Well-Being, Personal Success and Business Performance Among Entrepreneurs: A Two-Wave Study

this two-wave longitudinal study among 121 entrepreneurs in the netherlands investigated bi-directional relationships between entrepreneurs’ well-being and performance. results of smart pls analyses showed positive well-being at time 1 (work engagement; life satisfaction; and job satisfaction) predicted subjective entrepreneurial success 2 years later, both as indicated by entrepreneurs’ reports of achieved financial success (including personal income security and wealth, business turn-over, sales and profit growth), as well as perceptions of achieved personal success (personal fulfilment, community impact and employee relations). no relations were found with objective indicators of business performance (profit; turnover; and number of employees) over time. the expected recursive relationship between performance and well-being was only found in the short term; a better objective financial situation immediately preceding the second measurement moment, predicted better well-being at t2. these results are both in line with a well-being–performance (gain) cycle, and the happiness set-point thesis that predicts resilience in the face of events. this paper contributes to the literature by emphasizing the importance of entrepreneurs’ well-being as a key factor in long-term subjective financial and personal entrepreneurial success. the practical implication is that entrepreneurs should maintain and improve their own well-being to achieve positive long term business outcomes.