What Does Entrepreneur Mean
We explain what an entrepreneur is and the types of entrepreneurs that exist. Also, how is your profile and its main characteristics.
What is an entrepreneur?
It is known as an entrepreneur or entrepreneur to who organizes and conducts some kind of organizational initiatives , for profit, running certain amount of risk finance it. It is not synonymous with entrepreneur . This term comes from the 18th century, at the dawn of industrial capitalism. The Anglo-French economist Richard Cantillon was the first to use it, to name someone who “pays a certain price to resell a product at an uncertain price, making decisions about obtaining and using resources, and admitting the risk inherent in entrepreneurship. ”. At that time there was no major difference between being an entrepreneur or being a businessman or merchant . This distinction is much more recent. Entrepreneurs today are business leaders who try to translate their personal passions (and not the mere desire for profit) into sustainable and profitable business initiatives . An entrepreneur is the one who decides to take the risk of inaugurating viable projects , assuming the risks that this entails and motivated by a specific vision. There are no shortage of examples of entrepreneurship: well-known names in the world of companies and industries are or were entrepreneurs: Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, for example, or Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. His example of commitment to his personal cause, tenacity and business vision is, for many, an example to follow on the path of developing possible business projects. It can serve you: Microenterprise
Types of entrepreneurs
There are several types of entrepreneurs:
- Corporate or business entrepreneurs. This is the name of those who risk starting a young and innovative company (known as Startup s ) using their passions and knowledge .
- Digital entrepreneurs. Characteristic of the digital age are therefore used the Internet and new technologies of information and telecommunications services to offer such diverse, emphasizing the new possibilities of this technology.
- Social entrepreneurs. This is how those who advocate the creation of associations and organizations that do not necessarily have a commercial character, such as NGOs and other political or community organizations, are known.
Profile of an entrepreneur
Broadly speaking, the profile of an entrepreneur is simple: it is a person driven by an inner vision , that is, someone passionate and with enough creativity to convince third parties of what is needed. This means that an entrepreneur is not someone who dreams of getting rich, or powerful, but someone who thinks that business tools are a means to turn a vision of the world into reality. Is Elon Musk doing something else with his company SpaceX, taking giant steps towards the colonization of the planet Mars ?
Characteristics of an entrepreneur
An entrepreneur, in general, meets the following general characteristics:
- Passion. By not being simply businessmen, entrepreneurs must connect with their deep, personal motivations . They are the ones they want to make a reality .
- Vision . An entrepreneur must have the ability to project into the future in order to perceive and take advantage of windows of opportunity. This is key in the development of a Startup , for example.
- Confidence. Uncertainty in a venture is usually very present. For this reason, an entrepreneur must have confidence in himself and in his vision, since often things will not go as he had planned.
- Leadership . If an entrepreneur behaves simply like a boss, he will not be able to inspire his team and infect them with his passion. You must be an example to follow and a driver on the path to fulfillment.
- Honesty . Entrepreneurs must believe enough in their dreams to ruin them by engaging in dishonest practices, which later give the project a bad nameor close important doors.
- Innovation . In such a fast and changing world, entrepreneurs must keep an eye open for the new: the changes that occur in the business, social or political culture that interests them, new influences, trends, etc.
Difference between entrepreneur and businessman
Entrepreneurs differ from businessmen or simple merchants in that the latter lack an innovative spirit, passion and creativity, preferring to travel safer paths that lead to economic gain . An entrepreneur or a merchant are, respectively, producers or resellers , whose cause is just to perpetuate the business over time. An entrepreneur, on the other hand, obeys a feasible project that generally exceeds mere economic profit and aspires to modify people's way of life: that is, instead of doing business for profit, business is done for the business itself, because of what it really means. More in: Entrepreneur