The role of entrepreneurial mindset in entrepreneurial pivot

Abstract

"The ability to act strategically is crucial for entrepreneurs to adapt to new changes and maintain the sustainability of their businesses (Kirtley & O'Mahony, 2023). However, despite the importance of this topic, studies (Devece et al., 2016; Morgan et al., 2020; Shepherd, 2020) have noted a lack of research on how entrepreneurs and small enterprises navigate through exogenous shocks or recover from such events. This paper aims to fill this research gap by exploring the entrepreneurial mindset's role in successful pivoting. Pivoting offers entrepreneurs the opportunity to develop new ideas, products, and renew their firm's business model and identity (Hart, 2012; Sadeghiani et al., 2021). The study used a qualitative approach to collect data from 10 entrepreneurs from various industries, including mining, hospitality, beauty, healthcare tech, logistics, healthcare services, financial services, agri-tech, and marketing tech. The study developed a conceptual framework which elucidates the circumstances surrounding an entrepreneur's decision to pivot and that highlights the cognitive, behavioural, and emotional aspects of the entrepreneurial mindset when pivoting. The findings have practical implications for entrepreneurs, policymakers, and business consultants. Entrepreneurs can use the framework when pivoting, policymakers can use it to develop training programs, and business consultants can use it to guide entrepreneurs through the challenges associated with pivoting their businesses."