Sustainability Issues for Start-up Entrepreneurs

Abstract

The concept of entrepreneurship covers many types of organisational and individual activities but it takes its most obvious form in the decision by an entrepreneur to start a new business. In recent years, researchers from different perspectives have focused more attention on the entrepreneurial activity involved in starting one's own business. Sociologists, psychologists and economists have all tried to give answers to questions such as: 'What conditions support business start-ups?'; 'Why do individuals decide to become entrepreneurs?'; 'What impacts do start-ups have on the economy?' Environmental business management research has not yet concentrated on start-ups, although this early stage of a business enterprise's life might be a sensible starting point for environmental management. This paper is a report of an empirical study into start-up processes, designed to discover whether there are opportunities for implementing more sustainable business practices from the very beginning of new business ventures. Start-up entrepreneurs as well as start-up business advisers were interviewed in order to identify the points where environmental management could be incorporated into the start-up process. In the group of entrepreneurs interviewed, conventional as well as ecologically oriented entrepreneurs were represented. The different orientations made it possible to compare their respective approaches to the adoption of more sustainable business practices. It was found that starting a new business venture is a very complex process. Start-up entrepreneurs have to comply with a variety of external demands. Business advisers and banks as well as market conditions often interfere with the pursuit of ecological business practices. Information on how to start an ecologically oriented business venture is notably not provided by institutions that support start-ups. The comparison of ecologically oriented start-ups with conventional start-ups showed that the most crucial factor for environmental considerations in the start-up process is the entrepreneur him- or herself.(Publication abstract)