Professional web design, Cumbria, North LancashireWhat is Entrepreneurship?, Entrepreneurs and Risk, Characteristics of the Entrepreneur?, Entrepreneurial and Small, Entrepreneurship - What makes an Entrepreneur?
Entrepreneurship is a word or perhaps more accurately a phrase thought to have been "coined" some time around the turn of the nineteenth century and one of the first people to write about the Entrepreneur was J B Say a French economist and devotee of Adam Smith. (Wealth of Nations 1776) Say defined the 'animal' as being;
""Someone who shifts economic resources out of an area of lower and into an area of higher productivity or yield
As to what exactly and entrepreneur is, there is still some confusion. Generally today the term is given to an individual who risks starting his or her own business, but we cannot with all honesty say that all persons who start a small business are entrepreneurs. A couple that perhaps start up a business as a café or a grocer or a butcher are not necessarily being entrepreneurial, they are however accepting and taking risk.
All too often we may think of the entrepreneur as being a "Risk taker", someone who is prepared to gamble all or nothing on an idea or opportunity. This cannot be entrepreneurship, it is nothing more than what it is - risk taking - a gamble. Our retailers above take a risk that people will call in for goods, but unless they add considerable value to their products or services, are they really being entrepreneurial?
The entrepreneur certainly takes risks, he or she would not be entrepreneurial if they could not accept risk, however, for the real entrepreneur the risk will have been assessed and minimised wherever possible, if not removed all together. Richard Branson (Virgin) and Wayne Hemmingway (Red or Dead) both started small businesses, both grew their businesses taking risks as do all small business men and women, the difference between them and the multitude of Owner Mangers who start and run small businesses is perhaps that they could: -
Foresee, perhaps even create trends,
- Envisage a different quality to the norm for service or product, or
- Bring something new to the world of commerce in product concept or service
- Understand that being in business is about being in a game
One thing which appears to unite them is that they realised when their own skills were not enough for the business to grow any further and at that point they bought in skills or sought the skills that they lacked for their own development.
But not all entrepreneurs want to grow Big Businesses, and there is nothing wrong with being entrepreneurial and small. Many Big Businesses have found that Big Is not always beautiful and consequently they have thought small, reduced their size or made corporate divisions into smaller operations.
One thing which appears to unite them is that they realised when their own skills were not enough for the business to grow any further and at that point they bought in skills or sought the skills that they lacked for their own development. But not all entrepreneurs want to grow Big Businesses, and there is nothing wrong with being entrepreneurial and small. Many Big Businesses have found that Big Is not always beautiful and consequently they have thought small, reduced their size or made corporate divisions into smaller operations.
In my own hometown of Ulverston in Cumbria, a man called Bill Cubin ran a fish and chip shop and café with his wife, when he decided to take one of his hobbies and make a business out of it. For many years he had been interested in Laurel and Hardy, so he decided to join the Sons of the Dessert, started a local "Tent" for members and formed the first and probably what is still, the only Laurel and Hardy museum in the world. Although sadly Bill died a few years ago, his museum is still going as a "one off" and providing a living for his family. It is well visited annually, and being situated in the birthplace of Stan Laurel tends to have numerous visitors from the USA and other countries around the world.
His idea was unique, and as far as I know still is, it was something new and something which adds value to a specific type of memorabilia. He saw a gap in the market and went for it. His idea was innovative, targeted at a specific sector of the market and met the need. In short it was innovative and entrepreneurial.
Later we will look at the make up of small businesses and how they can be grouped into types or pigeon holed. But what we need to consider now is this: - Is entrepreneurism an intrinsic skill or can it be learned?
"Everyone who can face up to decision making can learn to be an entrepreneur and to behave entrepreneurially. Entrepreneurship then is behaviour rather than a personality trait and its foundation lies in concept and theory rather than in intuition."
Peter F Drucker
If we take a look around at those who may be entrepreneurial, we will find that invariably they are decision makers, or rather individuals who are not afraid to make a decision. They are not necessarily employers as every large organisation has its entrepreneurs, (now known as Intrepreneurs) but they are the type of individual who is not afraid of making a decision. Those individuals' who prefer a safe outlook on life, secure employment conditions, little or no risk in their lives, do not generally make entrepreneurs.
Usually they would have the ability to
