Les émotions au cœur de l’échec et du suicide patronal

The failure of a business, the abandonment of an entrepreneurial project or the liquidation of a company is losses that arouse strong emotional reactions in SME owner managers. In extreme cases, they can even lead to suicide. Can we identify key emotions that will help us to better understand and prevent suicides by SME owner managers when their business fails? Emotions have been studied very little in the suicidal process of failed business owners. Using case studies, this article sheds light on the link between failure, emotions and suicide in the entrepreneurial world. It highlights the key emotions experienced during the failure process and shows how they influence the type of suicide committed by the entrepreneur. Finally, it highlights the importance of differentiated awareness-raising among those involved in supporting entrepreneurs, depending on their role in the business failure process.