The Invisible Bedrock: Business Families, Networks and the Creation of Entrepreneurial Space

Abstract

Business families-families with an established track record in developing businesses-are a key facet of communities. Space, defined here as the freedom to live and develop as you wish is, it is argued, one vital facet in the start-up and development of businesses which family may provide, alongside the resources which support business start-up and development. The current paper uses case study methodology to look at the manner in which a family has created space for business start-up and development, drawing on networks and capital to facilitate collective entrepreneurship. By using a case study to consider the manner in which business families create space for enterprise, this paper aims to stimulate discussion around the manner in which the concepts of business families and space may be allied and to add empirical evidence that extends earlier theorisations around the concept of space and its implications in a business family context. 2013 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.