Course name :Entrepreneurship

CHAPTER ONE
THE NATURE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Chapter Objectives

After completing this chapter, students will be able to:

Define the term entrepreneurship and entrepreneur

Identify types of entrepreneur

Recognize the role of entrepreneurship in the economy

Analyze the entrepreneurial competences

Understand creativity and innovation

1.1 Introduction
The word ‘entrepreneur’ is widely used Its origin from a French word,

entreprender, where an entrepreneur was an individual commissioned to

undertake a particular commercial project.

1.2 Historical Origin of Entrepreneurship

In the 17th Century a person who has signed a contractual agreement with

the government to provide stipulated products or to perform service was

considered as entrepreneur. In this case the contract price is fixed so any
resulting profit or loss reflects the effort of the entrepreneur.
 Cont.
18th Century the first theory of entrepreneur has been developed by Richard Cantillon. He

said that an entrepreneur is a risk taker.

E.g. : merchant, farmers and /or the professionals they all operate at risk

 The other development during the 18 th Century is the differentiation of the entrepreneurial

role from capital providing role. The later role is the base for today’s venture capitalist.

 In the late 19th and early 20th Century an entrepreneur was viewed from economic

perspectives. The entrepreneur organizes and operates an enterprise for personal gain. In the
middle of the 20th Century the notion of an entrepreneur as an inventor as established.

 entrepreneur was evolved from managing commercial project to the application of

innovation (creativity) in the business idea.

 1.3 Definition of entrepreneurship and entrepreneur
• Entrepreneurship is a practice and a process that results in creativity,

innovation and enterprise development and growth.

• It refers to an individual’s ability to turn ideas into action involving and

engaging in socially-useful wealth creation through application of innovative

thinking and execution to meet consumer needs, using one’s own labor, time
and ideas.
• Engaging in entrepreneurship shifts people from being “job seekers” to “job

creators”, which is critical in countries that have high levels of

unemployment.
Cont.
In general, the process of entrepreneurship includes five critical elements.
These are:

1. The ability to perceive an opportunity.

2. The ability to commercialize the perceived opportunity i.e. innovation

3. The ability to pursue it on a sustainable basis.

4. The ability to pursue it through systematic means.

5. The acceptance of risk or failure.

Cont.
an entrepreneur can be defined as follows:
An entrepreneur is any person who creates and develops a
business idea and takes the risk of setting up an enterprise to
produce a product or service which satisfies customer needs.
An entrepreneur can also be defined as a professional who
discovers a business opportunity to produce improved or new
goods and services and identifies a way in which resources
required can be mobilized.
An entrepreneur is a person who: create the job not a job-
seeker; has a dream, has a vision; willing to take the risk and
makes something out of nothing
1.4 Types of Entrepreneurs

1. The individual entrepreneur: An individual entrepreneur is

someone who started; acquired or franchised his/her own
independent organization.
2. Intrapreneur: An Intrapreneur is a person who does
entrepreneurial work within large organization. The process by
which an intrapreneur affects change is called Intrapreneurship.
3. The Entrepreneurial Organization: An organization can
create an environment in which all of its members can
contribute in some function to the entrepreneurial function.
1.5 Role of Entrepreneurs in Economic Development

 Improvement in per capita Income/Wealth Generation

 Generation of Employment Opportunities

 Inspire others Towards Entrepreneurship

 Balanced Regional Development

 Enhance the Number of Enterprise

 Provide Diversity in Firms

 Economic Independence

 Combine Economic factors

 Provide Market efficiency

 Accepting Risk

 Maximize Investor’s Return

1.6 Entrepreneurial Competence and Environment
1.6.1 Entrepreneurial Mindset
Who Becomes an Entrepreneur?

1. The Young Professional: young highly educated people often with

entrepreneurial qualifications

2. The Inventor: is someone who has developed an innovation and who

has decided to make a career out of presenting that innovation to the
market.

3. The Excluded: Displaced communities and ethnic and religious

minorities have not been invited to join the wider economic community
due to a variety of social, cultural and political and historical reasons.
 1.6.2 Qualities of an Entrepreneur

In order to be successful, an entrepreneur should have the following

qualities:

1. Opportunity-seeking: An opportunity is a favorable set of

circumstances that creates a need for a new product, service or business. An
entrepreneur always seeks out and identifies opportunities and converts it
into a realistic and achievable goal or plan.

