What Makes a Good Entrepreneur?

Keywords: qualities of an entrepreneur, makes successful entrepreneur

What Makes a Good Entrepreneur?

The terms entrepreneur, manager and owner are very much in meaning yet exhibit different representations of business people who are present at the top management. Entrepreneur is a person who sets up a new organization or enterprise and accounts for accountability on his part of the risks that could come onto his shoulders for one reason or the other. When the discussion is of the for-profit organizations, the entrepreneur term replaces itself with founder. (Versi, 1999) This person is responsible for establishing a new entity or unit so that the establishment could provide an existing product or service into the form of a single new market, which could have a profit or non-profit result. The entrepreneurs have strong insights as regards to the opportunities that exist within the market and the threats that come as a result of the very same. The risks that could arise in the wake of these include personal, financial or professional ones so that opportunity could be grabbed with both hands. (Martin, 1997)

In different societies, the business entrepreneurs are regarded as the pivotal components of a social order. (Covin, 1999) Entrepreneur manages and runs an organization and manages the different undertakings of the enterprise. This enterprise could be a business which is normally associated with peculiar initiatives and foreseeable risks. An entrepreneur is also an employer of productive work or in other words of labor. He is also the contractor who deals with or initiates the process of entrepreneurship. The entrepreneur is the person who is responsible for running the system which is in place in a normal process. He is the one who organizes the whole process. Entrepreneur creates or sells a product and/or service so that he could earn a considerable profit/benefit. The entrepreneur is the risk bearer and an organizer within the business enterprise. More than anything else, an entrepreneur is a leader by sheer definition. An entrepreneur wants to achieve high since his ambitions are always at the top. He is a person who believes in dedication and hard work. (Drucker, 1985) These people like to work for their own selves rather than working for some other business. They believe in quality of work and take acceptance for responsibility which is a hallmark of a true leader. These entrepreneurs believe in a positive approach and give rewards whenever they deem fit. Their thinking is more on the lines of providing excellence towards work and they are good organizers as far as work ethics are concerned. They want to make a profit and this profit helps them to accomplish more and more in their passage towards success and achievements. (Ramsay, 2004) Some of the well known entrepreneurs have included names like Ben Cohen of the Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, Elisha Otis related with elevators, Ted Turner with the media field, Sam Walton concerned with the departmental stores and lastly Alan Sugar with the science of computers. (Watkins, 1998)

Effective entrepreneurs know how to make use of their team members and during this while contribute in their own capacity towards team building. Entrepreneurial effectiveness within an organization could be improved if there is a general understanding that the entrepreneurs know their work well and also discern the exact basis for the workers who fall short on the knowledge curve. This would enable them to get the best out of these individuals and turn them into the strengths within the shortest possible time. (Versi, 2006) What spiral of knowledge does is to increase the awareness level of the entrepreneurs when it comes to their working methodologies and the ways and means through which they bring value to the different processes and activities of the organization. (Gannon, 1987) The knowledge organization makes best use of the knowledge that it has and it does not let go on the opportunities which come in its way every now and then. There is a definitive need to outline the salient points which a entrepreneur must know in order to get the work done from the knowledge base and indeed the whole of the knowledge organization and it is only when there is a mesh of knowledge activities and the entrepreneurial effectiveness. (Halal, 1996)

Team building is one of the most significant aspects that come under the functions of an entrepreneur and he needs to make sure that he is the leader for all the activities and tasks that are happening under his vigilant eyes. Team building is all the more important because the entrepreneur needs to take decisions in line with the knowledge that his team can deliver under crunch situations and also because he has to take the company forward all this while. Thus it is imperative on his part to understand that the strengths and weaknesses of the team members are equally crucial and his requirement takes more ground in this whole equation when a difficult situation crops up. (Hocker, 2001) Thus a good team is only built when the leader (entrepreneur) knows his team members pretty well and turns the weaknesses of different individuals within the team into their strengths and not only that but also in the strength of the team overall. (Harper, 2003) An entrepreneur can only be termed an effective one when he understands his resources and what his team members can possibly do to their maximum in those available resources. Only then there is a sense of empathy and understanding amongst the team members and consideration towards the leader of the team which in this case is the entrepreneur himself. Thus, a good team is developed when there is complete harmony in the activities of the team members and there is basically a synergy amongst all of them. This synergy can only be encouraged by the team leader, which in this case is through an effective and considerate entrepreneur. (El-Amin, 2003)

Being labeled as an entrepreneur is a social stigma, more so in the West where the same is attached with social injustice and immoral etiquettes. In addition, being called as an entrepreneur of some business or corporation asks for the person to be termed as a tyrannical ruler who is ruling the lives of the employees and workers working under him. Oppression and entrepreneurship thus end up being each other’s synonyms. On the other hand, being called as an entrepreneur of an enterprise would be looked upon at in a very esteemed and reputable manner within a third world nation. (Economy, 2003) There are differences in the cultural mechanisms so as to speak. A conflict within an organization can take place due to differing personalities of the employees or in their attitudes that lead in their linkage with each other. This could also happen due to their norms and behaviors which might not be liked by any one party (person) and thus lead to a conflict of thoughts, ideas, actions and eventual behaviors towards each other. There is a degree of power when we speak of the entrepreneur in terms of the same over his subordinate or the employee who is working under him in a direct or an indirect capacity.

In the end, it would be proper to state here that if the entrepreneurs are true to their jobs and know what they expect from the workers working under them, then it is duty bound on the part of these employees to be truthful about their work and apprise the entrepreneur as to where they have been lacking and what plus points have thus been achieved. (Rogers, 2001) All said and done it is to the entrepreneur himself as to how best he can toe along the workers on those lines and till what extent he can drag them but in the name of a genuine organizational gain. A good entrepreneur can only be made if he is respected by one and all. (Milner, 2004)

References

• Covin, Jeffrey G. (1999). Corporate Entrepreneurship and the Pursuit of Competitive Advantage. Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice Vol. 23
• Drucker, Peter F. (1985). Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Practice and Principles. Harper & Row
• Economy, Peter. (2003). Lessons from the Edge: Survival Skills for Starting and Growing a Company. Oxford University Press
• El-Amin, Zakiyyah. (2003). Technically Marketing: This Entrepreneur Used His IT Background to Give His Business an Edge. Black Enterprise, Vol. 33
• Gannon, Martin J. (1987). Organizational Effectiveness in Entrepreneurial and Professionally Managed Firms. Journal of Small Business Management, Vol. 25
• Halal, William E. (1996). The Rise of the Knowledge Entrepreneur. The Futurist, Vol. 30
• Harper, David A. (2003). Foundations of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development. Routledge
• Hocker, Cliff. (2001). Fourth-Generation Entrepreneur Back at the Market. Black Enterprise, Vol. 31
• Martin, Stephen. (1997). The Impact of Privatization: Ownership and Corporate Performance in the UK. Routledge
• Milner, Anthony. (2004). Wong Ah Fook: Immigrant, Builder and Entrepreneur. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, Vol. 35
• Ramsay, Allan. (2004). A Victorian Entrepreneur. Contemporary Review, Vol. 284
• Rogers, Edward S. (2001). Lesson from an Entrepreneur Who Knows about Risk, Loss and Winning. Canadian Speeches, Vol. 14
• Versi, Anver. (2006). Hail the Small-Scale Entrepreneur. African Business
• Versi, Anver. (1999). What Makes an Entrepreneur? African Business
• Watkins, Jeff. (1998). Information Technology, Organizations, and People: Transformations in the UK Retail Financial Services Sector. Routledge