Exploring multi-firm entrepreneurship behaviour in a family business context

This article explores multi-firm processes within a family business environment in order to reach a better understanding of the motiva- tions and expectations for entrepreneurial behaviour in portfolio own- ership. An investigation was carried out within the context of multiple en- trepreneurship, by means of in-depth interviews targeted on entrepre- neurs who owned, or had owned, at least two firms. It yielded an im- portant finding: the widespread phenomenon of multifirm ownership frequently originates and develops within a family context through the initiative of one or more family members, giving rise to examples of multi-business realities controlled by a single family. We follow the reasoning that an established business may offer im- portant strategic resources (Barney, 1991), giving its founder a distinct advantage in the creation of new economic initiatives. The entrepre- neurial environment may include resources and relationships that can be reinvested and exploited to develop further opportunities, giving family-based entrepreneurs an incentive to multiply and diversify their activities with the edge over those at their first experience. The entrepreneurial skills acquired by a member of the family through his experience in the business, together with the family values and a sense of belonging, contribute to develop a background oriented towards the recognition of business opportunities, the search for and exploitation of information and an entrepreneurial mindset. 137 138 De Joannon A. – Garraffo F. The purpose of this study is to use the resource-based view (Pen- rose 1959; Wernerfelt 1984; Habbershon & Williams, 1999), to ex- plore the connections between the original firm and subsequent busi- ness initiatives, examining why and how the family firm structure de- velops within a multi-firm context as a result of the initiative of one or more family members already operating in the existing firm. We also explore the entrepreneur’s advantages through the possible relation- ship between the original firm and subsequent start-ups, with the aim of providing a contribution to literature regarding the dynamics under- lying multi-firm creation processes.