What is Entrepreneur ?
An entrepreneur is a rare person who can visualize and materialize water in in the desert. His foresightedness, vision, motivation, persistent efforts, the ability to presume the risks involved and their outcomes, and the thrust to achieve the desired goal. facilitate him to convert his ideas into reality. The water in the desert here refers to a scarce commodity, hence an entrepreneur visualizes this need or the need arising in near future and grabs this opportunity or challenge, before others can think about it.
Entrepreneur refers to an individual who has the ability to organise and manage a business idea or a new enterprise, considering the in-built risks and consequences They also act us leaders assuming their responsibility towards the success and failure of the enterprise. An entrepreneur has the ability to identify the needs of consumers and the society at large, and the ambition to set up an enterprise for fulfilling these needs through producing and marketing new products and services by bringing together the available land, wealth, and labour.
Definition of Entrepreneur
According to International Labour Organisation (ILO) :
"Entrepreneurs are those people who have the ability to see and evaluate business opportunities. together with the necessary resources to take advantage of them and to initiate appropriate action to ensure success".
According to Richard Cantillon :
"An entrepreneur is a person who buys factor services at certain prices with a view to selling its product at uncertain price".
According to McClelland :
"An entrepreneur is someone who exercises some control over the means of production and produces more than what he can consume in order to sell (or exchange) it for individual (or household) income".
In other words, an entrepreneur is one who discovers innovative ideas, advances them into products and services, and follows its feat persistently with untiring spirit. In this way, they taste the success and show the real meaning of the word "entrepreneur These entrepreneurs, having the initiating and action taking ability, are responsible for the existence of different successful ventures. There is a misconception about entrepreneurs that they are opportunity-seekers and selfish people, but in reality they are highly driven people trying to find solutions to the "needs of the people".
Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneur
Any successful entrepreneur should have following 11 characteristics or features :
1) Determination to Succeed :
Entrepreneurs are determined towards achieving success as well as growing their venture. They set a clear picture to achieve their desired target and stay focused, irrespective of hurdles in their way to success. They have the ability to visualize the broader scope and an aspiring personality.
2) Independence :
Entrepreneurs are independent persons who like to be "decision makers" rather than being "decision implementer". They prefer to initiate with their own effort. They always like to give direction rather than taking directions from others. They feel comfortable with profits or even losses arising out of their own decisions.
3) Risk-Taking :
Entrepreneurs never step back while taking a chance of risk. Their decision making is not influenced by uncertainty. They make a sincere and honest attempt to ensure that the eventual result is favorable instead of leaving the things on fate.
4) Ability to Control :
In case of dealing with the post-establishment issues of any venture, entrepreneurs do not depend on their destiny. They have the ability to alter the socio-economic setting of their enterprise, in order to control their impacts. They have a firm belief that their destiny is regulated and designed by their own actions.
5) Perseverance :
This is the most demanded quality in the entrepreneurs. Once they commit a goal, they put their best efforts to accomplish it. They participate in every activity of the enterprise and are totally engaged in completing these activities. They look after all the concerned issues related to the venture by their self.
6) Analytical Ability of Mind :
Personal preferences are not entertained by entrepreneurs They prefer to analyse the given environmental conditions and proceed as per the situation. Emotional approach is generally neglected in order to deal with business decisions or a particular issue. Generally, they think logically instead of getting involved emotionally.
7) Confronting Uncertainty :
Optimistic approach enables an entrepreneur to deal with uncertainties. They treat every uncertain condition as an opportunity to them. They are known to complete the given work sensibly even under the odd conditions. Therefore, the unusual insight and talent enables an entrepreneur to get success.
8) Stress Takers :
They have the ability to face all the difficult situations and take corrective actions. against them. Along with performing for extended work hours, entrepreneurs also resolve variety of complications. As a commander, they face the issues of their enterprise and take appropriate decisions at appropriate time even at very short notices. They are called stress takers as they deal with psychological as well as physical stress in operating their enterprises.
