TYPES OF ENTREPRENEURS

The major types of entrepreneurs include; social entrepreneur, serial entrepreneur andlifestyle entrepreneur.

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR This is an individual who pursues innovative solutions to social problems. A social
entrepreneur adopts a style of which he/she can use to create and sustain social values. Most social
entrepreneurs engage in non-profit activities and are overwhelmed by social responsibilities and conscience.
They are primarily motivated to improve socio-economic well being, educational, health, fundamental,
environmental and health conditions of others.

SERIAL ENTREPRENEUR
This is an individual who CONTINUOUSLY comes up with new ideas, start the businessesand often times sell to
investors or shareholders. Serial entrepreneurs start up several businesses with little intention to operate any
of them for a long time. They are high risk takers with lots of unique ideas and are not always interested in a
career with a particular business/company.

LIFESTYLE ENTREPRENEUR
This is an individual who creates profit from personal passion. He/she put their lifestyle ahead of every
opportunity. While most entrepreneurs are motivated to build business to a certain stage and sell to
shareholders or investors, the lifestyle entrepreneur chooses to build a business they are passionate about
and grow the business into a long term, residual income that is sustainable. Most lifestyle entrepreneurs are
completely self-employed; this is to allow them time to set up their projects. In a nut shell, a life style
entrepreneur is an addict of whatever they find themselves doing, they do it so well, commit their time,
resources and energy to see their project complete.

According to Forbes, here are some list of great Entrepreneurs of our time;
1. Bill Gates – Microsoft
2. Larry Page and Sergey Brin – Google
3. Mark Zuckerberg – Facebook
4. Michael Bloomberg – Bloomberg
5. Masayoshi Son – SoftBank
6. Elon Musk – SpaceX
7. Terry Gou – Hon Hai Precision Industry
8. Larry Elison – Oracle
9. Robin Li – Baidu
10. Aliko Dangote – Dangote Group
11. Reid Hoffman – Venture Capitalist
12. Mo Ibrahim – Mo Ibrahim

QUALITIES OF AN ENTREPRENEUR
To be an Entrepreneur, you must possess some of these qualities;
1. Be open-minded.
2. Passion for whatever you do.
3. Constant flow of ideas.
4. Creative and always ready to take risks.
5. Must be disciplined and confident.
6. Opportunist.
7. Problem identifier and solver.
FUNCTIONS OF AN ENTREPRENEUR
1. Risk Taker: An Entrepreneur bears any risk in starting up and sustaining his/her business. S/he assumes
every responsibility that might come up in the course of his business which might be caused by either
change in time or quality. He is always ready for emergencies and should competitors emerge, thinks of
strategies to outshine them. Mike Gafka said, “To be successful you must accept all challenges that come
your way. You can’t accept the ones you like.”
2. Sales Person: An Entrepreneur must be a good sales man. If one cannot sell as an entrepreneur, one
cannot succeed. S/he is responsible of marketing and advertising his products or services. I assert that
there is no magic about making money; it is essentially a medium of exchange of goods and services. So if
you are not providing goods and services, you are not qualified to enjoy financial fortune.
3. Goal Getter: Entrepreneurs does not only set goals but also thrive so much to achieve their
goals. Robert Kiyosaki says, Most people know how to set goals, few people know how to achieve them,
that is how to identify an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs set big goals, so exhilarating that it is scary to an
ordinary man.
4. A Leader: One challenge of being an entrepreneur is that you have to be in charge. You must be in the
fore front of your business at least during startup. You should note that one cannot make it alone as an
entrepreneur. Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self esteem of their personnel. If
people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish – Sam Walton. To be a successful
entrepreneur, you must possess the ability to attract smart people and build great business team.
5. Decision Maker: Entrepreneurs determines the objectives of their business and they should know what
is suitable per time. He decides and maintains the potential investors or financiers of the enterprise and
also manages the funds available. He makes sure that his business venture is in good relationship with
pubic authorities and the society. He also decides the market for his product or services.
6. Identifies and Solves Problem: An entrepreneur is quick to identify any problem facing his/her business
and immediately seeks solution. It is said that he that wears the shoes knows where it pains. S/he knows
that if any challenge is not resolved as soon as they come, they are bound to face setbacks in the near
future.
Conclusion Entrepreneurs are the bed rock of every society. Their activities bring about growth of
economies and development of same. We therefore should never look down on any individual that is able to
think out an idea, implement it and solve problem for humanity.

