Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ENTREPRENEUR
INTRODUCTION
The word 'entrepreneur' is derived from the Old French word 'entreprendre' which
was first used by the economic 'theorist' Richard Cantillon in 1755 in an essay
where he used this term to describe a person who assumed the risk of buying
goods in the belief that they could sell them at a higher price at a later time. So,
the term in French was used to describe 'one who undertakes' this particular risk.
Journalists have also been quick to place that tag on many of the colourful
corporate high flyers who have made incredible wealth in the world of business,
many at the expense of others and sometimes, if not outside their country's
governing laws, then quite possibly outside their moral ones. I believe that
entrepreneurs and these business people are two different species who operate in
the same sphere, but do so with a completely different mindset.
WHO IS AN ENTREPRENEUR?
Entrepreneur Is A Person Who Brings In Change Through Innovation For The
Maximum Social Good.
An entrepreneur is a person with a dream, originality and daring, who acts as the
boss, who decides as to how the commercial organization shall run, who co-
ordinates all activities or other factors of production, who anticipates the future
trend of demand and prices of products.
An entrepreneur is one of the important segments of economic growth. Basically
he is a person responsible for setting up a business or an enterprise. Infact, he is
one who has the initiative, skill for innovation and who looks for high
achievements. He is a catalytic agent of change and works for the good of people.
He puts up new green-field projects that create wealth, open up many employment
opportunities and leads to the growth of other sectors.
The entrepreneur displays courage to take risk of putting his money into an idea,
courage to face the competition and courage to take a leap into unknown future
and create new enterprises/ business. This creative process is the life blood of the
strong enterprise that leads to the growth and contributes to the national
development.
The entrepreneur will always work towards the creation and enhancement of
entrepreneurial society. The best entrepreneur in any developing country is not the
one who uses much capital but an individual who knows how to organize the
employment and training of his employees.
A classic example is that of Mr. Dhirubhai Ambani because he had all the dynamic
qualities of a successful entrepreneur, as a result of which today, he was the owner
of the largest private company in India. All decisions which he had taken to grow
were instinct and no one had taught him to take decisions.
We can define entrepreneur as one who innovates, raises money, assembles inputs,
choose managers and sets the organization going with his ability to identify them.
MEANING
• Someone who assumes the financial risk of the initiation, operation and
management of a business
• An entrepreneur is a person who has possession of an enterprise, or
venture, and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and
the outcome.
• Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to the type of personality who is
willing to take upon herself or himself a new venture or enterprise and
accepts full responsibility for the outcome.
• An entrepreneur is a person who organizes and manages a business
undertaking and assumes a risk for the sake of profit.
• He or she is an ambitious leader who combines land, labor, and capital to
often create and market new goods or services.
DEFINITION OF ENTREPRENEUR
CHARACTERISTICS OF AN ENTREPRENEUR
1. Mental Ability – Entrepreneur must have creative thinking and must be able
to analyze problems and situations. He should be able to anticipate changes.
2. Business Secrecy – He should guard his business secrets from his
competitors.
3. Clear Objectives – He must have clear objectives as to the exact nature of
business or the nature of goods to be produced.
4. Human Relations – He must maintain good relation with his customers,
employees, etc. To maintain good relationship he should have emotional
stability, personal relations, tactfulness and consideration.
5. Communication Ability – He should have good communication skills means
both the sender and the receiver should understand each others message.
6. Technical Knowledge – He should have sufficient technical knowledge.
IN SHORT
1. Risk Taker
2. Self Confident.
3. Optimistic.
4. Zeal For Achievement.
5. Need For Independence.
6. Creative.
7. Imaginative.
8. Administrative Ability.
9. Communication Ability.
10.Clear Objectives.
11.Business Secrecy.
12.Emotional Stability.
13.Technical Knowledge.
14.Patience.
15.Hard Work.
16.Good Organiser.
17. Hardworking
18. Desire for high achievement
19. Highly optimistic
20. Independent
21. Have excellent foresight
22. Good organizers
23. Innovative
24. Excellent technical knowledge
Four Key Elements Of Entrepreneurship Are
• Innovation
• Risk Taking
• Vision
• Organising Skill.
Are you intrigued by the possibility of being your own boss and starting a business
but not sure you have the right qualifications to be an entrepreneur? What are the
characteristics of an entrepreneur? Although there is no single perfect
entrepreneurial profile, there are many characteristics that show up repeatedly in
successful business owners.
