Mainstream or Incidental Phenomenon overlooked by Public Policy? The Case of Quebec

Nowadays, the entrepreneurial process frequently takes on complex pathways, and an increasing number of individuals combine wage employment and venture creation. In this way, so-called hybrid entrepreneurs can test their business ideas at their pace on a small scale before deciding to shift to full entrepreneurship. The hybrid entrepreneurial path has proved to be beneficial for enterprises? survival and innovativeness. Yet, wage employment and entrepreneurship have been mostly considered mutually exclusive, people belong to one or another category. Unsurprisingly, policy makers seem to overlook hybrid entrepreneurship, focusing their attention on the more general self-employed population or on high-growth potential ventures. Drawing on data from the 2015 Quebec Entrepreneurial Index and prior research, I argue that overlooking hybrid entrepreneurship contravenes the interest of public policies to foster innovative and sustainable enterprises.