Module 2:

The Entrepreneur
Who is an Entrepreneur?
An entrepreneur is a person who:

• Identifies opportunities

• Takes initiative to organise resources

• Accepts risk and uncertainty

• Creates value through innovation

Entrepreneurs are not only business owners; they

are problem-solvers and decision-makers.
 Entrepreneur vs Businessperson

Entrepreneur: Businessperson:

• Focuses on innovation and • Focuses on managing existing

opportunity operations

• Seeks stability and regular

• Willing to take calculated
profit
risks
• Works within established
• Introduces new ideas, systems
products or processes
 • Amount of Wealth Creation: Rather than simply generating an
income stream that replaces traditional employment, a successful
entrepreneurial venture creates substantial wealth, typically more

Entrepreneurial
than several million dollars of profit.
• Speed of wealth creation: While a successful small business can

ventures differ
generate several million dollars of profit over a lifetime,
entrepreneurial wealth creation often is rapid; for example, within 5

from small
years.
• Risk: the risk of an entrepreneurial venture must be high; otherwise,

businesses in with the incentive of sure profits many entrepreneurs would be

pursuing the idea and the opportunity no longer would exist.

these ways: • Innovation: Entrepreneurship often involves substantial innovation

beyond what a small business might exhibit. This innovation gives
the venture the competitive advantage that results in wealth
creation. The innovation may be in the product or service itself, or
in the business processes used to deliver it.
Entrepreneurship involves creation and
change, not just ownership.
  Competencies and
characteristics
 Entrepreneurial Values
 Attitudes and Motivation
 Intrapreneur: Meaning and
Module 2.1 Importance

Understanding these concepts

helps explain why some
individuals initiate ventures,
sustain them, and innovate
within organisations.
 Entrepreneurial competencies are:
• A combination of knowledge, skills and
abilities
• That enable an entrepreneur to
Entrepreneurial perform effectively
Competencies • In uncertain and dynamic
environments

These competencies can be developed

and learned, not just inherited.
 Opportunity Decision-Making Problem-Solving
Recognition Ability Ability

Major Communication &

Planning & Financial
Entrepreneurial Organizing Skills Awareness Negotiation

Competencies
Leadership & Team
Management

Competencies influence how entrepreneurs

act, not just what they believe.
 Characteristics of an Entrepreneur

• An eye for opportunity: Many entrepreneurs start by

finding a need and quickly satisfying it. They are
always alert to opportunities; are very much quick to
see and grab opportunities. They plan intellectually
and anticipate carefully how to achieve their goals in
realizing an opportunity.

• Independence: Even though most entrepreneurs know

how to work within the framework for the sake of
profits, they enjoy being their own boss. The
characteristics of independence and the sense of
determination are the drives that make an
entrepreneur start their own business. In a way, their
own business fulfills their need for independence.

• An appetite for hard work: Most entrepreneurs start

out working long, hard, hours with little play. They are
persistent and work hard to attain their goals.
 Characteristics of an Entrepreneur

• Self-confidence: Most successful entrepreneurs are

confident of achieving realistic and challenging goals.
They get into business or industry with a high level of
self-confidence.

• Discipline: Successful entrepreneurs resist the

temptation to do what is unimportant or the easiest;
and can think through what is the most essential.
Entrepreneurs are economically efficient, do not like
to waste time and they like to see work completed.
They use discipline as a guide to their destination.

• Judgment: Successful entrepreneurs have the ability to

think quickly and make a wise decision. This is possible
because they have a plan, they have an economic
goal, they know what they want and they know what
they can do.
 Characteristics of an Entrepreneur

• Ability to accept change: Change occurs frequently

when you own your own business, the entrepreneur
thrives on changes and their business grow. An
entrepreneur may need to change his/her plans in
order to help the business grow.

• Need to achieve: Entrepreneurs have strong desire to

achieve higher goals. Their inner self motivates their
behaviour towards high achievement.

• Focus on profits: Successful entrepreneurs always have

the profit margin in sight and know that their business
success is measured by profits.

• Risk-bearing: Entrepreneurs take decisions under

uncertainty and thus they are willing to take risk. They
undertake calculated risk which is high enough to be
exciting, but with a fairly reasonable chance to win.
 Characteristics of an Entrepreneur

• Locus of control: According to Rotter‟s locus of control

theory, an individual perceives the outcome of an
event as being either within or beyond their personal
control. Entrepreneurs usually have an internal locus of
control, and they believe in their own ability to control
the consequences of their endeavour by influencing
their socio-economic environment rather than leave
everything to luck. They strongly believe that they can
govern and shape their own destiny.