2. Persevering: An entrepreneur always makes concerted efforts towards

the successful completion of a goal.

To enable students to internalize the concept of perseverance read the story

of Thomas Edison from the module page 9
Cont.
3. Risk Taking: The best entrepreneurs Set their own objectives where
there is moderate risk of failure and take calculated risks.
Importance of Risk-taking
 Build self confidence

 Create a feeling of leadership

 Create strong motivation to complete a job well

4. Demanding for Efficiency and Quality

Efficiency: Being efficient means producing results with little wasted effort.

Quality refers the ability of a product or service to meet a customer’s

expectations for that product or service.
Cont.
Quality plays an important role in this new era of globalization because it confers

certain benefits which include:

 Reduction of waste

 Cost-effectiveness

 An increase in market share

 Better profitability

 Social responsibility

 Reputation

6. Information-seeking: Successful entrepreneurs do not rely on guesswork and do

not rely on others for information. Instead, they spend time collecting information
about their customers, competitors, suppliers, relevant technology and markets.
Cont.
7. Goal Setting

A Goal - is a general direction, or long-term aim that you want to accomplish. It is not
specific enough to be measured.

Objectives - are specific and measurable. They are concise and specific.

An entrepreneur must have a goal and an objective which is specific, measurable,

attainable relevant, and time bound (SMART).

 Specific: Great goals are well-defined and focused.

 Measurable: Numbers are an essential part of business. Put concrete numbers in

your goals to know if you’re on track.

 Attainable: entrepreneurs can set goals which are beyond their reach. Dream big

and aim for the stars but keep one foot firmly based in reality.
Cont.
 Relevant: Achievable business goals are based on the current conditions and

realities of the business climate.

 Time-Based: Business goals and objectives just don’t get done when there’s no

time frame tied to the goal-setting process.

8. Planning: Planning is making a decision about the future in terms of what to do,
when to do, where to do, how to do, by whom to do and using what resources.

An effective entrepreneur therefore usually plans his/her activities and accounts as

best as they can for unexpected eventualities.

9. Persuasion and Networking

Persuasion is a way of convincing someone to get something or make a decision in

your favor.
Cont.
Importance of Persuasion in Business
 We purchase goods from people

 We sell goods to people

 We need support from people

 We work with people.

Networking is an extended group of people with similar interests or concerns who

interact and remain in informal contact for mutual assistance or support.

Factors that Affect Persuasion and Networking

Socio-cultural background and perceptions

Communication skills (both verbal and non-verbal).

Negotiation skills
Cont.
10. Building Self-confidence

Self-confidence is having confidence in oneself when considering a capability.

Overconfidence is having unmerited confidence-believing something or someone is capable
when they are not.

Characteristics of a Self-confident Person

Risk-taking

Independent

Perseverance

Able to learn to live with failure

Ability to find happiness and contentment in work

Doing what you believe to be right

Admitting mistakes and learning from them

cont.

Dear students, please give your answer for Activity 1.2 in

your module page number 14. and discuss it with your
group members.
Cont.
Listening to Others: An entrepreneur does not simply impose
his/her idea on others. Rather, he/she listens to other people in
their sphere of influence, analyses their input in line with his/her
own thinking and makes an informed decision.
Demonstrating Leadership: An entrepreneur does not only do
things by him/herself, but also gets things done through others.
Entrepreneurs inspire, encourage and lead others to undertake
the given duties in time.
Cont.
Self-assessment
Activity 3: dear students write a self-assessment of your
entrepreneurial qualities from the module on page number 15 on
your exercise book and score your self .
1.6.3 Entrepreneurial Skills
 A skill is simply knowledge which is demonstrated by action. It is an

ability to perform in a certain way.

 An entrepreneur is someone who has a good business idea and can turn

that idea into reality.

