Entrepreneurship is undoubtedly sexy, with celebrity founders like Elon Musk and the late Steve Jobs lauded for their vision, courage, and tenacity. Such extolling makes entrepreneurship seem like a one-way ticket to greatness, but of course, the reality is often far more nuanced, with as many downsides as upsides.
So says research from the University of Notre Dame, which highlights how when entrepreneurship goes badly it can hurt not only the entrepreneurs themselves, but also their colleagues and loved ones. The authors broke these consequences down into three types:
- Dark side – This is when the entrepreneur experiences various negative psychological and emotional reactions.
- Downside – Which is when the entrepreneur suffers from financial loss and/or social stigma.
- Destructive side – This is when the startup actually hurts those around it.
“I call for the need for more research on the dark, down-, and destructive side of entrepreneurship—what are their dimensions, why do they generate suffering, and how we can reduce them and speed recovery? Such a stream of research holds the potential to make an important, compassionate contribution,” the author says. “I started my scholarly journey into the dark side of entrepreneurship after my father’s business failure caused him to suffer greatly. I was interested in understanding this darkness to help people like my father anticipate negative outcomes of entrepreneurship and reduce their suffering.”
When business goes wrong
The paper highlights the impact grief can have on us and on those around us, and argues that with the failure rate of startups incredibly high, the grief that comes with a failed business is quite likely. What’s more, this grief can come with a number of negative consequences, including depression and anxiety.
The author hopes that by shedding light on some of the negative consequences of entrepreneurship it can help entrepreneurs better manage any anxiety and stress they may be feeling due to the inherent uncertainty of startup life.
It also opens the door to further study that may examine why some entrepreneurs are more prone to suffer from these dark traits than others so that support institutions can better support them.
“Entrepreneurship involves uncertainty. Uncertainty means that we’re going to have failures. We need to recognize that we will likely have failures, so we can manage failure better as part of the entrepreneurial process,” the author concludes. “We can help entrepreneurs set their expectations better, they can learn from failures more quickly, hopefully feel less grief, know how to better deal with their grief, and be able to move on.”