9) Innovative and Creative :
Entrepreneurs are innovative and creative. They think unique and better to become successful and different from the crowd. There generate new thoughts and ideas to develop new products or services, or new suppliers in order to establish a new market or redesign the organisation. This new enterprise comprises of creative production methods and marketing channels designed by the entrepreneurs.
10) Ability to Mobilize Resources :
An entrepreneur possesses the ability to exploit all its resources to its maximum. It is important for an entrepreneur to make available the required resources and mobilize them efficiently. Generally, there are 6 Ms, i.e. Man, Machinery, Material, Money, Market and Method to convert a raw input into a final product.
11) Leadership :
Leadership means to organise a group of people to achieve a common goal through proper communication. Leadership qualities found in an entrepreneur include team work, shared target, huge admirers, accurate guidance, and responsiveness towards co-workers.
Types of Entrepreneurs
The types of entrepreneurs can be classified on different grounds, which are as follows :
1) According to Functional Characteristics :
According functional characteristics entrepreneurs are as follows :
i) Innovative Entrepreneur :
These types of entrepreneurs are individuals who have the desire and ability to create and implement something new for the enterprise. Such entrepreneurs are visionaries who can think much earlier and much beyond than others They try to bring new products, new production technologies, identify new market, and restructure introducing several their organisation by several changes These entrepreneurs are involved in collecting plenty of information and ideas for generating innovative products and services. This can only be done when entrepreneurs have acquired certain level of growth in their business and are ready to invest for innovative activities.
ii) Imitative or Adoptive Entrepreneur :
These entrepreneurs are not directly involved in innovation, but imitate successful innovations of other people by using their ideas, methods and technology. They are also known as, 'adoptive entrepreneurs', who are highly enthusiastic in adopting innovations. of successful entrepreneurs. Since helpful in reducing the cost of trial and error, they may he appropriate for underdeveloped economies.
iii) Fabian Entrepreneur :
These types of entrepreneurs have no desire for innovations Such entrepreneurs show a high level of uncertainty during any modification in their enterprise. They have no interest to bring-in changes to the business enterprise until there is an urgent need to do so for the sake of survival of the enterprise.
iv) Drone Entrepreneur :
Such entrepreneurs do not believe in making any changes in their production system. They can even bear losses but refuse to change their prevailing methods and techniques.
2) According to the Types of Business :
Entrepreneurs vary based on their nature of business, which are as follows :
i) Business Entrepreneur :
These are the individuals who dream about a completely different product or service and try to convert that notion into reality by establishing a business enterprise.
ii) Trading Entrepreneur :
Such entrepreneurs do not manufacture but purchase the product from the manufacturer and sell it straight to customers or use retailers.
iii) Industrial Entrepreneur :
These entrepreneurs are manufacturers or producers who analyse the current market demands and needs of the consumers, and produce goods. and services to satisfy them in an efficient manner.
iv) Corporate Entrepreneur :
These are the entrepreneurs who have the capabilities to organise and manage a corporate enterprise.
v) Agricultural Entrepreneur :
Such entrepreneurs are skilled and experienced to manage all related activities of agriculture such as acquiring land, crops cultivation, arranging fertilizers, technologies used, etc.
vi) Retail Entrepreneur :
These entrepreneurs directly sell all kinds of products to the consumers or retail buyers. They do not manufacture these items. A large number of retail entrepreneurs are prevalent in India. They are like owners of shops of medicine, fruits, vegetables, house hold utility items.
vii) Service Entrepreneur :
Entrepreneurs belonging to the service sector are known as service entrepreneurs. They are engaged in delivering all types of services to the customers. For example, restaurants, hotels, hospitals, beauty parlors, etc.
