The resilient entrepreneur: the use of successful coping behaviours to experience relief from emotional intensity by entrepreneurs in Canada

There is a lack of qualitative research demonstrating the emotional processes that
entrepreneurs experience after they first start their businesses. This dissertation analyzed the
emotional processes experienced by ten entrepreneurs during their venture’s start-up phase. A
constructivist grounded theory research design was used to collect and analyze data in this
investigation. Research findings showed entrepreneurs experienced simultaneous emotions that
were of an intense nature during their early stages of business. These emotions included some
combination of: excitement, anxiety/fear, disappointment, pressure/self-doubt, isolation, and
relief. In addition, entrepreneurs identified entrepreneurial distress related to the constant need
for action in their ventures and the use of technology, including cellular phones, email, and social
media. Entrepreneurs described a gradual reduction in emotional intensity as they gained
experience and learned how to cope. Coping behaviours used by entrepreneurs to counteract the
overwhelming nature of emotions were: (a) developing improved entrepreneurial social
networks, (b) gaining experience/learning from mistakes, and (c) changing their perspective on
life as a whole. Coping behaviours aided in the reduction and fluctuation of entrepreneurial
emotions.