Learning the hard way: the lessons of owner‐managers who have closed their businesses
Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development
ISSN: 1462-6004
Article publication date: 1 March 2002
Abstract
There is a tendency to associate business “closure” with business “failure”, confusing owners that close a business with ‘unsuccessful’ entrepreneurs. This article reports on a study into the experiences of business owners who have left their business. Three stages of research, including interviews and a postal questionnaire, tracked businesses that closed, what the owners did next and what they learned from the experience. The results suggest that some common assumptions need challenging in order to remove the stigma from closing down a business. The overall conclusion is that the closure process can represent a positive, learning experience. Even owners who have had unsuccessful ventures are motivated and more able to make it work next time because of lessons learned. This provides further support for the concept of the serial entrepreneur.
Keywords
Citation
Stokes, D. and Blackburn, R. (2002), "Learning the hard way: the lessons of owner‐managers who have closed their businesses", Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 17-27. https://doi.org/10.1108/14626000210419455
Publisher
:MCB UP Ltd
Copyright © 2002, MCB UP Limited