It’s probably fair to say that 2020 will be one that few entrepreneurs will look back on with a great deal of fondness, given the enormous turmoil foist upon global markets by the Covid pandemic.  Resilience is often cited as a vital quality for entrepreneurs, and this has certainly been the case during the pandemic.

New research from Durham University Business School highlights, however, that very different qualities are valuable in tumultuous times than in serene and stable circumstances.  The study finds that in stable times, self-confidence is the most important quality entrepreneurs can have, but in adverse circumstances, resilience is the most valuable trait to possess.

The researchers surveyed over 1,000 entrepreneurs to try and gauge the connection between resilience, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and entrepreneurial self-efficacy.  This was then compared with the relative fragility of the country the participants were living in.

Overcoming adversity

The results of the survey reveal that those entrepreneurs operating in highly adverse environments need resilience in order to survive.  This characteristic is more valuable than entrepreneurial self-efficacy.  The reverse was the case in countries with a more stable environment.

“Many of the world’s aspiring entrepreneurs face an unstable economic environment with breakdowns in the rule of law, public services, and security, involving refugees, human rights, terrorism, and war,” the researchers say. “These create huge boundaries for entrepreneurs and to overcome these, entrepreneurs have to be resilient and adaptable. Whereas for entrepreneurs in more stable countries who do not contend with such boundaries, what is more important is having self-assurance in their business abilities.”

The researchers say their findings hold significant implications for global entrepreneurship education and training programs. Similarly, scholars and individuals in less fragile and more stable areas of the world have a lot to learn from their entrepreneurial counterparts who live and operate businesses where high amounts of adversity and state fragility affect their daily lives.