The currents of research grounded in the classic American paradigm of management run up against two main difficulties that both limit and weaken their results. The first difficulty is linked to the validity and accuracy of the measurement. How do you measure the performance of the companies created? Can the entrepreneur's goals be put aside? The second one relates to the notion of process and temporal non-homogeneity. When should performance be measured, for instance? To a certain extent, the ambition of this book is to answer some of these questions, thanks in particular to our model of the entrepreneurial process. However, I would like to go further and conclude by proposing a particular research approach that may help us better take into account the various points previously mentioned.

Conducting research on processes faces numerous problems

Within our perspective, the main problem is linked to the support of entrepreneurial projects, this being all the more necessary in cases of innovative and technological activities. This type of business start-up is a heterogeneous, complex and dynamic phenomenon, characterised by uncertainty. In France, the bearers of innovative activity creation projects have at their disposal easily accessible information, through the Internet in particular, thanks to the work accomplished by the Agence pour la Création d'Entreprise (APCE – business start-up agency). There are also support structures and incubators that may provide them with help and guidance (Albert, Fayolle and Marion 1994).