• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.63-73
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• 2019

Recently, as young and senior entrepreneurs are getting interested in starting a business, the domestic startup rate is gradually increasing. However, the survival rate of start-ups is so low. In this regard, this study empirically examines how the entrepreneurial intention affects both financial and non-financial start-up performances through the intermediation effects of experiential competence, financing competency, marketing competence and differentiated competitive advantage. In doing so, the purpose of this study is to find out the key elements to successful start-ups. To this end, the survey results of 200 start-ups in Pohang from January 21 to February 1, 2019 were used to test the research hypotheses. The results of the study are summarized as follows. First, it is shown that the entrepreneurial intention have a positive effect on the experiential competence, financing competence and marketing competence. Second, it is found that both experiential competence and marketing competence have significant positive effects on the differentiated competitive advantage. On the other hand, the financing competence has not been shown to have a significant effect on the differentiated competitive advantage, which might result from the characteristic of the data that most of the respondents are from new businesses. Third, it is shown that the differentiated competitive advantage has a positive effect on both financial and non-financial performances. In conclusion, the results of this study suggest a theoretical basis for the successful start-up performance. Namely, it is necessary for the founders of start-ups to secure differentiated competitive advantage through the entrepreneurial intention and the entrepreneurial competences such as financing competence and marketing competence because the differentiated competitive advantage leads to the successful financial and non-financial start-up performances. In addition, the results of this study suggest to both entrepreneurs and managers that for the successful business performance, it is important for them to make continuous efforts to come up with new ideas and to reinforce financing and marketing activities in order to achieve the differentiated competitive advantage.