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Environmental dynamics affect all sectors, and retailing is no exception. Scholarships reveal that, in such turbulent times, entrepreneurial characteristics are essential for business. In academic research, entrepreneurial characteristics like entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and entrepreneurial competence (EC) are seldom evaluated for retailers. This study aims to decode the impact of small retailers’ EO and EC on firm business performance (BP). It also traces the mediation effect of EC in the relationship between EO and BP.

The study executed among 740 small retailers is a pioneering work to trace EO’s efficacy via EC on the retailer’s BP. The present research is a primal work in the Indian context. This work redesigns the EC scale to suit the retail context and evaluate its mediation role in the EO and BP relationship.

Examining the mediation model through structural equation modelling (SEM) adds empirical evidence to entrepreneurial value creation (EVC) theory and throws light on the indispensable qualities required for small business retailers. The outcomes of the SEM model portray that there is an association between the EO, EC and BP.

This study, though carried out methodically, it is constrained by the ensuing intricacies. The investigation was limited to the small- and medium-retailers engaged in retailing with a floor space from 500 to 5,000 square feet. All three constructs used in the study are measured using the self-reported perceptual scale, which infuses the subjectivity in the data. Exploring the EO and EC of widely dispersed retailers, examining the entrepreneurial character of large-format independent retailers and evaluating financial performance measures through retailers will add value to the study in future.

The study verified the central role of EC in the intangible resource-reward relationship. Among the five pillars of EVC theory, the role of intention and external finance are not considered in this work. The present work explored the EO and EC of existing retailers, and hence intention is excluded. The study concentrates on small retailers, and the role of external financing is not explored. Mishra and Zachary (2014b) opined that the EVC process should be studied in different context and listed out several prepositions. Considering the role of intention and external financing and studying several prepositions spelt out in the theory in varying contexts will throw more lights on the EVC process.

In today’s technology-led volatile business environment all established businesses are trembling and retailing is no exception. Exploration of the entrepreneurial side of retailers will expose the essential attitudes to survive in the new world order. The present study is an endeavor towards this end.

In this descriptive research, a pre-tested entrepreneurial orientation questionnaire constructed by De Nobrega (2012) was adopted, and it was fine-tuned to suit for the retail environment. Initially, an exploratory study was organized, and it was followed by confirmatory factor analysis. Data collected were analyzed with SPSS 23.0, and the conceptual model was validated in AMOS 23.0.

The study evinces that the retailer’s entrepreneurial orientation is induced by five factors, namely, autonomy, risk-taking, innovation, competitive aggressiveness and pro-activeness. The study exposes the five dimensions and their ascendancy on business performance.

The study is operationalized in a small sample, confined to two types of trade, limited to small and medium retailers in Chennai and all the constructs are measured with the help of perceptual self-reporting scales.

The study highlights that the art of spearheading retail business performance lies in attitude orientation. This work will propel retailers and trade bodies to nurture the entrepreneurial orientation.

The study emphasizes that boosting entrepreneurial mindset of retailers will enable them to achieve business progress and protects the grass root sector of the society.

This work is the very first study to identify and evaluate the impact of five-dimensional entrepreneurial orientation construct on small and medium retailer’s business performance. The present study is a pioneering empirical contribution to the Indian context.