Who is an Entrepreneur? There is no specific definition or traits to decide who are entrepreneurs but surely
there are some characteristics that are common in every entrepreneur.

1. An entrepreneur is a starter.
2. An entrepreneur is the driver.
3. An entrepreneur is accountable and responsible.
4. An entrepreneur is confident and self-motivated.
5. An entrepreneur is tenacious but understand their own limitations.
6. An entrepreneur is the one who never follow status quo.
7. An entrepreneur is also willing to fail and start over again.
8. An entrepreneur is the one who have courage to take extreme risk to do whatever it takes to turn
that idea into reality.
9. An entrepreneur is the one who Solve the problems.
10. An entrepreneur is passionate and ready to do any sacrifices.
As very well explained by Steve Tobak in his article - The True Meaning of 'Entrepreneur' - If you want to be an
entrepreneur someday, here’s an equation you should print out and attach to your mirror, computer screen,
smartphone, or wherever your eyeballs spend most of their time:

Entrepreneur + Capital = Products + Customers = Business.

Passion+ Willing to Fail = Risk Taking + Dedication = Success.

And at last i will end this answer by one of the beautiful quote by Michael Jordan which is mantra of each and
every Entrepreneur Success.

An entrepreneur is a starter.
An entrepreneur is an initiator, a challenger and a driver. Someone that creates something new, either an
initiative, a business or a company. He or she is the beginning (and sometimes the end) of a venture, project or
activity.

Entrepreneurship Define:
 As the process of creating something new of value by devoting (giving) the necessary time and effort.
 Simple definition – process of creating something new and assuming risks and rewards. RobertD.
Hisrich, M.P.Peters, D.A. Sheperd

 The Risk of Entrepreneurship

 Entrepreneurship requires a major commitment
of time, money, and effort with no guarantee of success.
 Most entrepreneurs:
 Are between the ages of 25 and 40
 Have work experience, personal drive, financial resources, and a willingness to
take business risks
Advantages of Entrepreneurship
 Some of the reasons people choose to start their own businesses are:
 personal freedom
 personal satisfaction
 increased income
 increased self-esteem
Disadvantages of Entrepreneurship
 potential loss of income
 long and irregular hours
 necessity for strong self-discipline
 potential loss of status and invested money

 Entrepreneurs are people that notice opportunities and take the initiative to mobilize resources to
make new goods and services.
  To be an Entrepreneur is to think differently. While most people seek refuge entrepreneurs takes risk.
They don’t want job they create job. Entrepreneurs don’t follow the market; they define the market.

Who are entrepreneurs?

 Original thinkers
 Risk takers
 Take responsibility for own actions
 Feel competent and capable
 Set high goals and enjoy working toward them

 Self employed parents

 Firstborns
 Between 30-50 years old
 Well educated – 80% have college degree and 1/3 have a graduate level degree

Skills Needed by Successful Entrepreneurs

• Communication skills
• Human relations skills
• Math skills
• Problem-solving & Decision-making skills
• Technical skills
• Basic Business skills

Successful and Unsuccessful Entrepreneurs

 Successful
 Creative and Innovative
 Position themselves in shifting or new markets
 Create new products
 Create new processes
 Create new delivery

 Unsuccessful
 Poor Managers
 Low work ethic
 Inefficient
 Failure to plan and prepare
 Poor money managers

Key Personal Attributes

 Many of these key attributes are developed early in life, with the family environment playing an
important role
 Entrepreneurs tend to have had self-employed parents who tend to support and encourage
independence, achievement, and responsibility
 Firstborns tend to have more entrepreneurial attributes because they receive more attention,
have to forge their own way, thus creating higher self-confidence
  The 5 Types of Entrepreneurs

1. Innovators

Innovators are the types of entrepreneurs who come up with completely new ideas and turn them into
viable businesses.
 The ability of an innovative entrepreneur to envision a new way of thinking makes them stand out from
the crowd and wildly successful in many cases however it takes significant capital, patience and
commitment to bring true innovation to life.

