Entrepreneurship

The Business Dictionary defines Entrepreneurship as the "capacity and willingness to undertake conception, organization and management of a productive venture with all attendant risks while seeking profit as a reward".

In economics,  Entrepreneurship is regarded as a "factor of production together with land, labor, natural resources and capital"

Entrepreneurship spirit is characterized by “innovation and risk-taking and an essential component of a person's ability to succeed in an ever-changing and more competitive global market place”

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines  Entrepreneurship as "one who organizes, manages and assumes the risk of a business or enterprise".

Entrepreneurship is a process through which individuals identify opportunities, allocate scarce resources and create value.

Entrepreneur sees production as an opportunity and then take action to identify the solutions to those problems and the customers who will pay to have those problems solved.

Entrepreneurial success is just a function of an entrepreneur to see the opportunities in the market place, initiate changes or take advantage of a change and create value through solutions.

The concept of Entrepreneur has a wide range of meanings.  Entrepreneur can be a person of very high aptitude who pioneers change, possessing characteristics found only in a very small fraction of the population.  On the other hand, an entrepreneur  can be anyone who wants to work for himself.

Joseph Schumpeter, an Austrian economist, defines Entrepreneurship mainly as an innovation of

• new products
• new production methods
• new markets
• new form of organization.

Entrepreneurship is generally associated with small business ventures.  It is not true, though they may have a few similarities.

Amount of Wealth Creation:  A successful entrepreneurial venture creates substantial amount of wealth running into millions of dollars of profit.

Speed of Wealth Creation:  Entrepreneurial wealth creation is often rapid, say within a five-year time period or so.  While small business can create millions over a life time.

Risk: The risk in entrepreneurial business is very high.

Innovation: Entrepreneurship involves substantial innovation beyond what a small business can even visualize.  The innovation is the competitive edge leading to high wealth creation. It maybe a product or service or a business process used to deliver it.

Questions:

• Give a few definitions of entrepreneurship?
• Entrepreneurship is not small business. Why? Clarify.