There are fewer female entrepreneurs than their male counterparts worldwide. This disparity persists even in countries like Sweden with the highest gender equality index scores and therefore presumed to be more gender equal. Moreover, women are underrepresented in the entrepreneurship literature. With fewer studies exploring female entrepreneurs and the gender-specific challenges, they face because ofinsufficient support, financial and otherwise. Gender equality in entrepreneurship has socio-economic importance and it plays a significant role in the overall economic growth. Making entrepreneurship a crucial economic development tool for women. With previous research showing that female entrepreneurs tend to exit their ventures at a higher rate, in this study we have explored the entrepreneurial exit decisions of female entrepreneurs with a focus on Sweden. Through our qualitative study, we interviewed 10 women that had previously made an entrepreneurial exit. Our findings show that female entrepreneurs mostly exit due to voluntary reasons, which affirms previous research that has found that female entrepreneurs are more likely to exit voluntarily than male entrepreneurs for mostly personal reasons and not because of underperformance (Justo et al., 2015; Jawarna et al., 2020). Moreover, we have further explored voluntary exits and involuntary exits. With findings showing that voluntary exits happen mostly due to management-related issues, economic instability, geographic relocation, or when the entrepreneur finds what they perceive as a better opportunity. All the involuntary exits in this study were a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study contributes to the literature of entrepreneurial exit as well as gender studies with its recommendations.

Czech economic depends on small and medium enterprises that represent 99.84 % of all active Czech enterprises. Every single region in the Czech Republic is strongly interconnected with SMEs. Every entrepreneurial subject similarly to every person has its parent the founder that set up, managed and developed the business. Despite the enormous progress the humans have made one thing we cannot change and that is the simple time going by and with it related growing old and mortality of humans. There always comes the time in the life of every business founder to leave their business. Further existence of the business unit depends on what exit path the entrepreneur-founder chooses and how he handles this process. Its further existence is the key for the stability of economics and influences the inhabitants' welfare in the region, the business unit comes from. The enterprise can lose or earn much when the founder leaves. The leadership change is a huge intervention in functioning enterprise, and becomes a milestone in its next existence. The European Commission's Directorate General Enterprise and Industry stated that "Approximately one third of European enterprises will need to be transferred to the next generation in the coming 10 years. This means that an average of 610 000 small and medium-sized enterprises will be changing hands each year, potentially affecting 2.4 million jobs." Considering this I carried out the first research among the Czech entrepreneurs about their exit from their businesses so far. Based on this research I can state that the question of entrepreneurial exit is topical for interviewees. More than a half of respondents applied themselves to this question more or less, however only 30 % of them are prepared for the entrepreneur's exit and have a prepared plan. Next 30 % of respondents' firms are endangered by sudden incident because they have no plan for the case of the entrepreneur's exit. One half of interviewees that have already thought about heir exit would like to leave their business in a 5-year-horrizons. Whether the entrepreneur addresses his entrepreneurial exit or not depends mainly on his age, time spent by building the business and the number of employees. The entrepreneurs are attached to their businesses and they retire only reluctantly. The least of interviewees (only 2 % of entrepreneurs) would choose the complete transfer to another family member, i. e. not only passing the manager's post but also the whole ownership share. On the contrary most of the respondents would like to keep at least some ownership share and pass only the control over the firm. Some of the exit path factors are the entrepreneur's age, motivation to set up the business, current situation and expected future progress of the firm, and engagement of other family members within the business. All interviewees that had clear plan of their entrepreneurial exit and would choose passing the business to other family member were pushed into starting the business. When the respondents perceived the current business situation as positive they preferred such exit path that their business would survive. At the same time they would not choose business liquidation when they expected positive further development of the firm. Out of 14 respondents that would like to pass the control to their family member, 65 % stated that other family members were engaged in the business. The higher the age of the entrepreneur the higher the probability that the leaving entrepreneur will pass their business to their family member in some way.

Most entrepreneurs have families that highly influence their business­ activities. However, scholars have paid limited attention to how the family as a specific social context impacts entrepreneurial outcomes, such as new venture creation, firm growth, and exit from entrepreneurship­. This thesis investigates how the family influences such outcomes at different levels of analysis: the individual level, the firm level, and the regional level.  The theoretical framework is developed by integrating the theory­ of social embeddedness with literature on family business and entrepreneurship­. Empirical evidence is based on a unique multi-level­ Swedish database combining individual-, firm-, and regional-level data. By providing an in-depth understanding of whether the family influence pertains to the whole entrepreneurial process or only to particular entrepreneurial outcomes, this thesis contributes to a new understanding of the family’s role in entrepreneurship. / <p>Diss. Stockholm :  Stockholm School of Economics, 2014.</p>

An entrepreneurial exit achieved through sale is the goal for many entrepreneurs and is often portrayed as a finish line. In reality, however, it marks the starting point of a business transfer process that can span several years. This study examines business transfers from a process perspective within the context of entrepreneurial small and medium-sized enterprises and from the entrepreneur's point of view. This is an area that is still considered unexplored and is referred to as entrepreneurial transfer in this study. The aim of the study is to contribute valuable empirical evidence to develop the subject, shed light on the area within the context of entrepreneurial small and medium-sized enterprises, and encourage further research. Six entrepreneurs have been interviewed in a semi-structured interview study, and the empirical data has been analyzed phenomenographically. The study identifies several patterns in how the process of entrepreneurial transfers occurs according to the entrepreneur, as well as how the entrepreneur perceives the process to be influenced by factors related to business transfers and small and medium-sized enterprises. The study provides valuable knowledge for both researchers and entrepreneurs by highlighting deficiencies and identifying gaps in existing research, serving as a basis for entrepreneurs to make informed decisions regarding an entrepreneurial transfer. / En entreprenöriell exit via försäljning är en målsättning för många entreprenörer och framställs ofta som ett målsnöre. I verkligheten är detta dock startskottet för en företagsöverlåtelse som kan vara i flera år. Denna studie undersöker företagsöverlåtelser ur ett processperspektiv i kontexten för entreprenöriella små och medelstora företag och ur entreprenörens perspektiv. Detta är ett område som ännu är att anses outforskat och i denna studie benämns som entreprenöriell överlåtelse.  Studien syftar till att bidra med värdefull empiri för att utveckla ämnet, belysa området i kontexten för entreprenöriella små och medelstora företag och uppmana till vidare forskning. Sex entreprenörer har intervjuats i en semistrukturerad intervjustudie och det empiriska underlaget har analyserats fenomenografiskt. Studien identifierar ett antal mönster för hur processen för entreprenöriella överlåtelser sker enligt entreprenören samt hur entreprenören anser processen påverkas av faktorer kopplade till företagsöverlåtelser och små och medelstora företag. Därtill bidrar den med värdefull kunskap för både forskare och entreprenörer genom att belysa brister och identifiera hål i befintlig forskning samt agera underlag för entreprenörer att ta informerade beslut inför en entreprenöriell överlåtelse.