Who is an Entrepreneur?

Before discussing what defines an “entrepreneur”, it is important to understand what entrepreneurship, itself, is and how experiences within this field can condition an entrepreneur.

What is Entrepreneurship?

Entrepreneurship is the action of an individual or a group of people creating and sustaining a product or service, which can then develop into a business or an enterprise.

There are multiple types of entrepreneurship one can engage in; however, the four general categories include:

• small business entrepreneurship
• scalable startups
• large companies
• social entrepreneurship

For further information on the four different types of entrepreneurship, please consult our “The Four Different Types of Entrepreneurship” article (coming soon!).

The four styles of entrepreneurship provide different techniques for entrepreneurs to manage their business. The importance of the four types of entrepreneurship is that each distinct style will mold the entrepreneur in different ways and will bring out specific traits of an entrepreneur so they can best run their particular business.

Who exactly is an Entrepreneur?

This prompts the question of: who even is an entrepreneur?

Fundamentally, an entrepreneur is someone who takes on certain risks in order to establish and run a business venture.

However, entrepreneurs are more complex and have greater nuances than expressed by the above definition. They are creative, and based on their past experiences and the way they choose to run their businesses, they must realize and apply the best style of entrepreneurship that correlates with their own skill set and venture type.

Entrepreneurs are:

• Open-minded. Entrepreneurs have to remain flexible with their decisions in order to best address business situations. They must also be responsive to changes in their industry to accommodate for ramifications to their own business.
• Communicative. Without steady communication between appropriate sections in one’s business, it can become difficult to ensure the company runs as smoothly as possible.
• Organized. Especially when it comes to handling financial, legal, and other reports, being organized helps entrepreneurs keep track of important documentation and can help streamline their operations.
• Resilient. Entrepreneurs encounter many challenging situations as they start and develop their business. It is necessary that they remain resilient in the face of adversity and that they acknowledge the risk of failure, so as to learn from and push past the difficulties to improve their business.

There are also different forms of entrepreneurs that possess these characteristics and more in order to best serve oneself and their respective business.

The types of entrepreneurs include:

• The Creator / Innovator. This entrepreneur is skilled at coming up with novel ideas for products or services, but often needs large amounts of capital to support their venture. An example of an Innovator/Creator includes Frederick W. Smith (founder of FedEx).
• The Builder. Builders are entrepreneurs that work with raw business ideas or young businesses and seek out the best resources - investors, human resources, etc. - to build an enterprise that supports that idea. An example of a Builder is Robert Herjavec (founder of BRAK Systems and a judge on ABC’s show Shark Tank).
• The Specialist. The Specialist type of entrepreneur focuses their business idea on their own special skills/knowledge and creates a distinctive product or service as a result of that. An example of a Specialist is Bill Gates (co-founder of Microsoft).

Additional information on the four types of entrepreneurship can be found in our “The Four Different Types of Entrepreneurship” article (coming soon!).

Overall, entrepreneurs are individuals who generate an idea for a good or service, creating a business to support that idea. Entrepreneurs come from many different backgrounds and apply different styles of running their company to best accommodate for their respective circumstances. They also require certain qualities such as organization, resilience, flexibility, and communication, all of which prepare them for running their operation. Furthermore, entrepreneurs embody different forms of business people in order to play to their own strengths and grow their company.