Following are the top 10 essential entrepreneurial traits that anyone who is
interested in starting a business must possess:
(4) Creativity - In the business world, you can not afford to be complacent and
uncreative unless you want the competition to move up on ahead of you. Creative
people are naturally curious, inquisitive, bright and highly flexible when thinking.
They keenly observe their environment and have an eye for spotting new trends
that could spark a business opportunity.
(7) Risk-taking and Tolerance for Failure - A good entrepreneur realizes that
loss and failure are inherent in any business endeavor. Thus, an entrepreneur must
always be ready to make calculated risks and face whatever consequences
accompany those risks. As in all fields of endeavor, the characteristic of a
successful entrepreneur is in never giving up and in picking up the pieces and
continuing the journey even if failure momentarily obstructs the way.
(8) Perseverance and Hard Work - These are perhaps two of the most important
entrepreneurial traits.
(9) Commitment - An entrepreneur will not achieve success if he/she gives up at
the first sign of trouble.
(10) Honesty and Honor - Another very important mark of a good entrepreneur is
being honest and honorable in all business dealings and interpersonal
relationships - whether it is between business partners, employees, peers or
investors.
If you possess these traits, you may have the necessary skill set to become a
successful entrepreneur.
Maybe the term entrepreneur should rightly just belong to highly innovative and
wealthy global identities like those listed above, but all of us should be
acknowledged for being entrepreneurial when ever our outlook, choices and
positioning matches the first in the options list above. The way I see it, the more
entrepreneurial you can be the greater your chances will be of firstly identifying
your opportunity and secondly actually having the skills to exploit it when fate
delivers it to your door. Who knows, maybe by choosing to be more
entrepreneurial from today we may one day also add our name to the great
entrepreneurs listed above.
FUNCTIONS OF AN ENTREPRENEUR.
10. Feasibility study – The entrepreneur conducts studies to assess the market
feasibility of the proposed product or services. He anticipates problems and
assesses quantity, quality, cost and sources of inputs required to run the
enterprise. Such a blue print of all the activities is termed as a 'business
plan' or a 'project report'.
14. Growth and Development – Once the enterprise achieves its desired results,
the entrepreneur has to explore another higher goal for its proper growth
and development. The entrepreneur is not satisfied only with achieving a set
goal but constantly strives for achieving excellence.
So let us see- is setting up one’s business that simple and easy or is there more to
it. In order to know what being enterprising is all about we need to understand the
following terms- Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, and Enterprise.
ENTREPRENEUR
Still others feel that entrepreneurs are innovators who come up with new ideas for
products, markets or techniques.
Definitions of an entrepreneur
Stems: from the French word ‘entrependre’ meaning one who undertakes or one
who is a ‘go-between’
1803: J.B. Say: An entrepreneur is an economic agent who unites all means of
production- land of one, the labour of another and the capital of yet another and
thus produces a product. By selling the product in the market he pays rent of land,
wages to labour, interest on capital and what remains is his profit. He shifts
economic resources out of an area of lower and into an area of higher productivity
and greater yield.
1934: Schumpeter: According to him entrepreneurs are innovators who use a
process of shattering the status quo of the existing products and services, to set up
new products, new services.
1971: Kilby: Emphasizes the role of an imitator entrepreneur who does not
innovate but imitates technologies innovated by others. Are very important in
developing economies.
1975: Albert Shapero: Entrepreneurs take initiative, accept risk of failure and
have an internal locus of control.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
ENTERPRISE
1. Inner Drive to Succeed : Entrepreneurs are driven to succeed and expand their
business. They see the bigger picture and are often very ambitious. Entrepreneurs
set massive goals for themselves and stay committed to achieving them regardless
of the obstacles that get in the way.
3. Search for New Ideas and Innovation: All entrepreneurs have a passionate
desire to do things better and to improve their products or service. They are
constantly looking for ways to improve. They're creative, innovative and
resourceful.
4. Openness to Change : If something is not working for them they simply change.
Entrepreneurs know the importance of keeping on top of their industry and the
only way to being number one is to evolve and change with the times. They're up to
date with the latest technology or service techniques and are always ready to
change if they see a new opportunity arise.
confidence and the guts to pursue a venture that he believes would push
through and flourish. He cannot be risk-averted, for it could take its toll on
the opportunities that he will miss.
industy and the business environment. In this way, he could identify the
trends and the current status of the industry that he wishes to pursue or join.
