Individual Entrepreneurial Proactiveness: A Dispositional Basis for Entrepreneurial Momentum

Individuals experience uncertainty daily as a result of the unemployment rate. Studies have acknowledged proactiveness as one of the crucial dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) to determine entrepreneurial action. Yet, literature rarely addresses its application toward entrepreneurial momentum (EM). Thus, this study aims to investigate the extent to which EO propensity of proactiveness as an individual initiative, affects EM of business discovery, idea(s), start-up and growth. The study adopts a mixed-methods (quantitative and qualitative) approach, using probability and non-probability sampling. The participants include 492 final-year entrepreneurship students in Lagos, Nigeria. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS 4.0 and NVivo 12 (qualitative data) were used to analyse the data. Results indicate strong, significant relationships between individual EO propensity of proactiveness and EM. Multicollinearity tests using VIF and Tolerance values confirm that the model is statistically robust. The study contributes to entrepreneurship literature by indicating the centrality of proactiveness in fostering EM and offers practical implications for entrepreneurship training and policy development.