3) According to Technology Used :
Today the world is growing with much faster pace than earlier. The new technologies developed and adopted by the people are bringing miraculous changes and growth to the business. The people like Narayan Moorthy and Stephen Joe, who use modern technology, stay ahead of others. On the basis of level of technology used, the entrepreneurs can be classified as :
i) Technical Entrepreneur :
These entrepreneurs are similar to craftsman. They possess craftsmanship ability to create new and improved products in all technical aspects. The technical entrepreneurs usually apply all their innovative abilities for production of goods and services. Designing new and technical production methods is the major talent of these entrepreneurs. They are more inclined towards production than marketing The objective of using promotion strategies for increasing the organisational sales is not preferred by these entrepreneurs.
ii) Non-Technical Entrepreneur :
Unlike technical entrepreneurs, they are not related with the technical activities of production. Such entrepreneurs concentrate on designing marketing strategies for the effective distribution and promotion to boost up the sales of the products or services.
iii) Professional Entrepreneur :
Professional entrepreneurs are those people who start new business enterprises but do not run or manage it. They sell their enterprise and proceed with establishment of another such business enterprise. They are also known as 'managing agents'. In modern time, these types of entrepreneurs are rarely available. These are imaginative and energetic individuals who regularly develop new ideas and convert them into entrepreneurial ventures.
4) According to Growth :
Growth refers to the process of positive changes towards success. The growth of business provides various opportunities to entrepreneurs to expand widely. A significant level of profit and psychological satisfaction is achieved by entrepreneurs, when their products and services are accepted and approved by target customers. The entrepreneurial enterprises are categorized as high, medium, and low growth enterprises. Therefore, entrepreneur may be categorized as :
i) Growth Entrepreneur :
Such entrepreneurs certainly choose the business enterprise with high growth prospects. This enables the entrepreneurs to sustain and expand their business in future.
ii) Super-Growth Entrepreneur :
Those entrepreneurs who have experienced extensive growth in the business are known as super-growth entrepreneurs. High rate of profitability, capital gearing and liquidity of funds determine the status and growth of the enterprise.
5) According to Area :
Entrepreneurs are also categorized in accordance with their area of performance. These are as follows :
i) Urban Entrepreneur :
They belong to urban areas and establish their business in the same location to avail the regional advantages. These types of entrepreneurs are mostly corporate or industrial entrepreneurs.
ii) Rural Entrepreneur :
Rural entrepreneurs are usually involved in trading or agricultural activities. They belong to rural areas and establish their business in the same location. Various government assistance's are provided to the rural entrepreneurs to encourage and accelerate such activities. These government schemes are targeted to remove the differences between rural and urban areas.
6) According to Gender :
According to gender, entrepreneurs may be of two types :
i) Men Entrepreneur :
The male individuals involved in establishing and managing entrepreneurial enterprises are called men entrepreneurs. Mostly, new business enterprises are run by males.
ii) Women Entrepreneur :
The female individuals involved in establishing and managing entrepreneurial enterprises are called women entrepreneurs. Women entrepreneurs were an exception few years. back, but in present time their numbers are increasing day by day with success. Like any general entrepreneur, all the women entrepreneurs have to face a tough competition from already established businesses.
7) According to Level of Motivation :
Level of motivation defines two types of entrepreneurs :
i) Pure Entrepreneur :
Pure entrepreneurs are those individuals who are attracted to establish a business enterprise because they are really interested in doing so. So, they choose this path only for their self satisfaction. They have a strong desire to become entrepreneurs, like Aditya Birla, Dhirubai Ambani, etc.
ii) Induced Entrepreneur :
Induced entrepreneurs are those people who get attracted to the incentives and assistance's provided by the Government for entrepreneurship. All the aspects related to business enterprise such as financial, managerial and technical activities are supported by various schemes and policies of the Government. A number of entrepreneurs get induced by Government rules and assistance, that have been introduced after the economic reforms and liberalization of India.
