Understanding Entrepreneurship

• Entrepreneurship involves creativity, innovation, risk-taking, and the organizational processes to start and manage a business.
• The primary goals of entrepreneurship include profit, independence, personal achievement, and recognition.
• Entrepreneurship requires initiative to start ventures, capitalize on chances, innovate, use technology, and manage effectively.
• Successful entrepreneurs include Bill Gates, Aliko Dangote, and Mark Zogabat.
• Economists see entrepreneurship as risk-taking for profit by combining production factors or resources like land, labor, and capital.
• Management scientists define entrepreneurship as a creative and strategic process.
• Accountants view entrepreneurship as involving business or investment ideas.
• Psychologists and sociologists see entrepreneurship as aiming for financial and personal independence.
• Business people see entrepreneurship as modern business practices with the aim of making profit through improved products and services.

Entrepreneurship Origins

• Concepts of entrepreneurship come from the French word "Entrepreneur," which means "to undertake," referring to starting a business.
• Richard Cantillon, a French economist, first used the term "entrepreneur" in 1755, viewing them as risk-takers.
• Jean-Baptiste recognized entrepreneurs as a new economic phenomenon in 1821.
• Alfred Marshall (1890) considered entrepreneurship vital for production and organization.
• Schumpeter (1951) noted agreement on entrepreneurship's role in economic growth.
• Entrepreneurship now spans economics, history, law, education, medicine, culture, and networking.

Definitions of Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurs

• Entrepreneurship is defined in different ways by scholars, with some seeing it as self-employment and others as innovation.
• Penrose (1963) views entrepreneurship as spotting opportunities in the economic system.
• Gartner (1988) defines entrepreneurship as creating new organizations.
• Entrepreneurship combines innovation and risk-taking.
• It involves coordinating, integrating, and managing a business for profit.
• It defines creating wealth.
• It's the ability to turn a vision into something real.
• It transforms an idea into a profit-making venture.
• An entrepreneur is someone who acts in a unique way at a specific time to make a profit by taking risks.
• Entrepreneurs spot opportunities in chaos, create opportunities, and are calculated risk-takers as well as innovators.
• An entrepreneur acts as a change agent and a catalyst for economic development.
• They minimize financial risk while maximizing ROI.
• They exploit, maximize, and manipulate opportunities.
• Entrepreneurs add value, create jobs, and generate wealth.

Entrepreneurial Decisions

• Entrepreneurs decide what to produce including the product/service type and quantity.
• They determine the production method.
• They decide where to locate production.
• They determine when to produce, considering the period or season.

Characteristics of Entrepreneurs

• Entrepreneurs are committed, determined, persevering, and dedicated to success.
• They are opportunity-oriented.
• They take initiative, act responsibly, and are self-reliant innovators.
• They take risks, maintain integrity, and are reliable.
• They are tolerant of failure.
• Entrepreneurs are creative and innovative.
• They have a vision and know how to achieve their goals.
• They are self-confident, optimistic, and believe in their ability to succeed.

Types of Entrepreneurs

• Innovative entrepreneurs introduce new ideas and invest in research and development.
• Fabian entrepreneurs are cautious when adopting changes, they tend to be lazy and avoid innovations.
• Imitating entrepreneurs resist change, preferring traditional methods.

Roles and Functions of an Entrepreneur

• As a figurehead, entrepreneurs perform ceremonial duties for the organization.
• As leaders, entrepreneurs unite people to create business, hire, train, and motivate.
• As liaisons, entrepreneurs connect the business with external parties like customers and stockholders.
• As monitors, entrepreneurs watch the internal and external business environment.
• Entrepreneurs play a social role by transforming traditional industries, stimulating entrepreneurship, creating jobs, and providing social welfare.
• The economic role involves bearing risk, mobilizing savings, providing channels for economic activities and utilizing resources.
• Entrepreneurs play a technological role by stimulating technology, modernizing systems, adapting tech, and developing skills via innovation.