Multiple paths for entrepreneurial strategy to create value: longitudinal research suggests the integration of antecedents to improve robustness

Abstract This research sheds light on how the integration of business model innovation, cash management and individual and organizational behaviours can enable entrepreneurs to pursue value creation. The longitudinal study was conducted with 22 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) participating from 2014 to 2017 and with occasional contact since. The findings highlight that SMEs experience high uncertainty and can pursue multiple paths to materialize value. The greater the extent to which SMEs can integrate the trinity of antecedents highlighted in the definition of an entrepreneur—heterogeneity in individual and organizational behaviours, business model innovation and cashflow management—the better the robustness in value creation that they can obtain. However, the path to value creation is individual and different for each enterprise, which means that previous suggestions in literature strands that recommend emphasizing one path can be improved through the use of the trinity of antecedents, which can provide multiple paths to pursue robust value creation. Training programmes for entrepreneurial SMEs should therefore be grounded in the specific antecedents relevant to the individual SME—namely, managerial and organizational behaviours, as well as the context of business model innovation and the availability of financial resources. This contrasts with standardized courses for larger enterprises.