8) According to the Capital Ownership :
According to capital ownership, entrepreneurs are of following types :
i) Private Entrepreneur :
Private entrepreneur is a person or a group of persons, engaged in starting a new venture, arranging the sources of finance, implementing the modern technologies in it, and taking risks to gain profit. Here, all the venture establishment related activities are performed by these persons on their own.
ii) State Entrepreneur :
When the Government. or state undertakes any entrepreneurial project, then they are known as 'state entrepreneurs. All the capital and production technologies are arranged by the Government.
iii) Joint Entrepreneur :
When private and state entrepreneurs combine together to form a business enterprise, then they are referred to as 'joint entrepreneurs.
9) According to the Entrepreneurial Activity :
On the basis of the entrepreneurial activity. entrepreneurs can be categorized into three :
i) Novice Entrepreneur :
The one who starts his enterprise for the first time is called a novice entrepreneur. They should not to be mixed up with young starters. The novice entrepreneur can be an aged man having enormous experience in industry.
ii) Serial Entrepreneur :
The entrepreneur, who starts with one enterprise but in course of time heads many enterprises producing different products, is known as 'serial entrepreneur'. Such entrepreneurs are interested only in the start-up activities of the venture. As soon as the venture is established, they may find it unattractive, therefore shifting the ownership to others. Now, they focus on some other entrepreneurial venture and this process keeps on going.
iii) Portfolio Entrepreneur :
Such entrepreneurs own as well as run several entities. They enjoy diversity in their business and are eager to grab new opportunities as well. This can also be a keen approach towards risk-sharing and maintaining equilibrium between profit and loss. A significant level of coordination can be observed between these establishments.
Qualities of Entrepreneur
The following are some important 11 traits/qualities of an entrepreneur :
1) Self-Motivation :
An entrepreneur always enjoys autonomy and rewards that are due to his sincere and sustained efforts. This ultimately leads to his self-motivation. However, monetary gains achieved are also significant. Thus, it is another important motivational factor. The joy of commanding position and executive powers, also acts as the stimulant for their efforts. This motivation keeps on growing with growth of the organisation. Some entrepreneurs are also driven by passion for their work. Sometimes some negative factors experienced in early life of a person also act as a motivating factor. Such persons make sustained efforts change those factors which were responsible for the negativity.
2) Ethics and Morals :
For being a good entrepreneur, ethics and morals act as a source basis. In the entrepreneurial life, it is very necessary for an individual to determine the cause for the existence of him and his venture, and also the prohibiting areas. Majority of the entrepreneurs ruin their future because at times monetary attraction overshadows their ethics and morals. The goodwill of the business gets affected, if an entrepreneur ignores his own morals.
3) Time Management :
As it is said "time is money" the same applies to all successful entrepreneurs. Entrepreneur has to systematically distribute his activities and judiciously allot time for each activity. This will enable him to devote more and more time to his activities. He must understand that every minute is precious for him. He should not give unreasonable long time for his leisure. Instead he should concentrate on designing new promotion techniques, dealing with prospective customers, or should be learning desired business skills.
4) Sales :
A business survives on sales only. Entrepreneur has to take necessary measure to promote sales of his product. This may be quality, advertisement, after sales service, communication skills, market requirement etc. The entrepreneur has to carefully handle these factors. Prior experiences may be advantageous, but seminars, reading materials on related subject or internet information can also be useful.
5) Administration Skills :
Usually, entrepreneurs appoint office assistant for administrative work. But, it is uneconomical for new entrepreneurs. Therefore, all entrepreneurs must possess administrative skills along with the management of the business. They need to be capable of handling all the activities such as billing, payment collection, managing receivables, invoices printing, etc.
6) Financial Know-how :
Basic knowledge about finance is essential for every entrepreneur. One must know to manage check-books and invoices related to business. Keeping track of cheques issued, pending dues against the services or goods supplied with schedules of receipts enables to know the cash flow and cash ready in hand. It is also important to recognize and manage time with finance. Having sufficient knowledge of accountancy is enough to handle finance. There is no compulsion that an entrepreneur must be highly qualified to handle financial matters.
