Personal conflicts of interest that contribute to the risk of business failure

Purpose This study seeks to identify whether entrepreneurs' personal conflicts of interest can affect the risk of business mortality in the first five years. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire was applied to 408 entrepreneurs, analyzing demographic and behavioral aspects. A principal coordinate analysis was performed, reducing the dimensionality of the 53 questions to two orthogonal axes. To assess whether an entrepreneur's behavior can affect the risk of their company closing, a multivariate analysis of variance was applied using the first two axes of the behavioral gradient. The effect of demographic factors on the probability of company mortality was also assessed using a generalized linear model. Findings Age, education and initial investment affect the risk of mortality, as do entrepreneur behavior related to financial and microeconomic factors. Motivational and planning aspects were not relevant to the risk of closing. Research limitations/implications Given the sample size and the cultural diversity across the regions of Brazil, it is possible that different results may be found in other regions and sectors. Originality/value The results of this research help entrepreneurs look at their own behaviors and understand whether they are compatible with those of entrepreneurs who led their companies to mortality.