Matched with his risk-taking attitude, certain success awaits him. He should
think, always, "outside-of-the-box."
17. Risk taking : Risk taking- successful entrepreneurs must have ability
to face with any risk, evolved from the action taking. And also, they must
capable to find out any new solutions in their business matters or problems.
18. Creative and innovative : Creativity is the ability to use your insights
and come up with new solutions to old problems, get things done in a
different way or find a totally different approach for conventional things to
work together. Entrepreneurs need creative thinking ability virtually in
everything. Each new product, each new marketing method, each business
decision - all these are fertile ground for creative thinking. All
entrepreneurs have a passionate desire to do things better and to improve
their products or service. They are constantly looking for ways to improve.
They're creative, innovative and resourceful.
True entrepreneurs are resourceful, passionate and driven to succeed and
improve. They're pioneers and are comfortable fighting on the frontline The great
ones are ready to be laughed at and criticized in the beginning because they can
see their path ahead and are too busy working towards their dream.
IN SHORT
• High levels of optimism and confidence
• Vision and passion in their dreams and convictions
• Surround themselves with other like-minded people
• Highly resourceful, creative and inventive
• Seize opportunities and create their own whenever possible
• Know what motivates them and have a strong sense of personal identity
• Spend a substantial amount of time on introspection and self-discovery
• Refuse to let other people dictate how they should live
• Take responsibility for their happiness
• Spin challenges into their greatest motivators-and sometimes biggest
advantages
TYPES OF ENTREPRENEURS
Types of Entrepreneurs can be classified on different basis.
Some of these basis include :
1. Type of business
2. Use of Technology
3. Motivation
4. Growth
5. Stages in Development
6. Others
The entrepreneurs which come under these basis are as follows:
TYPE OF BUSINESS
1. Business entrepreneur: Convert ideas into reality; deal with both
manufacturing and trading aspect of business (Small trading and
manufacturing business)
2. Trading entrepreneur: Undertakes trading activities; concerned with
marketing (Domestic and international level)
3. Industrial entrepreneur: Undertakes manufacturing activities only; new
product development etc (textile, electronics, etc)
4. Corporate entrepreneur: Interested in management part of organisation;
exceptional organising, coordinating skills to manage a corporate
undertaking (Ambani, Tata families)
5. Agricultural entrepreneur: Production and marketing of agricultural inputs
and outputs (Dairy, horticulture, forestry)
USE OF TECHNOLOGY
1. Technical entrepreneur: Production oriented, possesses innovative skills in
manufacturing, quality control etc.
2. Non technical entrepreneur: Develops marketing, distribution facilities and
strategies
3. Professional entrepreneur: Uses the proceeds from sale of one business to
start another one. Brimming with ideas to start new ventures
MOTIVATION
1. Pure entrepreneur: Psychological and economic rewards motivate him
2. Induced entrepreneur: Incentives, concessions, benefits offered by
government for entrepreneurs motivates him
3. Motivated entrepreneur: Sense of achievement and fulfillment motivate him
4. Spontaneous entrepreneur: Born entrepreneurs with inborn traits of
confidence, vision, initiative
GROWTH
1. Growth entrepreneur: One who enters a sector with a high growth rate; is a
positive thinker
2. Super growth entrepreneur: One who enters a business and shows a quick,
steep and upward growth curve
STAGES IN DEVELOPMENT
1. First generation entrepreneur: Innovator, risk taker, among the firsts in
family to enter business.
2. Modern entrepreneur: Who considers feasibility of business, which can
adapt to change and dynamic market.
3. Classical entrepreneur: One who gives more importance to consistent
returns than to growth; concerned about customer and marketing needs.
4. Innovating entrepreneurs are generally aggressive in collecting
information, analyzing and experimenting attractive possibilities into
practice. They are always creative and bringing in innovation in their work.
5. Imitative entrepreneurs are ready to adopt and are more flexible in
imitating techniques developed by others. They exploit opportunities as they
come and are mostly on a small scale. He is more of an organizer of factors
of production than a creator. In the context of a poor country, he is
definitely a change agent and hence he is important in underdeveloped
countries.