7) Conflict and Consensus Management Skills :
Conflict is state of disagreement between persons, interests or ideas. The conflict can be in two forms, that is :
i) Emotional/Affective Conflict :
This type of conflict directly affects person or object. The state of annoyance and hatred is comparatively higher than normal. This kind of conflict ends up giving adverse outcomes.
ii) Cognitive Conflict :
Contrary to the above type of conflict, no one is directly involved as a person. They just have disagreement towards one's ideas or plans. This kind of conflict ends up finding appropriate solutions which is mutually agreed by both the parties.
Consequently, an entrepreneur must be capable of handling all types of conflicting situation taking place in the business.
8) Interpersonal Skills :
In every business, entrepreneurs have to deal with different people present in the organisational hierarchy, Therefore, it is important for entrepreneurs to own interpersonal skills in order to communicate with them effectively.
9) Communication Skills :
Generally, entrepreneurs use basic means to communicate with their customers, employees, suppliers. bankers, etc. This includes telephone calls, e mails, memos, letters, meetings, seminars, etc. Thus, entrepreneurs must have good writing, speaking and listening skills, all at the same time. These are as follows :
i) Writing Skills :
Entrepreneurs need to have good writing skills so as to effectively. communicate with their employees, customers and suppliers. A good writing skill leads to better understanding of thoughts and ideas. Readers should be able to understand what the writer is trying to convey.
ii) Speaking Skills :
Mostly business people communicate verbally over telephone or face-to-face. The speaking skills greatly influence the person the entrepreneur is dealing with.
iii) Listening Skills :
One of the biggest reasons of misunderstandings between persons or a group is the lack of listening skills.
10) Problem-Solving Skills :
Every business faces number of problems. Thus, entrepreneurs must have an ability to tackle and solve every problems by suitable decision-making Usually entrepreneurs are unable to make decisions and fail to solve problems. One must use formal techniques to problem-solving and also consider alternatives to evaluate decisions, Entrepreneurs may also face situations where they have to make decisions on their own. Sometimes they may have to involve employees to discuss a certain problem, where brainstorming and consensus building methods may be appropriate to make decisions.
11) Technical Skills :
The entrepreneur should have a reasonable level of technical knowledge to understand the technical terms spoken by the staff during the discussion to enable him to understand the problem. Entrepreneurs need not be masters in technical skills but must possess basic technical knowledge. This helps the entrepreneur to appreciate and discuss the efforts of the technical staff.
Functions / Role of Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur performs all the necessary functions / task which are essential from the point-of-view of establishment and expansion of the enterprise. Responsibilities of an entrepreneur are as follows :
1) Idea Generation :
Idea-generation is the process of building new ideas, bringing out the idea into an innovative way, developing the process and converting the idea into reality. Broadly, it refers to the selection of a product and identification of project. Ideas can be generated by following the entrepreneur's vision, perception, experience, observation, education, exposure and training. Generally, market study and environmental analysis tools are used for idea generation. The major function of the entrepreneur is to select the best out of the many alternative ideas such that it is most appropriate idea to be applied for the organisation.
2) Determination of Objectives :
One of the main functions of the entrepreneur is to define the objectives of the business. The business objectives should be laid-down clearly. Most appropriately, the entrepreneur must specify few things in a clear manner :
- The business nature,
- The business type.
The nature and type of business identifies the industry it belongs to i.e., manufacturing, trading or service. This helps the entrepreneur to focus on the business more effectively keeping in view the objectives.
3) Fund Raising :
Finance is the life-blood of any business. It is the function of the entrepreneur to arrange the sources of funds for the business. There are two sources to raise funds, that is, internal and external sources. Entrepreneur must be aware of formalities and guidelines to be followed for raising funds. Governmental assistance can be provided in form of seed capital, fixed capital and working capital. There are several government schemes also which are provided to the entrepreneurs such, Prime Minister's Rozgar Yojana (PMRY), Rural Employment Generation Programine (REGP), etc. There are also various financial assistance's provided by banks and financial institutions.
