A Profile of Business Start-ups among Work Integration Enterprises in Flanders

Eva Deraedt, Caroline Gijselinckx & Wim Van Opstal

Abstract:

In recent years, business start-ups and early stage entrepreneurship received a considerable amount of attention, both among academics, entrepreneurs and policy makers (Watson, Hogarth-Scott & Wilson, 1998, Reid & Smith, 2000, Cassar, 2004). Indeed a careful analysis of the profile of new enterprises will deepen our understanding of factors that foster or hamper entrepreneurship and may reflect innovations that take place within these new enterprises. In the social economy many business start-ups are a direct result of public policies seeking to create employment for vulnerable groups in the labour market but also seeking to meet new particular needs, especially in the area of services to households. However academic work on business start-ups in the social economy remains scarce (Perrini, 2006).

In this paper we map a profile of business start-ups among work integration enterprises in Flanders (Belgium). In addition to its financial and social profile, we focus on social innovations that take place in these enterprises, compared to its mature counterparts and the regular economy. We utilize data from a newly designed monitoring instrument for the social insertion economy in Flanders. These data allow us to grasp important aspects of social innovation among business start-ups, including innovations in services provided and differences in worker profiles. We also evaluate whether these start-ups succeed more successfully, compared to mature social enterprises and the regular economy, in employing vulnerable groups, including persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities, long-term unemployed, and assess the gender perspective in all these dimensions.

The empirical analysis will allow us to assess insights from theoretical work on business start-ups and social innovation. Furthermore, the confrontation of empirical results with theoretical predictions will allow us to identify bottlenecks for further growth and undertakings of social innovation within the social economy. Therefore, we conclude with recommendations, both for policy makers and entrepreneurs, but set out pathways for further research as well.

References:

Cassar, G., (2004), The Financing of Business Start-ups, Journal of Business Venturing 19 (20): 261-283.

Perrini, F. (ed.) (2006), The New Social Entrepreneurship: What Awaits Social Entrepreneurship Ventures? Cheltenham and Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 341p.

Reid, G. & Smith, J., (2000), What Makes a New Business Start-up Successful? Small Business Economics 14 (3): 165-182

Watson, K., Hogarth-Scott, S. & Wilson, N. (1998), Small Business Start-Ups: Success Factors and Support Implications, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research 4 (3): 217-238.