This special issue aims to better understand how individual entrepreneurs demonstrate creativity and adaptability to overcome the obstacles they face. We aim to highlight and bring into dialogue the practices and strategies used, or that could be used, to enhance the resilience of these economic actors, whether they come from entrepreneurs, professionals supporting individual entrepreneurs, or researchers. It would also be useful to identify perspectives, opportunities, or threats that these entrepreneurs should prepare for in terms of resilience.
Faced with the challenges and opportunities they encounter, this special issue will explore various aspects of their resilience through a multidisciplinary perspective. We therefore encourage contributions that draw from psychology, sociology, economics, law, governance, life sciences, or the contributions of information systems and new technologies in contexts of resilience (Frimousse & Peretti, 2021). We will specifically ask what contributions and challenges individual entrepreneurs face in terms of resilience, as well as the roles played by the environment or context. These contributions will provide insights into this category of entrepreneurs, which is the most widespread but not necessarily the most studied in research.
These contributions can take the form of research articles, articles focused on dialogue with the field conducted with or without academic collaboration, presentations of innovative practices, as well as Inspirations, drawing from culture in a broad sense (literature, performing arts, visual arts, etc.) to shed light on the theme from innovative perspectives.
Themes and questions to be addressed
- Resilience strategies of entrepreneurs in polycrisis contexts;
- The role of governments and their impact on entrepreneurs’ resilience;
- The influence of emotions on individual entrepreneurs’ strategies in crisis contexts;
- The legal aspects of individual entrepreneurs’ resilience (regulatory frameworks, support mechanisms, commercial contracts, dispute management, data protection…);
- The influence of different forms of individual businesses (micro-enterprises, freelancing, umbrella companies, activity cooperatives, trial entrepreneurship…) on entrepreneurs’ resilience;
- The cultural and social dimensions influencing the resilience of individual entrepreneurs; comparative studies between entrepreneurs from the Global North and South could be interesting, for example through the analysis of variables that foster resilience, such as frugal innovation, bricolage, or the use of social networks;
- The role of information technologies in entrepreneurs’ resilience;
- The biological foundations of entrepreneurial resilience: for instance, how do living mechanisms affect entrepreneurs’ ability to cope with stress and change?
- The psychological aspects of entrepreneurs’ resilience: what role do psychological factors play in managing challenges and uncertainties?
- Training individual entrepreneurs in resilience;
- The limits of resilience discourse and its effects on entrepreneurs, as dominant narratives about entrepreneurship often emphasize success stories and entrepreneurs who have overcome obstacles to achieve success;
- How can advances in neuroscience shed light on how entrepreneurs make decisions in the face of adversity?
- The impact of technological innovations on entrepreneurs’ mental well-being;
- Cyber-resilience among entrepreneurs and its contribution to business continuity to guard against attacks.
Key Dates
- Submission of manuscripts (Version 1): 03/15/2025
- Decision by guest editors – desk reject: from 03/16/2025 to 04/01/2025
- First round of review: from 04/01/2025 to 05/15/2025
- Manuscript revisions by authors (Version 2): from 05/15/2025 to 08/15/2025
- Second round of review: from 08/15/2025 to 09/30/2025
- Final adjustments (15 days): from 09/30/2025 to 10/05/2025 Edition and publication: 01/01/2026