4) Procurement of Raw Materials :
The acquisition of quality raw materials is also one of the functions of the entrepreneur. Entrepreneur must recognize and allocate economical and constant supply of raw materials. This helps the business to reduce their production cost and increase their profit-margins against competitors.
5) Procurement of Machinery :
Another function of entrepreneurs is to obtain the machinery and equipment required for the production of goods and services. Before the procurement of machinery, entrepreneur must consider following specifications :
- Technology description,
- Installed capacity of the machines,
- Description of manufacturers and suppliers,
- Origin of machines, whether indigenously made or foreign made,
- After-sales service facilities,
- Warranty period.
6) Market Research :
Market research refers to process of gathering relevant information about products, customers and target markets. Intensive research is to be made o ascertain the demand of the product which the entrepreneur intends to manufacture, the estimated rate of consumption and also the existing suppliers if any. If an entrepreneur has to manufacture a product, he must have a detailed market analysis of the product. The information about a product must include demand and supply of a product, price, size of the target market, etc.
7) Determination of Ownership :
There are mainly four forms of ownership, i.e., sole proprietorship. partnership, joint stock company, and cooperative society. It is the role of an entrepreneur to find out the suitable form of business depending upon the product (characteristics, types, quality), size of capital investment, types of operations, human resources quality, etc. The legal title of assets is obtained on the basis of ownership by the entrepreneurs.
8) Recruitment of Manpower :
An entrepreneur is also responsible for the manpower planning of the organisation. During the recruitment procedure, an entrepreneur has to function the following activities :
- Manpower forecasting,
- Outlining of selection process,
- Formulating scheme of compensation,
- Defining the rules of training and development.
9) Project Implementation :
Entrepreneur has to prepare a detailed plan for execution of the project. It is a time bound process. It is the function of the entrepreneur to execute the process from conception to commissioning stage based on prepared agenda so as to evade extra cost, time and competition.
Scope of Entrepreneur
Nature and Scope of entrepreneurs is very vast :
1) Entrepreneurship in Large Organisations :
There is variety of stimulating and profit-making entrepreneurial opportunities in large organisations. This is because the products/ services innovation is the unique feature of these organisations. Sub-divisions or branches of large organisations are characterized by this form of entrepreneurship. Another significant opportunity for entrepreneurship in large organisations may be during the process of turnaround, which involves re-designing and structural changes within the organisation or a business unit.
2) Private Equity Financing - Venture Capital and Leveraged Buyouts :
Venture capital is financial capital provided to start-up companies for their growth and survival till the company comes up with an initial public equity. These investment firms provided various opportunities to individuals but getting into this business is a tough task. In venture capital industry, firms prefer to hire individuals with practical knowledge of evolving technologies, as they focus on utilizing emerging technologies. Therefore, individuals with no such experience struggle a lot for entering this industry.
Leverage-Buyout is the process of acquiring the whole company (public or private), by capitalizing bearable equity. This type of acquisition is undertaken by different financial institutions and private corporations. Generally, all banks depend on these buyouts as their significant business model. Some of these banks use the confusing term "merchant banking" for such acquisitions. Under this industry, individuals must possess experience in the field of alliances like mergers and acquisitions. Accurate negotiation capability along with an intellectual sense about business success factors is very essential in this field. Only experienced entrepreneurs in transaction business can handle it successfully.
3) Social Entrepreneurship :
It is an effort to utilize entrepreneurial business methodologies to provide appropriate solutions to social issues, in both profit and non-profit economic sectors. This is an attempt to enhance social benefits in different fields like education, health, environment, workforce development as well as international development. Attainment of environmental or social goals and presence of monetary support is the reason for growth and sustainable development of these kinds of organisations. There are many extreme and unusual resource related limitations in social entrepreneurship due which it is challenging for eligible candidates, having crucial management talents, to start their career with social enterprises. An intense entrepreneurial experience is required for getting into this industry. Individuals can appear for various roles in the social enterprises such as financial consultants, social venture capital investors, mentoring entrepreneurs, board members of the firm, etc.
