Open Access Article SciPap-836
Motives for Entrepreneurship: Case Study From the World of SMEs
by Jaroslav Belás 1,*, Aleksandr Ključnikov 2 and Luboš Smrčka 3

1 Faculty of Management and Economics, Tomas Bata University in Zlín, Mostní 5139, Zlín 760 01, Czechia

2 Fakulta ekonómie a podnikania, Katedra podnikovej ekonomiky, Paneurópska vysoká škola Bratislava, Tematinská 10, Bratislava 840 00, Slovakia

3 Fakulta podnikohospodářská Katedra strategie, Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, nám.W.Churchilla 4, Praha 3 130 64, Czechia

* Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Abstract: The paper's aim is to define and quantify the most important motives for starting a business, compare differences among individual motives, respectively between positive and negative motivation of entrepreneurs depending on their gender, education and age. Research was conducted in 2015 on a sample containing 1,141 respondents, entrepreneurs in the small and medium-sized enterprises. Results of our research show that the most important incentive for starting a business is a money motive, then follow issues as business as mission, I have wanted to work, I did not have another option and other reasons. In our research, we have found that positive motives dominate for starting a business in the business environment of Czech SMEs. The results also indicate that there are significant differences among defined social groups, e.g. money motive is more important for younger entrepreneurs. The results may be interpreted that there are differences in entrepreneurial motives depending on the age and education of entrepreneurs. On the other hand we have found that gender does not affect the intensity of entrepreneurial motives.

Keywords: Gender, Small And Medium-Sized Enterprises, Motives For Entrepreneurship, Education And Age Of Entrepreneurs

JEL classification:   L26 - Entrepreneurship,   O16 - Financial Markets • Saving and Capital Investment • Corporate Finance and Governance

SciPap 2016, 24(3), 836

Received: 22 July 2016 / Accepted: 28 November 2016 / Published: 21 December 2016