Examining Learning Antecedents to Entrepreneurial Success

In an effort to improve entrepreneurial success outcomes in the United States, researchers have focused on examining variables that promote entrepreneurial activity. The challenge for practitioners is to determine variables that help improve entrepreneurial success. Although there is adequate research in the literature on relationships between variables that precede start-up activity, relatively few studies have investigated the role of entrepreneurial learning on entrepreneurial success. To address these gaps, the current study examined the empirical relationships between entrepreneurial instructional learning, entrepreneurial mentorship learning, entrepreneurial experiential learning, and the self-efficacy of entrepreneurial knowledge on start-up success, income improvement, and net worth improvement. With a cross-sectional sample of entrepreneurs in the United States, the study revealed that entrepreneurial mentorship learning and self-efficacy of entrepreneurial knowledge had a significant and positive relationship with start-up success, income improvement, and net worth improvement but only when examined prior to adding control variables. The study also found that the dimension of the highest level of specific business education achieved within the construct of instructional learning had a significant and positive relationship with income improvement and net worth improvement prior to control variables but not start-up success. Furthermore, the study also found that the dimension of years of start-up experience within the construct of entrepreneurial experiential learning had a significant and positive relationship with net worth improvement and income improvement prior to control variables but not start-up success. Theoretical and practical implications of these results are presented, and suggestions for future research are discussed.