Opportunity Recognition and Exploitation Among Serial SME Owners in Rwanda

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@article{1708726,
      author = {Mukasa Stanley, Aliyu Umar },
      title = {Opportunity Recognition and Exploitation Among Serial SME Owners in Rwanda},
      journal = {Iconic Research And Engineering Journals},
      year = {2025},
      volume = {8},
      number = {11},
      pages = {1695-1703},
      issn = {2456-8880},
      url = {https://www.irejournals.com/formatedpaper/1708726.pdf},
      abstract = {Despite the rising prominence of serial entrepreneurship in emerging markets, little is known about how repeated venturing shapes opportunity recognition in institutionally fluid, resource-constrained environments. This study investigates how serial SME entrepreneurs in Rwanda identify and exploit opportunities across ventures, offering context-grounded insights into the evolution of entrepreneurial cognition. Based on qualitative interviews with nine founders operating in strategic sectors, we examine how cognitive logics shift with experience, and how entrepreneurs navigate uncertainty through experiential learning and networked adaptation. We find that opportunity recognition is not a fixed trait but a dynamic, cumulative capability. Entrepreneurs initially employ causation-based strategies goal-driven, predictive, and informed by formal planning. Over time, they transition toward effectual reasoning, repurposing prior failures, leveraging tacit knowledge, and engaging social capital as strategic tools. These hybrid logics are both shaped by and responsive to the local entrepreneurial ecosystem, revealing how cognition and context co-evolve in African markets. The study advances entrepreneurial cognition theory by showing how adaptive expertise develops through serial venturing in informal economies. It also offers actionable insights for entrepreneurship education and policy, advocating for experiential learning models, peer-driven mentorship, and demand-led ecosystem support tailored to serial entrepreneurs in Africa.},
      keywords = {Serial entrepreneurship, opportunity recognition, entrepreneurial cognition, causation and effectuation, experiential learning, adaptive expertise, social capital, informal economies, entrepreneurial ecosystems, Rwanda},
      month = {May},
  }