• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.125-140
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• 2023

Careful preparation for a start-up can lower the risk of failure and create a successful business model. However, there are still challenges for middle-aged entrepreneurs, as start-up services and policies are often not readily accessible or fully utilized. Despite active research on middle-aged start-ups, previous studies have not delved deeply into the demographics of start-up preparation and various preparation behaviors. In response to this, a study was conducted to identify which start-up support services middle-aged entrepreneurs use, and how start-up preparation can be classified based on this. Data from 324 middle-aged tech start-up owners, based in Seoul and who started their businesses within the past 7 years, was collected and analyzed. The results showed that middle-aged entrepreneurs had moderate start-up preparation, with the greatest focus on the preparation period and the least focus on start-up education. Latent Profile Analysis revealed three groups of start-up preparation types among middle-aged entrepreneurs: "Overall Tribal Type," "Lack of Start-up Education Type," and "Comprehensive Preparation Type." BCH was performed on start-up satisfaction, start-up competence, fear of failure, access to start-up services, and support needs for middle-aged entrepreneurs based on the preparation type. The results showed that "Overall Tribal Type" had statistically lower start-up satisfaction, competence, and service accessibility compared to the other groups. Meanwhile, "Comprehensive Preparation Type" had a statistically lower fear of failure than the other types. "Overall Tribal Type" also had lower accessibility to middle-aged start-up services. All types had a high recognition of the need for support for specialized middle-aged start-ups. The findings highlight the need for more comprehensive support for middle-aged entrepreneurs. This could include expanding support projects to enhance their level of preparation, providing customized support based on their level of preparation, and improving the visibility and accessibility of start-up support services for middle-aged individuals. Additionally, specialized education that addresses the characteristics of middle-aged individuals should be provided.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.81-96
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of entrepreneurial mentoring as an effective support method to increase the awareness and entrepreneurial intention of university students. Therefore, the mediating effect of social support and entrepreneurial self-efficacy was demonstrated in the relationship between entrepreneurial mentoring and entrepreneurial intention. As a result of the analysis, the positive role of entrepreneurial mentoring was confirmed as an influencing factor to increase the intention of young prospective entrepreneurs to set up and increase their expectations for social support. Specifically, entrepreneurial mentoring had a significant positive effect on entrepreneurial intention, social support, and entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Social support had a significant positive effect on entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intention, respectively, and partially mediated the relationship between entrepreneurial mentoring and entrepreneurial intention. Entrepreneurial self-efficacy had a positive effect on entrepreneurial intention, and entrepreneurial self-efficacy fully mediated between entrepreneurial mentoring and entrepreneurial intention. Through this study, it was proved that entrepreneurial mentoring is an important factor that positively influences entrepreneurial intention, social support, and entrepreneurial self-efficacy. In addition, by identifying the effect of social support on entrepreneurial self-efficacy, it was confirmed that the individual's self-confidence and efficacy increased when they recognized the belief or utilization of social support. Finally, by confirming that entrepreneurial mentoring has a positive effect on social support and that social support mediates between entrepreneurial mentoring and entrepreneurial intention, the entrepreneurial mentoring program raises the entrepreneurial intention to start a business and helps founders to social support. It has been confirmed that it can be used as a way to raise the awareness and effect of startup supporting policy in practice as well.