Re-entrepreneurial experience and learning during challenging times

This study theorizes how entrepreneurs in an emerging economy deal with adverse external scenarios by taking advantage of their previous business failure experiences. Using grounded theory and multiple case study approach, we found that individuals with re-entrepreneurial experiences exhibit greater resilience and prioritize re-building social capital as part of their crisis management tactics. This finding contrasts with those who are new entrepreneurs who do not have failure experience. Our study provides a conceptual framework to understand what re-entrepreneurs have learned from previous failure/crisis experiences to build resilience and strategically manage internal crises that were caused by exogenous events (e.g., social movements and the COVID-19 pandemic). Policymakers, entrepreneurs, and educators can benefit from the re-entrepreneurs’ learning lessons and strategic implications of this study.