Perseverance of effort and consistency of interest for entrepreneurial career success

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of grit (consistency of interest and perseverance of effort) on entrepreneurial career success (career satisfaction, perceived career achievement and perceived financial attainment) through the role of resilience. Design/methodology/approach The study was cross-sectional, and the data were collected using questionnaires from 111 entrepreneurs in Nigeria who have been in business for over five years and were selected using purposive sampling technique. The study used Smart-PLS to assess the measurement and structural model. Findings The perseverance of effort was related to all the aspects of career success as well as resilience. But consistency of interest was positively related to only perceived financial attainment. It also predicted resilience. Resilience was also related to all the facets of career success. All three mediation hypotheses were supported. Research limitations/implications The study delivered fascinating understandings into the structures of grit. The Western conceptualisation of grit may not be valid in a collectivist society where consistency is not that very much considered. Practical implications The study helps to further validate grit in the entrepreneurship field; the construct is a facilitator of entrepreneurial action and an indispensable source of energy that can revitalise the entrepreneur along the arduous road to success. Originality/value The two components of grit can have a dissimilar influence on different outcomes – as prior investigations, although recognising that the two components are conceptually dissimilar, have rarely studied them so empirically.