What Is It that Entrepreneurs Learn from Experience?

The issue of whether or not entrepreneurs really learn from experience has been one of the key themes of entrepreneurship research. If they do learn from experience, what do they learn? The importance of knowledge and learning to the performance of a business has been highlighted by many authors, who emphasize the role of life cycle, learning from mentors, experience and/or critical incidents. This paper reports on a series of interviews with mature and experienced entrepreneurs in Scotland who have been directly involved, for a substantial time, with significant business successes and failures. It is argued that prior knowledge and ongoing learning play a key role in the founder's ability to deal with the changing role they have and to acquire the necessary skills to grow the business. The crucial issue is how learning can be supported in the context of start-up and existing entrepreneurial businesses. To address this, the authors present a conceptual model made up of four elements: experience, learning, knowledge and business performance. It is concluded that entrepreneurs take time to develop their skills and need to be given the opportunity to do so if successful start-ups are to be achieved. In the main, the skills they develop in people selection and team building seem to be key determinants of their success. (Contains 1 table, 1 figure and 1 note.)