Parental Support on the Nascent Entrepreneur : An Empirical Study on the Emotional Support Provided by Entrepreneurial Parents

Background: Receiving social support facilitates the founding of a nascent entrepreneurs’ business. Support that is received from entrepreneurial parents contributes towards the development of the entrepreneur’s capabilities as well as potentials, thus, shaping the nascent entrepreneur. Our study will focus on one part of social support, namely emotional support, provided by entrepreneurial parents. While parents intend to positively influence the nascent entrepreneur’s well-being and emotional stability, the exchange of support happens rather simultaneously and unconsciously. Purpose: This thesis aims to create a better understanding of the influence of entrepreneurial parents concerning the support system received by a nascent entrepreneur when in the founding stage. Therefore, creating theoretical consistency in the form of a developed conceptual model, which can be put into the broader context of family business and entrepreneurship. Method: Ontology – Relativism; Epistemology – Social Constructionism; Research Approach – Inductive; Methodology – Exploratory Study; Data Collection – 15 Semi-structured interviews with nascent entrepreneurs and three interviews with entrepreneurial parents; Sampling – Purposive, Convenience and Snowball Sampling; Data Analysis – Grounded Analysis. Conclusion: The influence of entrepreneurial parents affects the support approach of a nascent entrepreneur. Specifically, it contributes to the development of the entrepreneur’s entrepreneurial competence and spirit, which in its turn enhances the entrepreneurial activities connected to the founding of a new business