Identification and Exploitation Process of Entrepreneurial Opportunities in Micro and Small Enterprises in Chapada da Ibiapaba – Ceará – Brazil

With the increase in the number of companies in the last ten years, exploring and identifying opportunities in business creation, with the aim of making them lasting, profitable and successful, has become difficult. The general objective of this research is to understand the process of exploring and identifying opportunities for leading restaurant owners in creating their businesses, from the perspective of effectuation and causation theories, according to Sarasvathy (2001). To achieve the objective of the study, qualitative research of descriptive character was carried out. Data were collected through interviews, with the application of an individual semi-structured questionnaire carried out with four managing owners. For data analysis, the recommendations of Eisenhardt (1989) were followed, which seeks to carry out a data triangulation and analyzes between crossed cases according to the established variables. For the analysis of the dominant logic in the perception of the managing owners during the entrepreneurial process, the Iramuteq software was used to identify the frequency and similarity of the words found in the interviews. As a result of the research, a predominance of the causation profile was found in the business creation process. In the categories of planning process, influence on the idea and predisposition to risks and resource losses, an effectuation profile was identified. Finally, it is possible to state that most of the interviewed managing owners explore and identify opportunities, presenting behaviors of the effectuation profile in the decision-making processes, with the causation profile being identified only in the creation of the enterprise.