Pivotal moment

Nationally, about 50% of all business startups in the U.S. vanish by their fifth year (Fisher, Maritz, & Lobo, 2014). In a recent survey, the U.S. Census Bureau (2015) has identified 5.4 million small businesses in operation today, with about 67% of them having fewer than 20 employees. This majority of all small businesses are known as micro-business enterprises (MBE) and are run by micro-business owners (MBO). In this qualitative phenomenological study, decision-making processes through the principles of causation and effectuation were explored on MBOs whose MBE has fewer than 15 employees. There is a gap identifying challenges MBO's experience between the phase where the MBE transitions out of the startup phase and moves into the growth phase-a point in the business cycle known as the inflection point (Dimovski, Penger, Peterlin, & Uhan, 2013). The findings in the study supported the problem statement in that MBO behavioral characteristics are the primary drivers that can impact the operating of a successful or unsuccessful business.