 Turning an idea into reality calls upon two sorts of skills, these are:

 General management skills and

 People management skills

 General Management Skills: These are skills required to organize the

physical and financial resources needed to run the venture. They are:
Cont.
1. Strategy Skills – An ability to consider the business as a whole deliver value to its
customers better than its competitors.

2. Planning Skills – An ability to consider what the future might offer, how it will impact
on the business and what needs to be done to prepare for it now.

3. Marketing Skills – An ability to see how they satisfy the customer’s needs and why the
customer finds them attractive.

4. Financial Skills – An ability to manage money; to be able to keep track of expenditure.

5. Project Management Skills – An ability to organize projects, to set specific objectives,

to set schedules and to ensure that the necessary resources are in the right plat of the
right time.

6. Time Management Skills – An ability to use time productively

Cont.
People Management Skills: Businesses are made by people. A business can

only be successful if the peoples who make it up are properly directed and are
committed to make an effort on its behalf.

1. Communication Skills – An ability to use spoken and written language to express

ideas and inform others.

2. Leadership Skills – An ability to inspire people to work in a specific way and to

undertake the tasks that are necessary for the success of the venture.

3. Motivation Skills – An ability to enthuse people and get them to give their full
commitment to the tasks in hand.

4. Delegation Skills – An ability to allocate tasks to different people.

5. Negotiation Skills – An ability to understand what is wanted from a saturations,

1.6.4 The entrepreneurial tasks
1. Owning Organizations: Ownership lies with those who invest in the business and
own its stock. if an entrepreneur actually owns the business then he is in fact
undertaking two roles at the same time that of an investor and that of a manager.

2. Founding New Organizations: The entrepreneur is recognized as the person who

undertakes the task of bringing together the different elements of the organization
(people, property, productive resource, etc.) and giving them a separate legal entity.

3. Bringing Innovations to Market: The idea of innovation encompasses any new

way of doing something so that value is created.

4. Identification of Market Opportunity: An opportunity is the gap in a market

where the potential exists to do something better and create value. New
opportunities exist all the time but they do not necessarily present themselves
Cont.
5. Application of Expertise: they have a special ability in deciding how to
allocate scarce resources in situations where information is limited.

6. Provision of leadership: Entrepreneurs can rarely drive their innovation to

market on their own. They need the support of other people both from their
organizations and from people outside.

7. The entrepreneur as manager: At the end of the day the entrepreneur is a

manager.
1.6.5 Wealth of the Entrepreneur
Wealth is money and anything that money can buy. It includes

money, knowledge and assets of the entrepreneur.

Who Benefits from the entrepreneur’s Wealth?

1. Employees

2. Investors

3. Supplier

4. Customers

5. The local community

6. Government
1.6.6 Entrepreneurship and Environment
 Business environment refers to the factors external to a business enterprise

which influence its operations and determine its effectiveness.

 Business environ­ment may be healthy or unhealthy.

 Healthy business environment means the conditions are favorable to the

growth of business whereas unhealthy environ­ment implies conditions

hostile or unfavorable to business operations.
Phases of Business Environment

Business environment may be classified into two broad categories; namely

external; and internal environment

External Environment

It is the environment which is external to the business and hard to influence

independently. The following are the components of external environment:

A. Economic Environment

Economic environment is of multidimensional nature. It consists of the structure

of the economy, the industrial, agricultural, trade and transport policies of the
country, the growth and pattern of national income and its distribution etc.
Cont.
The success of a business enterprise depends considera­bly upon
the State and growth of the economy.
B. Legal Environment
• an adequate knowledge of laws and rules is necessary for
efficient managerial performance.
• When new laws are made and controls exercised through legal
enactments, the first reaction of the business community is to
oppose them and disobey them.
• Management should try to understand what should be the right
laws and strictly obey them when so made.
• In addition, it can influence the govern­ment to change and
improve the law and make it useful to the business community.
Cont.
an entrepreneur should:
• Read the books that enlighten on the legal side of business

• Consult government agencies concerned with the implementation of business laws.

• Retain labor law consultants.

