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In today’s economic environment where jobs are riddled with unpredictability, more and more people want to start something of their own. It’s possible that even you, who are reading this, have thought so. However, what eludes most people is how to start something of their own or how to become an entrepreneur? Are entrepreneurs born entrepreneurs, or is entrepreneurship a skill that can be acquired? Let’s dive into entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship development.
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What is an Entrepreneur?
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What is entrepreneurship development?
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Need of Entrepreneurship Development
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Types of Entrepreneurship Development
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Conclusion
What is an Entrepreneur?
An entrepreneur is a person who can visualize new ideas and find the resources to implement their vision to set up an on-ground business for making profits and serving society. Such a person can:
- Identify and assess risks and exploit opportunities
- Dynamically create new organizations or refurbish old ones
- Provide a fillip to the economy through innovation and job creation
- Work for uplifting the society in general
What is entrepreneurship development?
While the above are the inherent traits of an entrepreneur, entrepreneurship development is the process of formally gaining and improving the knowledge and skills of an entrepreneur through a classroom program or training. This includes learning about:
- The behavior of entrepreneurs
- The dynamics of setting up a business
- The challenges of developing and expanding a business and how to overcome them
The purpose of entrepreneurship development is to create more entrepreneurs. A greater number of entrepreneurs would mean more businesses, more employment generation and greater economic development. The focus of entrepreneurship development is the entrepreneur themselves. It is about enhancing their skills.
Need of Entrepreneurship Development
An economy is only as strong as its population’s spending potential. A strong economy has fewer starving people and more people contributing to its growth. Existing organizations can only employ so many people. To generate employment for more people, either new businesses should be set up, or old ones should be expanded. For both of these, we need more people with an entrepreneurial mindset. This explains the need for entrepreneurship development.
The introduction of entrepreneurship development can set into motion a chain of businesses creating jobs. When an industry expands, so do its associate industries. For example, a boom in the automotive sector would effectively bring about growth in the ancillary industries. Similarly, growth in the IT segment would mean a growth in the software and hardware industries, call centers and network maintenance organizations.
Entrepreneurship and development complement each other. The future development of countries requires a strong logistics network, skilled workforce and capital investors. Entrepreneurs can provide the much-needed push for workers to gain skills to be profitably employed. More employed individuals add to the national income of a country through tax revenue. Moreover, the government can spend more on security and infrastructure development, increasing the robustness of the country’s economy.
Capital investors find it easy to invest in people with proven abilities or great credentials. A person with an entrepreneurial mindset and training in entrepreneurship development from a reputed institution is likely to get investor backing more easily than someone who is not trained. Similarly, someone who has demonstrated entrepreneurial skills and generated revenue in a previously employed capacity may find more takers than someone who has a business plan but no prior experience.
Types of Entrepreneurship Development
The types of entrepreneurship development programs depend on the types of entrepreneurs. As per research, different types of entrepreneurship have been identified. All types of entrepreneurship are catalysts for economic development.
Business author Clarence Danhof classified entrepreneurs on the basis of economic development and risk-taking. He put them into four categories:
1. Innovative Entrepreneur:
Such an entrepreneur is one who aggressively gathers information, generates new business ideas based on the information and puts these ideas into practice. They have a shrewd business sense and create new products and new markets. Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg are examples.
2. Adoptive Entrepreneur:
Such an entrepreneur is skilled in enhancing already existing ideas and technology to create a competitive advantage. They can exogenously enhance or change technologies and create more jobs. For example, development of smaller shopping malls and manufacturing of car parts etc.
3. Fabian Entrepreneur:
Such an entrepreneur has a more orthodox and traditional approach to business. They do not believe in taking risks or innovating. Usually, they are the second-generation business owners of an existing business.
4. Drone Entrepreneur:
Such entrepreneurs are laggards in their fields. They are not motivated by new and exciting opportunities to grow their business. Instead, they are happy to struggle to make ends meet. Their approach to business can push them out of competition, especially when the market becomes too competitive.
Entrepreneurs can also be classified on the basis of some other markers:
Based on the type of business:
Agricultural Entrepreneur:
An individual involved in the business of agriculture and any of the related activities such as cultivation, irrigation, agricultural technology, etc.
Manufacturing Entrepreneur:
An entrepreneur who identifies market gaps, researches the resources and raw materials to fulfil the gap, finds the technology and produces the finished product.
Trading Entrepreneur:
All manufacturers do not engage in marketing their products themselves. They look for trading partners who can increase the reach of their products to businesses and consumers. These trading entrepreneurs are the links between the manufacturer, the wholesaler, the retailer and the consumer.
Based on technology use:
1. Technical Entrepreneurs:
These entrepreneurs are intrigued by new technology and start businesses in the field of science and technology. They offer products and services related to technology.
2. Non-technical Entrepreneurs:
These entrepreneurs do not concern themselves with the technological aspects of products and services they produce. They develop marketing and promotional strategies for their products and services.
Other types of entrepreneurs:
1. Women Entrepreneurs:
While entrepreneurship has been on the rise, development of women entrepreneurship has gathered steam only in recent years. This is especially true in India. With more women having access to education and technology, they can explore their creative sides to actually create profitable businesses. As per the Indian government, an enterprise that gives 51% stake to women, including 51% of the employment generated to women, is considered a women entrepreneurship enterprise. The Government of India is giving a fillip to the development of women entrepreneurship by providing vocational and skill-building courses at minimal or no cost and by providing loans and help for women to set up their own businesses.
2. First-generation Entrepreneurs:
These are individuals who do not belong to business families and have started their businesses without any family support or backing. Deregulation has helped many individuals set up their own businesses. Innovative entrepreneurs are often first-generation entrepreneurs.
Since all the above categories display distinct characteristics, the types of entrepreneurship development programs for each of these categories must be focused and different.
Conclusion
Harappa’s Leading Self course provides you with all that you would require to know about entrepreneurship development. In this course, people can learn to explore their hidden potential and learn how to build new talents. This course is also great for the development of women entrepreneurship as anyone, anywhere can join and benefit from this course. You can learn not only to be resilient, but also how to turn setbacks into opportunities. Join now!
