In these times full of crises, we ask how does a crisis affect entrepreneurs in the long run? We find that, years after a crisis, they still feel less secure in their job. Furthermore, their confidence is required for the daring decisions that can help their venture manage the next crisis.
While global replication of business incubators seems effortless, incubators need to be adaptive to local contexts. Indeed, establishing a functioning incubator surpasses mimicking a Silicon Valley model, involving context-specific social practices. Our research finds that successfull incubators ensure creation of participation, flexibility, trust and reciprocity and balance between offering top-down support from management and adapting to bottom-up needs of members.
The Covid-19 pandemic decreased entrepreneurial intentions in Africa, but at the same time entrepreneurs illustrated entrepreneurial resilience and innovativeness. Considering these contrasting effects, we urge practitioners to take local contextual dimensions into account and foster entrepreneurial resilience whilst designing entrepreneurial education and entrepreneurial support programmes in the aftermath of the pandemic.
