Going Against the Odds: A Qualitative Study About the Entrepreneurial Process of Projects in Creative Industries

Although several authors have studied entrepreneurship from a psychological approach, an integral study that deals with the entrepreneurial process of projects in creative industries (CIs) from a psychological perspective is lacking. Thus, the present research examines this process by analysing the reasons why individuals decide to undergo these endeavors. The research question is: What does the process of entrepreneurship of creative projects such as events, venues or media platforms consist of, in terms of difficulties, motivations and other psychological factors? In order to answer this, 12 semistructured interviews were held with entrepreneurs in CI’s in the city of Rotterdam. The results were analysed via grounded theory through qualitative software analysis. In general. the study found that the process is highly complex. It starts with a sense of unconformity from the entrepreneur, who decides to overcome it through their personal initiative (Frese & Gielnick, 2014). Among the process, they face financial difficulties and uncertainty. However, they are mainly intrinsically motivated (Amabile, 1997) by the realisation of values (Klamer, 2017), which can be personal, social, societal or transcendental. This last type of values is highly important, since all of the participants gave relevance to factors such as caring for others, seeking beauty or finding a sense of purpose. The motivators were either considered important or gave rise to highly positive feelings. The combination of both allowed the individuals to pursue their endeavors, since through them, they feel inspired. Inspiration, in turn, allowed participants to transform creative ideas into creative products (Thrash & Elliot, 2003). Additionally, the entrepreneurs are highly passionate individuals, which also triggers inspiration (Bhansing, 2017). Finally, and more importantly, teamwork plays a key role in their motivation, despite not been widely discussed in academic literature. The illustration of this process allows people to comprehend the particular hardships that entrepreneurs in CI’s face, and the distinct mechanisms they use to face them. This may help policy adjust accordingly, in order to promote the creation of more projects in the CI’s, and support them in such a way that makes them successful. These projects, in turn, can be highly beneficial to society. Finally, future research is needed in order to reach more generalizable results, through studies that take into account the place were the project takes place or the specific creative sector (arts, music, etc.).