Introduction to entrepreneurship/IENT101/Nature/Define

Before we can start exploring entrepreneurship let's define what an entrepreneur is. An entrepreneur can be defined as:

• A person who starts, organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk".
• Someone who exercises initiative by organizing a venture to take benefit of an opportunity and, as the decision maker, decides what, how, and how much of a good or service will be produced.
• A person who sets up a business or businesses, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit.
• A person who is willing and able to convert a new idea or invention into a successful innovation.

In a few words we can see that entrepreneurs

• start businesses
• take financial risks, and
• are innovative

What else can be said about entrepreneurs? This video shares the views of some successful entrepreneurs.

Required reading

Readings should not be skipped. They are an integral part of the course. You need to do them.

1. Boundless. Introduction to Entrepreneurship. Boundless Management Boundless, 26 May 2016. Retrieved 02 Mar 2017.

Quiz

• Many organizations now exist to support or utilize entrepreneurship. Which is best defined as a place where under-developed ideas can procure resources and attention to develop into useful innovation?
  • Business incubator
    • Correct: business incubators nurture new and small businesses by helping them to survive and grow through the difficult and vulnerable early stages of development.
  • Non-governmental organization (NGO)
    • Incorrect: try again
  • Specialized government agencies
    • Incorrect: try again
  • Science park
    • Incorrect: try again
• According to Joseph Schumpeter, what is the ideal definition of an entrepreneur?
  • Incremental improvements designed to ultimately generate meaningful impact.
    • Incorrect: try again
  • Utilizing business acumen to undertake innovations and finance to product economic goods.
    • Incorrect: try again
  • A person willing and able to convert a new idea or invention into a successful innovation.
    • Correct: great you did the reading :)
  • Risk-taking behavior in the name of a new idea.
    • Incorrect: try again