Advantages of Being An Innovate Entrepreneur:

 Get all the glory for the success of the business (and take all the arrows)
 Create the rules
 Face minimal competition during the initial days

Disadvantages of Being An Innovate Entrepreneur:

 You will need a lot of capital to bring a new idea to life

 Often face resistance from shareholders
 The timeframe for success is longer

The Hustler Entrepreneur

 Unlike innovators whose vision is the gas in their engine, hustlers just work harder and are willing to
get their hands dirty.  Hustlers often start small and think about effort – as opposed to raising capital to
grow their businesses. These types of entrepreneurs focus on starting small with the goal of becoming
bigger in the future.
 A perfect example of a hustler is Mark Cuban. He started in business very young selling trash bags,
newspapers and even postage stamps and this hustle later created a goldmine which was acquired by
internet giant Yahoo!

Advantages of Being A Hustler

 They will outwork most

 Tend to have thick skin – they don’t give up easily
 See disappointment and rejection as just a step in the process

Disadvantages of Being A Hustler

 Usually prone to burn out

 Wear out their team members who don’t have the same work ethic
 Often don’t see the value of raising capital as opposed to just working harder
  Even though many hustlers never give up, a lot of them are willing to try anything to succeed which
unfortunately means that they have a lot of hits and misses. Achieving their dreams takes a lot longer
than most other types of entrepreneurs.

3. Imitators

Imitators are the types of entrepreneurs who copy certain business ideas and improve upon them. They
are always looking for ways to make a particular product better so as to gain an upper hand in the
market.

Advantages of Imitators
 Refining a business idea is easier and less stressful
 You can easily benchmark your performance with the original idea
 Can learn and avoid mistakes that were made by the originator
Disadvantages of Imitators
 Their ideas are always compared to the original idea
 Always have to play catch-up

4.Researcher entrepreneurs
Usually believe in starting a business that has high chances of succeeding because they have put in detailed
work to understand all aspects.

 As a result, these types of entrepreneurs usually take a lot of time to launch products to make
decisions because they need the foundation of deep understanding. These entrepreneurs rely
much more on data and facts than instincts and intuition.

 For a researcher, there should be no room for making mistakes.

Advantages of Being a Researcher Entrepreneur

 Plan for as many contingencies as possible
 Write detailed, well-thought-out business and financial plans
 Focus on data and information rather than gut feeling
 Won’t start unless they feel like they know the market
 Will minimize the chances of failing in the business

Disadvantages of Being a Researcher Entrepreneur

 Typically moves slow
 Doesn’t like risk and that can hamper progress in a new venture

5. Buyers
  One thing that defines buyers is their wealth. These types of entrepreneurs have the money and
specialize in buying promising businesses.
Buyer entrepreneurs will identify a business and assess its viability, proceed to acquire it and find the most
suitable person to run and grow it.
 Advantages of being a Buyer
 Buying an already established venture is less risky
 Doesn’t have to worry so much about innovation
 Can focus on building on something that has already gone through building a foundation
 Already has a market for your products

Disadvantages of being a Buyer

 Usually pays a high price for good businesses
 Will face the risk of buying businesses that have problems that you think you can turn around

Difference between Entrepreneur and Intrapreneur

 An entrepreneur is intuitive in nature, whereas an intrapreneur is restorative in nature.
 An entrepreneur uses his own resources, i.e. man, machine, money, etc. while in the case of an
intrapreneur the resources are readily available, as they are provided to him by the company.
 An entrepreneur raises capital himself. Conversely, an intrapreneur does not need to raise funds
himself; rather it is provided by the company.
 An entrepreneur works in a newly established company. On the other hand, an intrapreneur is a part
of an existing organisation.
 An entrepreneur is his own boss, so he is independent to take decisions. As opposed to intrapreneur,
who works for the organisation, he cannot take independent decisions.
 This is one of the salient features of an entrepreneur; he is capable of bearing risks and uncertainties
of the business. Unlike intrapreneur, in which the company bears all the risks.
 The entrepreneur works hard to enter the market successfully and create a place subsequently. In
contrast to Intrapreneur, who works for organization-wide change to bring innovation, creativity and
productivity.