Founding a new venture is not easy. Surviving the first few years and eventually growing a business is an equally demanding task. In order to successfully run a business, entrepreneurs must be competent in a number of skills given that they have to combine different resources such as physical and financial capital, people and ideas. According to this line of reasoning entrepreneurs should have balanced skills – in other words entrepreneurs should be a “Jack-of-all-Trades”. But just how big is the effect of balanced skills on engaging, persisting and excelling in entrepreneurship? Furthermore what are the origins of a balanced skill set?
ACE’s series of research vignettes is aimed at sharing current and interesting research findings from our team of international Entrepreneurship researchers. In this vignette, post-doctoral research fellow Michael Stuetzer considers the effects and origins of balanced skills.