ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS II

ENTREPRENEUR
The word ‘entrepreneur’ is derived from the French word ‘entrepreneur’ which means to undertake.
An entrepreneur is an individual who creates a new business, bearing most of the risks and enjoying
most of the rewards.
A person who sets up a business or business, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit.or
A promoter in the entertainment industry.
or
An entrepreneur is a person who sets up a business with the aim of making a
profit.or
Entrepreneurship is the process of designing, launching, and running a new business, which is often
initially a small business. The people who create these businesses are called entrepreneurs.
or
An entrepreneur is a person who sees a problem in the world and immediately focuses on creating the
solution. They’re the leaders who strike out on their own to improve society. Whether they’re creating
jobs or a new product, they constantly take action to ensure world progress.

ENTREPRENEUR SKILLS
There are many skills required to start a business. The most popular entrepreneur skills are marketing,
business development, customer service, leadership, execution, resilience, focus, determination, talent
acquisition, and continuous learning.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SOCIETY

Entrepreneurship: The meaning of entrepreneurship involves an entrepreneur who takes action to
make a change in the world. Whether startup entrepreneurs solve a problem that many struggle with
each day, bring people together in a way no one has before, or build something revolutionary that
advances society, they all have one thing in common: action.
It’s not some idea that’s stuck in your head. Entrepreneurs take the idea and execute it.
Entrepreneurship is about the execution of ideas.
Society: Society can be described as an aggregate of people living together in a community or a
situation of being in the company of others. The persons that comprise a population are associated with
various engagements including business.

QUALITIES/CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD ENTREPRENEUR:

The major qualities/characteristics of a good entrepreneur are linked below
 Leadership: An entrepreneur must possess the characteristics of leadership and must lead a
team for the achievement of goals. The leader can clearly articulate their ideas and have a clear
vision. An entrepreneurial leader realises the importance of initiative and reactiveness and they
go out of their way to provide support to the team.
 Risk Taking: An entrepreneur with rational planning and firm decisions bears the risks. They
have differentiated approaches towards risks. Good entrepreneurs are always ready to invest their
time and money but they always have a backup for every risk they take.
 Innovativeness: With the changing needs and requirements of customers production should
meet requirements with the help of innovative ideas. An entrepreneurial venture does not have to
restrict itself to just one innovation or even one type of innovation. Success can be built on a
combination of innovation. For example, a new product is delivered in a new way with a new
message.
 Goal-oriented: Goal-oriented entrepreneurs achieve the maximum results from their efforts in
business due to the fact they work towards clear and measurable targets.
 Decision-maker: An entrepreneur has to make many decisions to put his business idea into
reality. He chooses the most suitable and profitable alternative.
 Highly Optimistic: A successful entrepreneur is always optimistic and the present problems do
not matter to them. He is always hopeful that the situation will become favorable for business in
the future.
 Motivator: An entrepreneur has to create a spirit of teamwork and motivate them. So that he gets
full cooperation from the employees.
 Self-confidence: An entrepreneur should have confidence to achieve his goals otherwise he won’t
be able to convince his team to achieve his goals.
 Action-oriented: An entrepreneur should have an action-oriented vision and ideology to plan
things well.
 Dynamic Agent: An entrepreneur creates new needs and new means to satisfy them. He can
visualize new ventures and new plans.
 High Achiever: Entrepreneurs are high achievers as they have a strong urge to achieve. The most
important characteristic is his achievement motivation.
 Trust in Self: An entrepreneur believes in their own decisions and actions as he has trust in his
perseverance and creations. He does not believe in luck.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND ECONOMY

