The study is theoretically grounded in the resource-based view and applied to a service industrytourism.
It examined the performance of small ventures by utilizing an integrated dynamic model of
entrepreneur choices and resource accumulation. Each phase in the process is added to previous one.
Findings from 305 small tourism ventures revealed that the human capital of the entrepreneur,
particularly managerial skills, were the greatest contributing factor to performance. This was
followed by venture type. The study illustrates the unique nature of the entrepreneurial process
among small ventures, often defined as blifestyle businessesQ.