C. Political Environment
• Managers and entrepreneurs should understand the working of the political system.

Such understanding and concern for national problems will help them in the long
run in discharging their responsibilities to the satisfaction of the public.
• Public opinion is very important and today's public opinion becomes tomorrow's

legislation. Businessmen should, therefore, learn to take public opinion into

account in the decision-making process.
Cont.
D. Socio-Cultural Environment 
It consist the social and cultural norms of a society in a given period of time.

The variables that are appraised are values, beliefs, norms, fashions and fads of
a particular society.
It can help in understanding the level of rigidity/flexibility of a given society

towards a new product/service/concept.

E. Demographic Environment
It assesses the overall population pattern of a given geographical region. It

includes variables like age profile, distribution, sex, education profile, income
distribution etc.
The demographic appraisal can help in identifying the size of target customers.
Internal Environment

A. Raw Material: It assesses the availability of raw material now and in

the near future.

B. Production/Operation: It assesses the availability of various

machineries, equipment, tools and techniques that would be required

for production/operation.

C. Finance: It assesses the total requirements of finance in terms start-

up expenses, fixed expenses and running expenses. It also indicates

the sources of finance that can be approached for funding.

D. Human Resource: It assesses the kind of human resources required

and its demand and supply in the market.

1.7 Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship

1.7.1 Creativity
Creativity is defined as the tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or

possibilities that may be useful in solving problems, communicating with others, and
entertaining ourselves and others.
Creativity is the ability to come up with new idea and to identify new and different ways

of looking at a problem and opportunities. This definition has several key elements that
are worth considering:

 Process: it is more like a skill than an attitude and that you can get better at it with

practice

 Ideas: creativity results in ideas that have potential value.

 Recombining: the creative process is one of putting things together in unexpected ways.
Steps in the Creative Process

Step1: Opportunity or problem Recognition: A person discovers that a new

opportunity exists or a problem needs resolution.

Step2: Immersion: the individual concentrates on the problem and becomes

immersed in it. He or she will recall and collect information that seems
relevant, dreaming up alternatives without refining or evaluating them.

Step 3: Incubation: the person keeps the assembled information in mind for a
while. the information is simmering it is being arranged into meaningful new
patterns.

Step 4: Insight: the problem-conquering solution flashes into the person’s

mind at an unexpected time, such as on the verge of sleep, during a shower, or
while running. Insight is also called the Aha! Experience.
Cont.
Step 5: Verification and Application: the individual sets out to prove that the
creative solution has merit. Verification procedures include gathering
supporting evidence, using logical persuasion, and experimenting with new
ideas.
Barriers to Creativity
searching for the one ‘right’ answer
focusing on being logical
blindly following the rules
constantly being practical
viewing play as frivolous
becoming overly specialized
avoiding ambiguity
fearing looking foolish
fearing mistakes and failure
believing that ‘I’m not creative
1.7. 2 Innovation
Innovation lies at the heart of the entrepreneurial process and is a means to the

exploitation of opportunity.
It is the implementation of new idea at the individual, group or organizational

level.

There are four distinct types of innovation, these are as follows:

1. Invention - described as the creation of a new product, service or process

2. Extension - the expansion of a product, service or process

3. Duplication - defined as replication of an already existing product, service or

process

4. Synthesis - the combination of existing concepts and factors into a new

formulation
Cont.
The Innovation Process

A. Analytical planning: carefully identifying the product or service features,

design as well as the resources that will be needed.

B. Resources organization: obtaining the required resources, materials,

technology, human or capital resources

C. Implementation: applying the resources in order to accomplish the plans

D. Commercial application: the provision of values to customers, reward

employees and satisfy the stakeholders.
Areas of Innovation
 The following are some of the major areas in which valuable innovation

might be made.

A. New product

B. New Services

C. New Production Techniques

D. New Way of Delivering the Product or Service to the Customer

E. New Operating Practices

F. New Means of Informing the Customer about the Product

G. New Means of Managing Relationship within the Organization

H. New Ways of Managing Relationships between Organizations

From Creativity to Entrepreneurship

 Creativity is the ability to develop new ideas and to discover new ways of

looking at problems and opportunities.

 Innovation is the ability to apply creative solution to those problems and

opportunities in order to enhance people’s lives or to enrich society.

 Entrepreneurship = creativity + innovation.