This study explores how social entrepreneurs get access to resource, in an everyday basis, depending on the development stage of their organisation. We conduct 25 case studies of social enterprises, and individual interviews, with the founders and managers of the social enterprises. The interviews show that the resource acquisition process is based on a combination of three entrepreneurial perspectives, which are bricolage, causation and effectuation. In addition, we find that the modes of resource acquisition differ according to the stage of development of the social enterprise. During the emergence stage, the social entrepreneurs are more effectuation-oriented. During the growth and sustainability stages, they are more bricolage oriented. Causation is used at a very low degree. Our study contributes to the literature of social entrepreneurship by providing insights in setting strategies for resource mobilisation depending on the development stage of the social enterprise.