OTHERS
1. Area: Rural and Urban entrepreneur
2. Gender/Age : Men and Women entrepreneur
3. Scale : Small and Large scale entrepreneur
ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS
If you are thinking of starting a business, you will need a broad array of
entrepreneurial skills to succeed in today's competitive market. You must possess
basic skills necessary to enable you to start, develop, finance, and market your own
home business enterprises. There are a number of qualities and skills you need to
have, including personal attributes, business skills and management capability.
While you may not have all of them right now, there are five basic skills you really
must have to run any kind of business.
Sales and marketing skills : Sales and marketing are the two most important
skills you must have when you plan to start your own business. A business is
nothing if it has no customers. You may have the fanciest computer with the
latest graphics software, but if no one is knocking at your door to hire you as a
graphic designer, then you better rethink why you are in business in the first
place. Maybe you are better off employed by a firm. To have revenues and
profits, you first need to have customers. To get customers, you must be able to
market your business and possess the skills to close the sale.
As you plan your business, you must begin to think how to reach your target
audience and the people who may need your products or service. This entails
understanding the concept of marketing, and using the tools that your budget
permits. You must have a knack for understanding what people wants, listening
to their needs, and interact well with other people. It would be extremely
helpful if you possess excellent written and oral communication skills to help
you sell your products and services (more so if you are a solo entrepreneur who
will be doing everything by yourself). You need to create a buzz about your
business by talking to people and presenting to them your business. You need to
write ads, press releases and story ideas about your business. Starting a business
is a time to get out of your timid self and begin to aggressively market your
venture. That’s the only way you can succeed.
Success in business is not limited to those who have tons of capital in the
beginning. Look at the failed dot-coms with funding of as much as $100
million. Even if they are awash with cash, they still ended up as a failure
because they were not able to manage their money well. They lavished
themselves with high-tech office furniture and gave their CEOs fancy jets to fly,
only to have their cash flow depleted in less than a year.If you are able to
manage your cash flow well when the business starts to run, you will be able to
survive the ups and downs of self employment. The important thing is to always
focus on the bottomline. For every spending, always ask yourself: “How much
will this contribute to my bottom line?” If it will not give your business
anything in return financially, better think twice before opening your wallet.
Time management skills : The ability to plan your day and manage time is
particularly important for a home business. When you wake up in the morning,
you must have a clear idea of the things you must do for the day. Especially if
you are running a one-person operation, you must have the ability to multi-task
be the secretary at the start of the day typing all correspondences and emails,
become the marketing man writing press releases before noon, make sales call
in the afternoon, and become a bookkeeper before your closing hours. Imagine
if you are selling products and you still have to create the products, deliver and
fulfill the orders, rush to the bank to cash the checks. Lots of job for a simple
home-based business! No, you don’t have to be a superman (or superwoman).
You simply have to know how to manage time and prioritize your tasks.
One difficulty of working from home is that you can never seem to stop. There
are simply too many things to do, as if work never stops (and it doesn’t!). Part
of having good time management skills is knowing when to stop and when to
leave work, and begin doing your other roles in your family as the husband,
wife, mother or father. You must be able to know how to keep your home life
separate from your work life, and ensure that there exists a balance between the
two.
Administration skills : If you can afford to hire an assistant who will organize
your office space and file your papers and mails, lucky you! However, most
start-up entrepreneurs cannot afford such luxuries. Over and above the tasks of
managing, marketing and planning your business, you also need to possess a
great deal of administration skills. You need to file your receipts so tax time
will not be a trip to Hades. You need to do all the work in terms of billing,
printing invoices, collecting payments, and managing your receivables.
Starting a business is never easy, even if you have the perfect background and
possess all the above skills. Having all the needed skills and qualities will not
even ensure your success. But having these basic skills will, at least, lessen the
pain of the start-up process, giving you greater chance in seeing your business
grow and prosper.
TRADER VS ENTREPRENEUR
TRADER ENTREPRENEUR
Always work out to gain profit Besides profit, also considered about
satisfaction and successful
Not interested in new technology Always alert and follow any new changes
evolvement and new changes and technologies
CONCLUSION
JUST WHO IS AN ENTREPRENEUR?
• They tend to set realistic and achievable goals, and when they do take risks,
they're usually calculated ones based on facts and experience, rather than
instincts.
• Entrepreneurs are driven not by the need to make money, but by the need to
make their dreams a reality.
• More often than not, money is a byproduct of an entrepreneur's motivation
rather than the motivation itself.