Experimentation in “everyday” small business ventures

Purpose Entrepreneurial experimentation is often studied in the context of tech, retail and high-growth startups. Current interpretations lean on limited empirical data and suggest structured and deliberate approaches. Our empirical observations in the food and beverage industry expand these perspectives by revealing emergent and impulsive experimentation practices. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative multiple case study of 20 small food and beverage ventures examined experimentation within non-tech and “everyday” contexts. Applying an abductive research design, the authors investigate experimentation practices through the conceptual lenses of transformation, social learning model, play, improvisation and entrepreneurial hustle. Findings The study reveals three forms of experimentation in the food and beverage sector: informative decision-making, transformative learning and improvisational exploring. These forms vary in their deliberateness and differ from those seen in the context of tech, retail and high-growth start-ups. In the food and beverage sector, not all uncertainties and opportunities can be rationally validated, but they require transformational social interactions with stakeholders, and swiftly changing situations need to be addressed in ways other than rationally pre-planned experiments. Originality/value This study contributes to the entrepreneurship literature by extending the dominant rational view of experimentation. By refining deliberateness in entrepreneurial actions and synthesizing and categorizing experimentation in three forms, this study constructs a more nuanced picture of what entrepreneurial experimentation consists of in the work of “everyday” ventures.