Exploring passion in hobby-related entrepreneurship. Evidence from Italian cases

The paper builds upon research on passion in entrepreneurship to investigate domain passion in addition to entrepreneurial passion, and its role in the entrepreneurial process, thus expanding the conception of passion in entrepreneurship. The paper draws a picture of hobby-related entrepreneurship, focusing on entrepreneurs who start up a business out of a passion, cultivated in hobbies and leisure time, for the domain of their venture and product or service it provides. Two main questions are debated: how is domain passion related to entrepreneurial passion? What is the role of domain passion in the entrepreneurial process? The methodology adopted is qualitative, namely a qualitative approach including two cases of Italian companies. The empirical analysis allows to depict the hobby-related entrepreneurial process, triggered by domain passion. Domain and entrepreneurial passion activate a virtuous circle in which domain passion fuels and is fuelled by entrepreneurial passion.