Entrepreneur : Are you one?

What is an Entrepreneur?

I think this is the first question posed whenever the topic of Entrepreneurship is brought up. It is then followed by:

Is a businessman an entrepreneur?

Is a business franchisee an entrepreneur?

What differentiates an entrepreneur from other owners of small businesses?

If your small enterprise becomes a large company, are you still considered an entrepreneur?

The first definition of an Entrepreneur was made by Richard Cantillon, an Irish-French economist. The term was borrowed from the French and first appeared in the French Dictionary " Dictionnaire Universal de Commerce" of 'Jacques des Bruslons' published in 1723. The dictionary states that " An entrepreneur (i/ˌɒntrəprəˈnɜr/) is an enterprising individual who builds capital through risk and/or initiative" .

In the English language, an Entrepreneur is a term applied to " a person who is willing to help launch a new venture or enterprise and accept full responsibility for the outcome".

Over the years, different definitions of an Entrepreneur have cropped up.

1725: Richard Cantillon: "An entrepreneur is a person who pays a certain price for a product to resell it at an uncertain price, thereby making decisions about obtaining and using the resources while consequently admitting the risk of enterprise."
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: " 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."
1961: David McClleland: "An entrepreneur is a person with a high need for achievement . He is energetic and a moderate risk taker. "
1964: Peter Drucker: "An entrepreneur searches for change, responds to it and exploits opportunities. Innovation is a specific tool of an entrepreneur hence an effective entrepreneur converts a source into a resource."
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."
1983: G. Pinchot: Intrapreneur is an entrepreneur within an already established organization.

As the concept and practice of entrepreneurship became appreciated, it has been applied to various endeavors that have given birth to different kinds of entrepreneurs, some of which are not associated in building business enterprises or making profits. These are - Social Entrepreneurs and Cooperative Entrepreneurs.

Those who continuously come up with new ideas and create new businesses are called Serial Entrepreneurs.

Those who create a business using their existing skill or what they are passionate about are called Lifestyle Entrepreneurs.

I will be writing about these different types of Entrepreneurs in future blog posts.

The identity of the modern entrepreneur is still evolving. Especially because of the rapid development of technology that has given birth to hundreds of new enterprises everyday, the entrepreneur is very much anyone who embodies the passion for innovation, risk-taking, change and new ideas.

With this blog, BACON & POTATOES, we hope that we can decipher the myth and magic of what makes a true Entrepreneur. And in the process help those of us who aspire to build, create, innovate and change the world. 

(Image from: http://postmasculine.com/first-time-entrepreneur )