Entrepreneurship in Time of Crisis: The Outsourcing of Services Through Franchise Arrangements in the Italian Food Service Industry

Macroeconomic factors, such as the current financial crisis, affect citizens' entrepreneurial spirits. Start-ups are beneficial to the economic growth of a certain state only to the extent to which they prove successful. Accordingly, by testing affirmed entrepreneurship theories with quantitative and qualitative information provided by official reports and financial newspapers, this article aims first to uncover factors that actually (a) increase the start-up rate in time of crisis and (b) ensure a higher successful rate; and second, to identify which business models, formulas, and solutions best address those factors within the commercial context of the Italian food service industry.