Doug and Polly White, owners of Whitestone Partners Inc, have recently wrote an article for Entrepreneur, in which they state that Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory does not apply at all for entrepreneurs.

Abraham Maslow created a pyramid of needs that aims to explain how humans are motivated. In the bottom, he set physiological needs (food, shelter and sleep), followed by safety needs (financial and job security). According to Maslow, in order to satisfy higher level needs, such as love, self-esteem, these basic needs must be fulfilled. Moreover, the only way people can reach self-actualization is by meeting all previous needs.

Nevertheless, Mr and Mrs White say that this theory cannot explain the way entrepreneurs think and act.

To begin with, entrepreneurs put their basic needs aside in order to pursue what they are actually passionate about. The Whites state that “entrepreneurs push themselves to the breaking point, enduring high levels of stress as they confront the unknown path ahead.”

Furthermore, they are willing to discard safety and financial security, disregarding failure statistics, quitting their jobs and initiating their start-ups.

As far as family and friends are concerned, entrepreneurs tend to put all their time and efforts in their project, paying less attention to their love ones.

This combination of facts and attitudes lead to people believing that entrepreneurs tend to be rather crazy: leaving their jobs, security, safety, spending so much time on their start-up, etc. However, entrepreneurs tend to remain confident and keep on moving to achieve their goals.

To conclude, the Whites claim that the entrepreneurs they know actually start with self-actualization. “They are fulfilling their dreams and desires…. They are one with their endeavors and the struggle is part of the joy.”

For all these reasons, the couple concludes that Maslow’s theory simply does not apply to entrepreneurs.

Source: Entrepreneur