Shifting family involvement during the entrepreneurial process

Purpose Using an entrepreneurial network perspective, this article seeks to investigate the involvement of family members during early stages of the entrepreneurial process – the time from intention until the business is established. Design/methodology/approach A multivariate statistical regression analysis was carried out on data generated through two associated data collections: the Danish Global Entrepreneurship Monitor population survey and a connected follow‐up survey using the name‐generator approach. Findings The survey results reveal that the family members’ involvement differs depending on the phase of the entrepreneurial process. Family members are most strongly involved in the emergence phase when the final decision to start or not has to be made. Furthermore, involvement of family members is most common when entrepreneurs are young and have higher education of no more than three years duration. Family members tend to be males with whom entrepreneurs have strong ties and these family members tend to be more critical than other actors in other role‐relationships. Research limitations/implications The article provides empirical support for a family embedded perspective on entrepreneurship. Originality/value The study uses a representative sample of entrepreneurs across four phases of the entrepreneurial process which enables an investigation on how family inclusion changes during the entrepreneurial process.