Advancing entrepreneurial career success : the role of passion, persistence, and risk-taking propensity

Objective: The objective of the article is to investigate the influence of passion on entrepreneurial career success while the mediating effects of persistence and risk-taking propensity between passion and success are explored. Research Design & Methods: Questionnaires were administered to collect data about passion, persistence, entrepreneurial career success, and risk-taking. PLS-SEM was applied for testing the hypotheses with the use of 256 usable responses. Findings: Statistically significant and positive relationships were found in the direct relationships: passion-persistence, passion-risk-taking, passion-success, persistence-success, and risk-taking-success, while persistence and risk-taking were found to mediate the passion-success association. Implications & Recommendations: The importance of passion as an influence is verified and can be utilised for nurturing efforts that drive positive persistence and risk-taking propensity for entrepreneurial career success. Contribution & Value Added: The shortage of studies that explored the relationships between passion, persistence, and risk-taking for the career success of entrepreneurs motivated the present research. Exploring the intervening effect of risk-taking propensity and persistence between passion and success is unprecedented.