The role of resilience in entrepreneurial success: a comparative study of serial and first-time entrepreneurs

This paper compared serial entrepreneurs with first-time entrepreneurs in the creative and retail sectors of Nigeria to determine how resilience impacted their entrepreneurial success. More specifically, it examined the effects of resilience on firm growth, profitability, and general satisfaction with results from entrepreneurial activity. The adopted research approach was quantitative, and the instrument of research was a structured questionnaire administered online through Google Forms to elicit responses from a sample size of 200 entrepreneurs. Descriptive, correlational, and regression analyses were carried out to test the relationships among resilience and entrepreneurial success. The results indicated that serial entrepreneurs portray high resilience with higher business success compared to novice entrepreneurs. In both groups, resilience showed a positive relationship to business growth, profitability, and happiness. Regression analysis further proved that Resilience is one of the key drivers of entrepreneurial success, particularly for serial entrepreneurs. From these results, it can be concluded that resilience is an important factor in order to handle the challenges of entrepreneurship effectively and in terms of long-term success. The study therefore puts forward the desirability of resilience among nascent entrepreneurs and speculates that more concentrated support structures, like mentoring or training programs, may well be involved in their enhancement of propensity toward adaptation. Future research should investigate the impact of resilience in different cultural contexts and, importantly, add some objective performance indicators in order to validate results in this direction. Keywords:  Resilience, Entrepreneurial Success, Serial Entrepreneurs, First-Time Entrepreneurs, Nigeria.