonstrates that self-efficacy is important for understanding why an attractive idea may lead an entrepreneur to develop passion. Drawing upon a survey of 103 respondents, we find that self-efficacy mediates the influence of pull entrepreneurship on founder passion suggesting that being pulled toward opportunities to start a business is not directly required for entrepreneurial passion to develop. Instead, pull entrepreneurship increases self-efficacy and assists the individual to develop the skills typical of an entrepreneur. This instills individual self-efficacy beliefs, which in turn are prerequisites for passion to grow. As such, this research uncovers a skill-based explanation of how founder passion develops.

The life cycle in women-owned businesses: from a qualitative growth perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate women-owned businesses from a life cycle perspective and with a qualitative growth approach. Building on previous research that has identified qualitative growth platforms, this paper takes into account the time aspect and investigates perceived barriers and support needs inside different qualitative growth platforms. Design/methodology/approach – The study took place in Sweden and is based on 191 women entrepreneurs in a first survey and 101 women entrepreneurs in a follow-up questionnaire three years later. To answer the research questions, descriptive frequency analysis and logistic regression analysis techniques have been used. Findings – The motivation of growth changes throughout the life cycle, and women entrepreneurs move between different qualitative growth platforms when required building blocks of previous platforms have been established and secured. In this transfer of growth ambition, a significant correlation between business age and intr...

Female entrepreneurs in nature-based businesses: working conditions, well-being, and everyday life situation

ABSTRACT Nature-based businesses – such as those involving the land, forest, garden, or rural environment – are industries with significant growth potential. Female entrepreneurs within nature-based businesses are often invisible in statistics, as well as in research, since traditionally men have owned such companies. This had led to a lack of knowledge about the opportunities for women to start and run nature-based businesses. The aim of this paper was to explore the ambition, working conditions, and life situation for female entrepreneurs within nature-based businesses in sparsely populated areas of Sweden. Interviews were carried out with 18 female entrepreneurs within nature-based businesses in Sweden. One conclusion that was drawn from this study is that women within this industry are mainly pulled into entrepreneurship, that is, the entrepreneurship is opportunity based. Four different types of entrepreneurs were identified based on their ambitions when it comes to time spent in business and the degree of innovation. This study shows that it is often difficult to achieve profitability in a company, and the female entrepreneurs highlight that that self-employment implies hard but rewarding work. The findings of this study can be used by public actors in the design of support systems for female entrepreneurs in nature-based businesses.