4) E-Commerce Entrepreneurship :
E-commerce entrepreneurs are persons who start their business via Internet by applying some innovative techniques. The development and execution of e-commerce entrepreneurship helps to create new market for internet users. This approach can be implemented with the help of highly skilled and professional computer programmers and web-designers to develop. entrepreneurial ideas. There is a lot of scope in this field as it is still at the growth stage. The salary package within this sector varies depending on the type, size and profit of the business.
5) Small Business Manager :
One of the many scope of entrepreneurs is to become a small business manager. Small business managers are also entrepreneurs, since they manage and monitor all areas of their business from inventory management, to marketing of goods to staffing of resources. The managers also have the authority to develop and apply different creative and new ideas for the betterment of the business. Such managers need to have comprehensive knowledge of accounting, book keeping, sales and marketing as they need to manage each of these departments. The managers can be employed under company head or can be individual entrepreneurs by establishing their own business. The salary of small business manager is subject to the size and type of the business.
6) Business Consultant :
With the changing business environment, all businesses need to think differently than usual. Business consultants are the individuals who help the business leader and managers to generate and apply new ideas for achieving goals of the business. These business consultants have the quality of entrepreneurship to deal with different organisational issues. They make strategies and help in selecting suitable methodology to enhance the productivity and growth of the business. Not only this, they also help the business in solving their problems and finding better solutions Business consultants can be individuals or working under some consultancy firm. They are specialized and experienced in their field.
Personality of Entrepreneur
Personality is the collection of all possible ways in which an individual reacts and communicates with others. Conversely, it can also mean how people influence others as well as how they understand and view themselves. It includes their pattern of internal and external measurable traits and the interaction between person and situation. Understanding entrepreneurial personality is the most common need among different scholars and socialists, but many conflicts and issues have always been there.
The first and foremost issue associated with the concept of personality attributes is defining and operationalising them. Several characteristics have been discovered by researchers that can be related to entrepreneurial behavior but the causal associations remain imprecise or ambiguous. Defining causal associations between individual-level attributes and organisation-level results is also not possible. Also, there are numerous individuals having required entrepreneurial skills, yet they fail to use their expertise in effective manner or manifest themselves as unsuccessful entrepreneurs.
The second issue is about measuring the entrepreneurial outcome, which may be in the form of behaviors, capabilities or targets. Generally, multiple factors are responsible for most of the observed behaviors.
For example, an interaction involving a number of people in a particular context (business context) describes setting up of a new business venture. This is why, having entrepreneurial attitude does not dictate the entrepreneurial behavior in an individual like establishing a new business
Lastly, most of the attributes of entrepreneurship are not sufficient enough to properly define the entrepreneurship except establishing and controlling the new business venture. That is why, defining the term 'entrepreneurship' in a broad way is an opportunity for the researchers. As per a broad definition of the entrepreneurial behavior, the entrepreneurship should :
- Encompass the functions of the corporate as well as the social entrepreneurs.
- Develop across the organisation so as to cross the individual limit and practice entrepreneurship within the entire organisational venture.
A persistent research has been conducted by the researchers to check out the manner in which psychological attributes of the entrepreneurs can be associated to the success, or if not, to their venture.
By developing new products or innovating new. methods of doing things, entrepreneurs help in solving different problems. It is not possible without unique traits and abilities. Different personality traits of entrepreneurs are as follows :
1) Self-Confidence :
Entrepreneurs must have self belief and confidence towards their business, product and decisions. This can be achieved when one knows that they are providing quality products at reasonable prices.
2) Flexibility :
Entrepreneurs show flexibility in their decisions. They are always ready to modify their decisions in case of adverse conditions. Usually, merits and demerits of each entrepreneurial decision are analysed by ideal entrepreneurs and required changes are applied in accordance with the prevailing conditions.