• Creative and Innovative: Successful entrepreneurs are

innovators. They constantly put their efforts in
introducing new products, new method of production,
opening new markets and reorganizing the enterprise.
They always try not to be satisfied with conventional
and routine way of doing things but always think of
how they can do them in a better way.
 Characteristics of an Entrepreneur

• Leadership: Entrepreneurs should possess the quality of • Empathy conduct

leadership. Entrepreneurs as leaders should provide the
necessary spark of motivation by guiding, inspiring, assisting • Exemplary conduct
and directing the members of the group for achievement of
unity of action, efforts and purpose. According to George R. • Developing teamwork
Terry: “Leadership is the activity of influencing people of
• Common objectivity
strive willingly for group objectives”. Thus, entrepreneur, as
the leader of the group, can ensure high performance by • Facilitating change
creating a well-to-do environment. They must have the
capability to arrive at prompt and correct direction and win • Building morale
the confidence of their subordinates. Being the leader of
the enterprise, they should possess the following • Maintenance of discipline
characteristics:
• Active participation
• Existence of followers

• Assumption of responsibility
 Characteristics of an Entrepreneur

• Ability to mobilize resources: Entrepreneurs must have

the ability to marshal all the inputs to obtain the end
product. They must mobilize 6Ms,
i.e. Man, Money, Material, Machinery, Market and
Method
effectively to realize the final product as
entrepreneurship is a function of gap filling and input
completing.

• Entrepreneurs have many qualities that help them

their businesses successful. However, an entrepreneur
does not have to possess all the qualities. In that case
he has either to learn or hire the services of those who
possess the qualities he does not have.
 Entrepreneurial Values
Values are generalized and organized conception influencing behaviour and nature of
human beings. It is a set of beliefs about various aspects of the world. Values provide
standards that guide behaviour. Values are also reflective of a culture and are widely
shared by those belonging to that culture. Accordingly, values are the inner most layer
of the self which provides the goal and direction to an individual. In terms of
entrepreneurship, it means the cognitive functioning of entrepreneurship.
INNOVATIVENESS
• Entrepreneurs possess the ability to inspire others and
are considered catalysts of change; able to carry out
new combinations; instrumental in discovering new
opportunities.
• Innovation is the process of putting new ideas into
action. Innovations may also be repetition of the same
idea but at different places and settings.
• An innovator is different from an inventor.
 • Innovations can also be seen through actions
such as:
• Experimenting with new ideas
• Enjoying change
• Facing uncertainty to try new ideas
• Not giving up or becoming upset when
errors are made in doing the new work
• Valuing unconventional behaviour
INNOVATIVENESS • Finding problems to solve
• Finding a new use for existing methods or
existing equipment or existing services
• Demonstrating originality
• Working on a problem which causes great
difficulty for others
• Providing critical input towards a new idea
• Looking for unstructured work assignments
• Providing evaluation of proposed ideas
 INDEPENDENCE/
OWNERSHIP
• Entrepreneurs value freedom of expression and
freedom of action.
• They consider it desirable to be the master of
their own. Instead of waiting for suggestions,
c
directions and initiatives from others, an
entrepreneur works out plans of his own and
explores resources to satisfy the inner urge to
make their enterprise a success.
• This makes them self-reliant and independent.
• The inculcation of the value for independence
contributes significantly to the development of
‘achievement motivation’.
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE

• Entrepreneurs develop the value for outstanding

performance, displaying certain standards of
excellence (characterizing Achievement Motivation).
• Their internal locus of control makes them value and
experience the importance of outstanding
performance.
• The value for outstanding performance helps them to
accept the mistakes and improve on them and work
for successful completion of the task and not avoiding
it. This naturally leads to systematic planning and use of
information, so crucial for enterprise building and
management.
 RESPECT FOR WORK
• Entrepreneurs value the work of their
members.
c • Entrepreneurs value work and believe
that anything and everything can be
achieved through work and accordingly
work is worship.
• This value provides the goal direction,
which encourages entrepreneurs to
pursue a path and career where the
rewards and incentives are linked to the
degree and quality of efforts, made.
ENTREPRENEURIAL ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION
Attitude is defined as an “enduring organization of motivational, emotional, perceptual and
cognitive process with respect to some aspect of individual’s work”
 • Tendency to use Imagination/Intuition
• Tendency to take moderate risk
• Enjoying freedom of expression and action
• Seek out economic opportunities
ENTREPRENEURIAL • To be persevering and find satisfaction from

ATTITUDES completion of task

• To believe that they can change the
environment
• To take initiative
• To analyse situations and plan action-steps
INTRAPRENEURSHIP
Meaning & Imnportance
 • An intrapreneur is an employee who is responsible for
developing an innovative idea or pitching a fruitful project
within a company.
• The intrapreneur may not come with the risks or reap the
rewards of an entrepreneur but the intrapreneur has
access to the company’s resources and capabilities of an
WHO IS AN established setup.

INTRAPRENEUR? • Intrapreneurs are the employees of a company who are

designated to work on a special idea or an important
project. With the given time and freedom, they are
expected to develop the project as an entrepreneur
would.
• However, they do not work singly, intrapreneurs have the
resources and capabilities of the firm at their need.
 • Intrapreneurs are generally employees within a
company, who are given a specific idea or project,
with instructions to develop it in the same manner

The Importance as an entrepreneur does.

• Intrapreneurs are capable individuals having the
of Having An resources of the company at their disposal. The

Intrapreneur in intrapreneur's main job is to turn the specific project

into a profitable venture. They can also be referred
an Organisation to as 'paid entrepreneurs' or 'inside entrepreneurs'.
• Intrapreneurs do well when the management
empowers and supports them and hence, they
show their interest in the organisation.
 SOME FAMOUS INTRAPRENEURS

D. Brams (Happy Meal) Paul Buchheit (Gmail)

Ken Kutaragi (Sony PlayStation)