Solo-entrepreneurs and Motivation of Business Development in Technology Industry

Abstract

Solo-entrepreneurs are self-employed that start-up and run their own business, and hire other people to work in a small team. The main objective of this paper is to study the motivation of business development of solo-entrepreneurs in Information Technology industry. We hypothesized that financial determinants will be the first motivators to operate as solo-entrepreneurs in Technology Industry. The sample consisted of 250 solo-entrepreneurs from Madrid region (146 men, 58,4%;and104 women, 41.6%). The age range was 21-65 years and the mean age was 34.68 years (SD=8.67). A survey was conducted using questionnaire, and comparison of means and factor analysis were usedas main statistical techniques. Our findings show that financial motivation, lifestyle factors and Business drivers are the principal motivations to start up and develop a business as solo-entrepreneurs. Participants stressed on the possibility of making a lot of money, achieving financial security more than on lifestyle motivations like flexible lifestyle, balance work and family, possibility of working from home. Practical implications and recommendations for future researches are discussed.