Entrepreneurship plays an influential role in the economic growth and standard of living of the
country. As a startup founder or small business owner, you may think that you are simply working
hard to build your own business and provide for yourself and your family. But you are doing a whole
lot more for your local community, state, region, and the country as a whole.
An entrepreneur is the builder of economic growth. He promotes the prosperity of a country through his
initiative skills for innovation and dynamic leadership. He creates wealth, opens up employment
opportunities, and fosters the other segments of an economic system.
The role and significance of an entrepreneur are given under the following headings
 Organiser of Society’s Productive Resources: An entrepreneur is the organizer of society’s
productive resources. He is the person who assembles the unused natural, physical, and human
resources of the society, combines them properly, establishes effective coordination between
them, and makes the economic activities dynamic.
 Helpful in Capital Formation: An entrepreneur is helpful in capital formation as we know that an
increase in the rate of capital formation is quite essential for the economic development of any
country. Those nations that are not able to increase the rate of capital formation or do it nominally
remain backward from industrial development’s point of view.
 Increase in Employment Opportunities: An entrepreneur creates maximum employment
opportunities in society by way of establishing new industries, developing and expanding existing
industries, and undertaking innovative activities.
 Development of New Production Techniques: An entrepreneur does not feel contended only
with the existing techniques of production. Hence, he carries out various experiments to save time,
labor, and capital in production, as well as to improve the variety and quality of the product and
service.
 Visionary Leader: An entrepreneur has a good vision for the achievement of his goals. He can
recognize profitable opportunities and conceptualize strategies.
 Contribution to the Execution of Government Policies: An entrepreneur provides an important
contribution to implementing government policies and achieving national goals. Entrepreneurs
cooperate with the government for the implementation of development plans in the country.
 Higher Productivity: Entrepreneurs can produce more goods and services with fewer inputs.
They play an important role in raising productivity.
 Initiator: An entrepreneur is the one who initiates the process of creating an enterprise by
coming up with an idea for the business and planning out how to turn that idea into reality.
 The backbone of the Capitalist System: A capitalist economy is one in which there is freedom to
save and invest to compete and operate any business. An entrepreneur plays a vital and prominent
role in the enterprise because he controls the market by assuming the role of a competitor and a
leader.
 Ingredient of Modern Production System: An entrepreneur has become the ‘balancing wheel’
of the modern global economy. They seek unique products, change the technical frontiers, and
reshape public desires. Today, entrepreneurs act as an ingredient of the modern production system
as they create wealth and employment.

MYTHS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Entrepreneurship is a set of activities performed by the entrepreneur. It is the process of identifying
opportunities in the marketplace. It is the attempt to create value. Many entrepreneurs believe a set of
myths about entrepreneurship and the most common are as follows
 Starting a Business is Easy: In reality, it is a very difficult and challenging process to start a
successful business. The rate of failure of new ventures is very high but small entrepreneurs are
comparatively easier to start.
 A lot of Money to Finance New Business: Successful entrepreneurs design their businesses with
little cash.
 Startups cannot be Financed: Under schemes like MUDRA, entrepreneurs can raise loans from
banks.
 Talent is more Important than Industry: This is not true as the nature of the industry an
entrepreneur chooses greatly affects the success and growth of the business.
 Most Startups are Successful: Mostly in developing countries, startups fail as they cannot manage
to earn high profits.

ADVANTAGES OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP
The main advantages of adopting entrepreneurship as a career are discussed below
Independence: An entrepreneur is himself a boss or owner and he can make all the decisions
independently.
 Exciting: Entrepreneurship can be very exciting with many entrepreneurs considering their
ventures highly enjoyable. Every day will be filled with new opportunities to challenge your
determination, skills, and abilities.
 Wealth Creation: The principal focus of entrepreneurship is wealth creation and improved
livelihood using making available goods and services. Entrepreneurial venture generates new
wealth, new and improved products, services, or technology from entrepreneurs, enabling new
markets to be developed and new wealth to be created.
 Flexibility: As an entrepreneur, you can schedule your work hours around other commitments,
including quality time you would spend with your family.
 Status: Success in entrepreneurship brings considerable fame and prestige within society.
 Ambition Fulfilment: Through entrepreneurship one can fulfill his ambitions into original
products or services.

DISADVANTAGES OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Some of the disadvantages of entrepreneurship as a career are discussed below
Huge Amount of Time: You have to dedicate a huge amount of time to your own business.
Entrepreneurship is not easy and for it to be successful, you have to take a level of time commitment.
 Risk: Entrepreneurship involves a high risk of loss. If the business fails then it will wipe away all
the personal savings.
 Hard Work: An entrepreneur has to work very hard to make the new business very successful.
 Uncertain Income: There is no regular or fixed income available to an entrepreneur. So, there is
anuncertain kind of income received by an entrepreneur.
 Incompetent Staff: A new entrepreneur may not be able to hire qualified and experienced staff
so there are chances of incompetency by the staff due to lack of experience and knowledge.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AS A CAREER OPTION

A career is a line of work that a person takes for life. There are two ways a person can earn a living.
They are
1. self-employment
2. wage employment
For example, a doctor who works for a hospital is a wage-employed person. If the same doctor hasa
clinic, he or she is a self-employed person.
A self-employed person running a business to satisfy a need by trying new ideas is an entrepreneur.
A person who becomes an entrepreneur goes through a career process. This process is as follows: