A comparison of novice and experienced entrepreneurs' attitudes toward achievement in business, business leadership, innovation in business, perceived personal control, and perceived self-esteem and how that relates to life satisfaction

Entrepreneurship is a vital means of employment, stimulus for economic growth, and innovation for encouraging product and service quality, competition, and economic flexibility. While barriers prevent access to certain jobs or industries entrepreneurism is also a mechanism by which many people enter the society's economic and social mainstream. The purpose of this study was to examine novice entrepreneurs (0-3 years of experience) and experienced entrepreneurs (more than 4 years of experience) on Long Island, New York to determine the differing views between the two groups in achievement, leadership, innovation, perceived self-control, and perceived self-esteem in regards to business. This study also sought to determine which skills predicted the level of life satisfaction. In addition demographic variables were used to differentiate the groups, and to examine differences.;A mixed methodology was employed. To gamer qualitative data, three open-ended questions were asked. To acquire quantitative data, a survey using a ten-point Likert Scale was administered to assess entrepreneurial traits based upon attitude theory. A total of 95 respondents were received, which included 44 novice entrepreneurs, and 51 experienced entrepreneurs. Two analytical scales were employed in this study: Life with Life Satisfaction Scale, and the Entrepreneurial Attitude Orientation Scale. The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). The Entrepreneurial Attitude Orientation Scale (EAO) developed and tested by Robinson, Huefner, & Hunt (1991) was used to measure attitudes. The findings in this study revealed that while novice and experienced entrepreneurs reached life satisfaction, novice entrepreneurs seemed to be the happiest. This could possibly be because of due to the newness of the business venture, the freedom to express innovative tendencies, and the overall reality of owning a business. Although novice entrepreneurs presented lower perceived self-esteem than experienced entrepreneurs, this implied that novice entrepreneurs may require further development in this dimension or may not take into account long-term development of their business. Life satisfaction was found among those entrepreneurs who made less money with fewer years in business. This would coincide with Thompson et al. (1992) who established that self-employed individuals had a stronger relationship between job and life satisfaction, and Krueger and Brazel (1994) who suggested that "entrepreneurial intention was based on the interaction between personal characteristics, perceptions, values, beliefs, background and environment," and not on financial gain. Shapero and Sokol (1982) suggested that convergence of attitudes and situational factors led to business start-ups.;Novice entrepreneurs in the perceived self-esteem dimension proved to be significantly lower than experienced entrepreneurs. Perceived-self esteem in business pertained to the self-confidence and perceived competency of an individual in conjunction with his or her business affairs. This suggested that experienced entrepreneurs did not necessarily view past failures as personal deficiencies but rather opportunities for personal and business growth as well learning experiences for future business ventures.;Findings from this study were significant because it augmented the literature to assist would-be entrepreneurs, novice entrepreneurs, experienced entrepreneurs, researchers, and educators to better understand the entrepreneur at the novice phase of entrepreneurial behavior. The findings also helped to better understand how to enable novice entrepreneurs to survive in business for three or more years.