Abstract

Newly created enterprises increase the dynamism of economies and generate employment. Thus, they are subject to significant recent research. Forming a new company represents a decision based on both personal and subjective motives, as much as on the environment. But regardless of the origin, a founder’s motivation represents a commitment to a project or business idea and thus dictates the future success of the enterprise. Therefore, this article investigates entrepreneurs’ motivational profiles and why they choose to create new industrial enterprises. To detail this profile, we present the results of an empirical study of 101 entrepreneurs who have founded companies. The results offer significant conclusions for both academics and practitioners. Firstly, making money or being one’s own boss does not appear sufficient reasons to create a new venture. Secondly, the motivation content of entrepreneurs influences their decision to start a business. From these conclusions, some relevant guidelines are suggested. The main guidelines would be that assessments of business projects whether by venture capital firms, financial entities, or other actors the characteristics of the entrepreneur should be weighted more heavily in decisions to support the business project or not.

Key words: Entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial motives, entrepreneurial profiles, entrepreneurial decision-making.