UNIT 1-

INTRODUCTION TO
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Ar.Hema Prithikka
Assistant Professor
What is Entrepreneurship?

Entrepreneurship is a system of operating business in which opportunities existing within the

scope of a market are exploited.

It covers multiple functions such as: • Building organizations.

• Providing self-employment

• Utilization of available resources

• Innovation applied to the novel concept

• Bringing together multiple factors of production in a tangible manner.

• Identifying and exploiting business opportunities within the available market.

Who is an Entrepreneur?

Entrepreneurs are business people who can detect and sense the availability of business
opportunities in any given scenario. They will utilize these opportunities to create new
products by employing new production methods in different markets.

Entrepreneurs are, thus, defined as ―individuals or groups of individuals who carry out
entrepreneurship activities that are based on their innovative approaches to solving real-word
problems.
Types of Entrepreneurs

Based on their working relationship with the business environment they are functioning in,
various types of entrepreneurs can be found. The chief categories are these four types of
entrepreneurs, i.e.

1. Innovative entrepreneurs,
2. Imitating Entrepreneurs,
3. Fabian Entrepreneurs, and
4. Drone Entrepreneurs.
Innovative Entrepreneurs : This type of an entrepreneur is more interested in introducing
some new ideas into the market, organization or in the nation. They are drawn towards
innovations and invest a lot of time and wealth in doing research and development.

Imitating Entrepreneurs: They are often referred to as ‘copy cats‘. They observe an existing
successful system and replicate it in a manner where all the deficiencies of the original
business model are addressed and all its efficiencies are retained. These entrepreneurs help to
improve an existing product or production process and can offer suggestions to enhance the
use of better technology.

Fabian Entrepreneurs: These entrepreneurs are very careful in their approaches and cautious
in adopting any changes. They are not prone to sudden decisions and try to shy away from any
innovations or change that doesn‘t fit their narrative.

Drone Entrepreneurs: These are entrepreneurs who do not like a change. They are considered
as ‘old school‘. They want to do business in their own traditional or orthodox methods of
production and systems. Such people attach pride and tradition to even outdated methods of
doing business.
Roles of an Entrepreneur:

Entrepreneurs fulfill the following three dominant roles:

1. Economic Change
2. Social Change
3. Technological Change
Characteristics of Entrepreneur

1. Facilitating Character : An entrepreneur must build a team, keep it motivated, and provide an environment for
individual growth and career development

2. Self-Confidence: Entrepreneurs must have belief in themselves and the ability to achieve their oils.

3. Work with Vision and Mission : An entrepreneur must be committed to the project with a time horizon of five to
seven years. No ninety day wonders are allowed.

4. High Degree of Endurance: Success of an entrepreneur demands the ability to work long hours for sustain period of
time

5. Troubleshooting Nature : An entrepreneur must have an intense desire to complete task or solve a problem.
Creativity is an essential ingredient

6. Initiative and Enterprising Personality : An entrepreneur must have initiative, accepting personal responsibility for
a ones, and above all makegood use of resources.

7. Goal Setter : An entrepreneur must be able to set challenging but realistic goals.

8. Calculated Risk-Taking Ability : An entrepreneur must be a moderate risk-taker and learn from any failures.
In order to organize and run a business successfully, an entrepreneur must possess certain traits important for
driving success. Some of them are:
Self-confidence: Others will trust you only when you trust yourself. This is the most important trait of an
entrepreneur, who should have the confidence to take one‘s own decisions.
Risk-taking ability: Business is all about taking risks and experimenting. Entrepreneurs need to have a risk-taking
ability.
Decision-making ability: Entrepreneurs should have the willingness and capability to take decisions in favor of
the organization all the time.
Competitive: Entrepreneurs should always be ready to give and face competition. Intelligent: Entrepreneurs
always need to keep their mind active and increase their IQ and knowledge.
Visualization: Entrepreneurs should have the ability to see things from different point of views.
Patience: This is another virtue which is very important for entrepreneurship as the path to success is often very
challenging and it requires a lot of patience for sustenance.
Emotional tolerance: The ability to balance professional and personal life and not mixing the two is another
important trait of an entrepreneur.
Leadership quality: Entrepreneurs should be able to lead, control and motivate the mass.
Technical skill: To be in stride with the recent times, entrepreneurs should at least have a basic
knowledge about the technologies that are to be used.

Managerial skill: Entrepreneurs should have the required skill to manage different people such as clients,
employees, co-workers, competitors, etc.

Conflict resolution skill: Entrepreneurs should be able to resolve any type of dispute.

Organizing skill: They should be highly organized and should be able to maintain everything in a format
and style.

High motivation: Entrepreneurs should have high level of motivation. They should be able to encourage
everyone to give their level best.

Creative: They should be innovative and invite new creative ideas from others as well.

Reality-oriented: They should be practical and have rational thinking.

Here are few areas where there is a difference in approach between businessmen and entrepreneurship:

1. Objective Businessmen run their business for the primary purpose of making profits. Entrepreneurs
intend to make profits but with a purpose of making a difference. They want to change the world by
addressing a problem. They are passionate about providing unique solutions for problems in the community.

2. Uniqueness that stands out A businessman might run a business that might be based on a concept that is
not original or unique. He can be someone who takes up franchising, renting out flats, and gets profit from
running these. Businessmen invest energy, resources and time to run the business based on an already
existing model. On the other hand, an entrepreneur is someone who invests energy, resources and time to
build a model that is original and has been evolved from scratch. Even if it’s an existing product, he gives a
unique spin to it thus carving out a niche space for it.

3. Risks The complexity and severity of risks that businesses take are based on calculations. This means that
businesses take risks based on math. They take risks after gauging the results of several analysis tests. They
act before the risk to meet these risks. Entrepreneurs on the other hand, sky dive into risks. They are crazy
risk takers who would rather act on the risks to overcome them.
 4. Time invested to achieve goals Businessmen act fast. The aspirations of business owners are
grounded on what immediately lies ahead of them. They act for the present and thus act to fortify what
lies within reach. Since they are more concerned about the everyday operations they are always on their
feet. Entrepreneurs have a vision that extends beyond the present and into the future. They work
towards goals that are not just for that year but for the long term. So they work it out like an art and
might be slower than businessmen.

5. Leadership traits An entrepreneur is inspirational, innovative, artistic, perseverant and influential. He

would generally work with or hires people who have the aptitude or potential skill. A Businessman is an
adept planner, a knowledgeable manager, a result analyst who keeps things in control and has a clear
sense of direction. He works with/hires people based on traits and knowledge. Businessmen and
entrepreneurs are both indispensable for the economy. Aspiring to take up your own venture? Whether
you are a businessman or an entrepreneur, we will help your venture grow. Reach out to us for financial
assistance.
What business needs to succeed :

Enterprise
- qualities and skills needed to take risk, start up and create a new business venture. It involves
understanding the nature of business activity, the conditions required for business success and
transforming inputs into outputs with possible opportunities

Organization
- ability to choose the appropriate resources and combine them together profitably to
produce products at a price the consumer is willing to pay

Financial Monitoring-
Recording, analyzing and summarizing data. Keeping track of cash flows so
decisions made can be based on accurate knowledge of opportunity cost.
Human Resource Management
- Ensure Relevant number of workers with relevant skills are available

Marketing-
so that the products meet the consumers’ needs in terms of product, price, place
And promotion (4 Ps)

Objectives-
Aims and targets of business are met in a planned way with appropriate strategies used

Coordination
- All the functional departments work together to achieve corporate objectives (finance,
marketing, operations, HRM)