3) Vision :
Focusing on vision is the important requisite for successful entrepreneurs. Instead of caring about tasks and operations of the enterprise, successful entrepreneurs focus on vision Vision implies the status that a particular organisation wishes to achieve in future. In order to effectively communicate this vision to entire workforce. leadership skills are required. The entrepreneur would be able to share his vision with his team, and it would assist in the development of the new venture. Through effectively communicating the vision, the entrepreneur makes the process of achievement of shared vision very simple.
4) Passion :
Generally, people assume that money is the motivational factor behind entrepreneurship. But passion for doing things in a new way or developing a new product/service just to solve a particular problem is the main cause behind 50 entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs are passionate to change the standards of life for every individual.
5) Resilience :
The key personality trait of any entrepreneur is the resilient nature. He/she is not affected by the failure or any other problem, but remains firm and hope for the best. He/she is able to fight back with the situation. Instead of losing hope or belief, he/she tries to find out the reasons of such conditions or the failure.
Advantages of Entrepreneur
Advantages of being an entrepreneur are as follows :
1) Self Confidence :
The trust that the entrepreneur has in his abilities facilitates the birth of entrepreneurial spirit within him/her. The entrepreneur strongly hopes for success because of the presence of combination of this entrepreneurial spirit and his efforts engaged towards establishment and maintenance of the enterprise. This success generates more success, which in return inculcates greater faith in himself/herself. As a result, this imparts self-confidence in entrepreneurs
2) Flexibility :
Entrepreneurs are independent enough to take their decisions in regard with the working schedule. They themselves manage their duration of work and same way plan their business goals. In contrast, corporate businesses, do not consider employees while make their own rules and regulations for the work schedule.
3) Tax Benefits :
Being an entrepreneur, one can avail various tax benefits which are applicable for business managers or owners-suppliers or for. office area utilities. Hence, costs incurred on travel, rent paid, electricity, phone bills etc. for the office space and other activities that are involved in expansions and furthering of business interests are directly deductible from the income. This provides significant tax benefits to such entrepreneurs. All these benefits can be availed by the entrepreneur by hiring a tax advisor or consultant.
4) Monetary Freedom :
The monetary freedom of an entrepreneur and his co-workers largely depends upon their hard work and sincerity towards the business. The salary varies according 10 the success of the business rather than being fixed amount. There are many entrepreneurs who have proved themselves as most secure business organisations. And if there are certain issues which are complicated, then entrepreneurs can sell their business at high price and once again start-up with a new business.
5) Personal Growth :
All management and administrative work is handled by the entrepreneur himself/herself. This helps him to directly deal with different people and develop interpersonal skills. Consequently, there is a personality built-up due to which entrepreneur feels more independent and confident than before.
6) Giving Back to Society :
Entrepreneurs have the opportunity to do something for the society, They do this by creating wealth and offering job opportunities to people in the society. This way an entrepreneur is able to contribute much for the betterment of the society. Therefore, they feel a sense of responsibility and motive in life, which cannot be sensed by wealth-centric individuals.
Manager Versus Entrepreneur
Entrepreneur is an individual involved in developing his/her own business based on an innovative idea. All the resources and essentials related to business are arranged by him/her. On the other hand, people undertaking the tasks of management in the organisation are managers. The manager is required to maintain the flow of duties and activities of employees as well as departments as per the needs of the organisation.
Depending on its size, a single management level or hierarchy of management level is present in an organisation. Generally, three levels of management are reported in large-sized organisations, i.e., top. mid and lower management. The top or senior management of the organisation comprises of its owners, i.e., Board of Directors or shareholders who are basically concerned with the key strategic decisions regarding the organisation. Mid or middle level management supervises the lower management and is responsible for preparing reports. And the lower level of management includes the functional managers who are engaged in performing basic organisational functions.
The responsibility attached to the managers at any level is far more than ordinary employees and therefore higher wages are served to them. Different organisations have different managerial requirements and work structure, yet a basic degree and level of experience is required for top management positions.
Also Read :
Differences Between Entrepreneur and Manager
The key differences between a manager and an entrepreneur are as follows :
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