Purpose

Many individuals start a new firm each year, mainly intending to become independent or improve their financial situation. For most of them, the first years of operations mean a substantial investment of time, effort and money with highly insecure outcomes. This study aims to explore how entrepreneurs running new firms perform financially compared with the established ones and how this situation influences their well-being.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire survey was completed in 2021 and 2022 by a representative sample of N = 1136 solo self-employed and microentrepreneurs in the Czech Republic, with dependent self-employed excluded. This study used multiple regressions for data analysis.

Findings

Early-stage entrepreneurs are less satisfied with their financial situation, have lower disposable income and report more significant financial problems than their established counterparts. The situation is even worse for the subsample of startups. However, this study also finds they do not have lower well-being than established entrepreneurs. While a worse financial situation is generally negatively related to well-being, being a startup founder moderates this link. Startup founders can maintain a good level of well-being even in financial struggles.

Practical implications

The results suggest that policies should focus on reducing the costs related to start-up activities. Further, policy support should not be restricted to new technological firms. Startups from all fields should be eligible to receive support, provided that they meet the milestones of their development. For entrepreneurship education, this study‘s results support action-oriented approaches that help build entrepreneurs’ self-efficacy while making them aware of cognitive biases common in entrepreneurship. This study also underscores that effectuation or lean startup approaches help entrepreneurs develop their startups efficiently and not deprive themselves of resources because of their unjustified overconfidence.

Originality/value

This study contributes to a better understanding of the financial situation and well-being of founders of new firms and, specifically, startups. The personal financial situation of startup founders has been a largely underexplored issue. Compared with other entrepreneurs, this study finds that startup founders are, as individuals, in the worst financial situation. Their well-being remains, however, on a comparable level with that of other entrepreneurs.

中文翻译：

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经济困难但感觉良好？探索早期创业者的福祉

目的

许多人每年都会创办一家新公司，主要是为了独立或改善他们的财务状况。对于他们中的大多数人来说，运营的头几年意味着大量的时间、精力和金钱的投入，但结果却非常不稳定。本研究旨在探讨与老企业相比，经营新公司的企业家的财务表现如何，以及这种情况如何影响他们的福祉。

设计/方法论/途径

2021 年和 2022 年，捷克共和国的 N = 1136 名独立个体经营者和微型企业家的代表性样本完成了问卷调查，不包括受抚养个体经营者。本研究使用多元回归进行数据分析。

发现

与成熟的创业者相比，早期创业者对自己的财务状况不太满意，可支配收入较低，并且报告了更严重的财务问题。对于初创公司的子样本来说，情况更糟。然而，这项研究还发现，他们的幸福感并不低于成熟企业家。虽然更糟糕的财务状况通常与幸福感呈负相关，但作为初创公司创始人会缓和这种联系。即使在财务困境中，初创公司创始人也能保持良好的幸福水平。

实际影响

结果表明，政策应侧重于降低与初创活动相关的成本。此外，政策支持不应仅限于新技术企业。所有领域的初创企业只要达到发展里程碑，都应该有资格获得支持。对于创业教育，本研究的结果支持以行动为导向的方法，帮助企业家建立自我效能，同时让他们意识到创业中常见的认知偏差。这项研究还强调，效果或精益创业方法可以帮助企业家有效地发展他们的初创企业，而不是因为他们不合理的过度自信而剥夺自己的资源。

原创性/价值

这项研究有助于更好地了解新公司（特别是初创企业）创始人的财务状况和福祉。初创公司创始人的个人财务状况一直是一个尚未得到充分研究的问题。与其他企业家相比，这项研究发现，初创企业创始人作为个人，财务状况最差。然而，他们的幸福感仍与其他企业家处于相当的水平。