Entrepreneur is one of the very important person in the world. So we will talk about who is he, how he works, examples of entrepreneurs, characteristics & skills and types of entrepreneurs.
Who is an entrepreneur?
An entrepreneur is typically an individual who creates a new business, plays an active role in its operations, assumes most of the financial risk, and enjoys most of its success.
Entrepreneur refers to the founder of a business who has assumed all financial risk and uncertainty for the business in the long term.
The idea of an entrepreneur continues to evolve and expand, from the founder of a startup to a small business owner to the leader of a corporate organization.
The process of creating a new business is known as entrepreneurship and is often driven by new ideas for products or services.
How entrepreneurs work
Entrepreneurs are an important aspect of the economy. They help spur growth by taking risks on innovative ideas.
The odds of success may not be particularly promising, but if it succeeds, many entrepreneurial pursuits push industries forward dramatically.
This opportunity could be:
- A new, innovative product that fits a market need
- An improved and expanded service
- A cheaper or better product than what is already on the market
Entrepreneurs have to overcome obstacles, including funding, employee, and organizational challenges as they pursue their goals.
The process of entrepreneurship can vary depending on the individual.
However, a classic example of an entrepreneur, the founder, will often take the following steps to begin the entrepreneurship process:
- Create an idea for a new product or service
- Write a business plan and identify funding required to get started
- Recruit early employees who match the skill sets your business needs
- Launch your product or service and continue gaining market traction
- Identify growth plans to scale profitability, build a team, and raise funding
Examples of entrepreneurs
We can now turn to some famous examples of entrepreneurs who have succeeded despite heavy odds because they had game changing ideas and more importantly, they also had the necessary traits and skills that would make them legendary.
- Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft. There are probably not many people that have not been touched by one of his products, such as Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer.
- Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple computers, which produces Macs, iPods and iPhones, as well as Apple TV.
- Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook.
- Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay.
- Arianna Huffington, founder of the Huffington Post, a well-known online news site.
- Caterina Fake, co-founder of Flikr, which hosts images and videos on the Internet.
Characteristics & skills of entrepreneurs
The following are common characteristics that may help explain the way entrepreneurs operate.
1. Curiosity: An entrepreneur's ability to remain curious allows them to continuously seek new opportunities. Rather than settling for what they think they know, entrepreneurs ask challenging questions and explore different avenues.
2. Focus: Successful entrepreneurs avoid any distractions and stay focused on what will bring results.
3. Passion: Talk to successful entrepreneurs and you'll nearly always hear the word passion when they describe what they do. Following your passion is one of the best predictors of success.
4. Structured Experimentation: With each new opportunity, an entrepreneur must run tests to determine if it’s worthwhile to pursue.
5. Adaptability: Entrepreneurship is an iterative process, and new challenges and opportunities present themselves at every turn.
6. Independent thinking: Entrepreneurs often think outside the box and aren't swayed by others who might question their ideas.
7. Decisiveness: To be successful, an entrepreneur has to make difficult decisions and stand by them.
8. Optimism: Entrepreneurs are dreamers and believe their ideas are possible, even when they seem unattainable.
9. Team building: When starting your own business, it’s critical to surround yourself with teammates who have complementary talents and contribute to a common goal.
10. Confidence: This is not to say entrepreneurs never have self-doubt, but they're able to overcome it, and believe they can achieve their goal.
11. Risk tolerance: Successful entrepreneurs are comfortable with encountering some level of risk to reap the rewards of their efforts; however, their risk tolerance is tightly related to their efforts to mitigate it.
12. Resourceful and problem-solvers: They never let problems and challenges get in the way, and instead, they find ways to achieve success despite hardships.
13. Comfortable with failure: Entrepreneurs must prepare themselves for, and be comfortable with, failure. Rather than let fear hold them back, they allow the possibility of success to propel them forward.
14. Persistence: While many successful entrepreneurs are comfortable with the possibility of failing, it doesn’t mean they give up easily. Rather, they see failure as an opportunity to learn and grow.
15. Innovation: By developing your strategic thinking skills, you can be well-equipped to spot innovative opportunities and position your venture for success.
16. Vision: Some of the more stringent definitions of entrepreneurship include vision as a necessary element. It helps to know your end goal when you start.
Types of entrepreneurs
There are different types of entrepreneurs you may identify with, and here are a few prime examples.
1. Founder: A founder is the classic example of an entrepreneur following through on an entrepreneurship venture.
2. Intrapreneur: An intrapreneur is a more updated version of an entrepreneur. The role of an intrapreneur is to develop “radical” innovations within an existing company.
3. CEO: The definition of an entrepreneur as a person who organizes resources to pursue a commercial opportunity aligns with a CEO’s day-to-day leadership (i.e., organizing) of the business in its endeavors (i.e., commercial opportunities).
4. Builder: Builders seek to create scalable businesses within a short time frame.
5. Opportunist: Individuals with the ability to pick out financial opportunities, getting in at the right time, staying on board during the time of growth, and exiting when a business hits its peak.
6. Innovator: These individuals are not the best at running a business as they are idea-generating individuals, so often they leave the day-to-day operations to those more capable in that respect.7
7. Specialist: They have a strong skill set in a specific area obtained through education or apprenticeship.
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