A person-centered perspective on entrepreneurial success: combining proactive behavioral strategies across various life domains

Purpose This study adopts a person-centered perspective to explore how entrepreneurs combine multiple proactive behavioral strategies across the business, personal and business-environment domains. We research whether certain combinations of proactive behavioral strategies (i.e. seeking resources, optimizing demands, seeking challenges, idea generation, environmental exploration, network crafting, self-insight and boundary management) relate to well-being and business performance. Moreover, we investigate whether entrepreneurs’ daily use of these strategies aligns with their general profiles. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 286 Dutch entrepreneurs participated in a general survey study. Moreover, 49 of these entrepreneurs also participated in a six-day diary study ( N = 255). Latent profile analysis was used to find specific profiles and multilevel regression to understand the daily patterns. Findings We uncovered four meaningful profiles: the minimum business effort entrepreneurs, the solid and self-caring entrepreneurs, the needy and self-ignorant entrepreneurs and the proactive business entrepreneurs, each with different outcomes in business performance and well-being. Daily proactive behavior showed stability, suggesting a foundation deeply rooted in their general proactive behavior. Originality/value The study highlights the value of proactive strategies across all life domains, as profiles encompassing this combination show greater entrepreneurial success.