How do Creative Entrepreneurs Respond to the Tension Between Art and Business?

Relying on the paradox and entrepreneurship literatures, coupled with social network and practice theories, this study uncovers how creative entrepreneurs respond to the tension between art and business in terms of their inherent motivations, social ties and practices in the process of creative entrepreneurship, divided into three cumulative phases of prelaunch, launch and post-launch. The multiple case studies method is used by examining founders of creative enterprises operating in the film industry in Europe. The research contributes to the under-researched phenomenon of creative entrepreneurship from both personality and social perspectives, to the literature on paradox and contradiction by exploring the micro-foundations of tensions, to the practice theory by highlighting the agency of creative entrepreneurs in generating and adapting practices necessary to deal with conflicting demands of creative entrepreneurship. Managerial implications for the training of creative entrepreneurs are highlighted.