The Changes of the Entrepreneurial Identity: Case Study

Abstract

This research assumes the study of the construction and the changes in the identity of entrepreneurs based on the analysis of their personal and professional way and the influence of critical incidents and its changes based on Dialogical Self Theory (Hubert Hermans, Harry Kempen, Rens van Loon) leading to increase the quality of life and effectiveness of their business. We made a case-study with four entrepreneurs with less than one-year experience from different countries for six months the research used interview, mapping, journey plot, Personal Position Repertoire, and coaching. They showed a variety of scenarios of forming the entrepreneurial identity in typical contexts, including family business or starting their own business after working for the company or freelance. We ob-served that the implication of the tools used in the psychological practice helped to make the pro-cess systematic, clear and multilevel showing the progress of the participants on every stage as their personal and professional achievements.

Keywords

• Social construction of identity
• Entrepreneurship
• Critical incidents
• I-positions