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Introduction to Entrepreneurship
Why This Lesson
Entrepreneurship has much to offer to anyone who has the passion and drive to start
a venture and follow it through. To be a successful entrepreneur, you need to be
aware of your passions, motivations, skills, and objectives, and you must know what
areas you may need to improve on or develop. Then, ideally, you will be able to align
your skills and desires with your venture.
History of Entrepreneurship
Our definition and understanding of entrepreneurship has evolved over the years, and
this will continue to evolve in terms of focus and scope. In the broadest terms, we
define entrepreneurship as the pursuit of an opportunity without regard to the
resources that the entrepreneur currently controls. An entrepreneur is therefore a
person who identifies an opportunity, then acquires the resources needed to pursue
that opportunity as a venture.
This is how most of us approach entrepreneurship today. However, the concept has
taken quite a journey from its roots over 500 years ago. The word entrepreneur comes
from the word enterprise, which has roots in the Latin language in the 15th century—
from the words entre, meaning “between,” and prehendere, meaning “to grasp or
take hold.” Then the word enterprise made its way into French and become
entreprendre, which means “to undertake.” From there, the word evolved and
became entrepreneur.
Over the years, scholars and practitioners have further refined the concept, and by
the early 20th century, an entrepreneur referred to someone who used business
judgment in commercial enterprises with uncertain outcomes, accumulated capital,
took risks and was innovative and creative. Some people believe that to be truly
entrepreneurial, a person has to create something disruptive, such as a new product,
industry, or market, or identify and serve needs that are not currently being met.
In modern times, the definition of entrepreneurship has been broadened to describe

an entrepreneur as someone who starts a commercial venture, such as developing
and selling a brand-new product or starting a small accounting business in the
downtown of a big city, and someone who starts a nonprofit organization designed
to address a social issue or problem in the community.
Today there is no single commonly accepted definition of the word entrepreneur. For
some people, being an owner or operator of a business is enough. For others, to be
properly classified as an entrepreneur, the business owner must also be the founder of
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the business. The common thread that runs through the definitions is the concept of
value creation, such as economic value for the entrepreneur, or social value for the
community.
Goals and Objectives of Entrepreneurship
The goals of entrepreneurship are to create a new venture and to create value of
some kind, such as social, intellectual, or financial value.
Commercial entrepreneurs often come to mind when one thinks about

entrepreneurship. Their goals are to create viable businesses and to create value,
usually in the form of financial value. One commercial entrepreneur may choose a
technology start-up to make large profits, grow quickly, and selling the business to
another company. Another commercial entrepreneur may choose to build a small
business to grow very slowly and generate income for himself or herself.
Social entrepreneurs are individuals who seek to create non-financial value, such as
providing products or services to a community in need. These individuals use the
entrepreneurial process to start non-profit ventures or otherwise to create a social
value. Their objectives are not necessarily money or profit. Quite often, the goal is to
create a change in society and further specific non-financial goals. These
entrepreneurs seek to build organizations with strong, well-defined missions and to
operate within a structure that enables them to attract funding from people who
believe in the mission.
Intrapreneurs are individuals who seek to create new products or services from within
an existing organization. These individuals usually work with the support of the
organization, and their objective is to generate a profit for the larger company (see
Table 1-1).
Table 1-1: Types of Entrepreneurship

Type of
Goals
Entrepreneurship
Commercial Business creation
Innovation
Wealth
Social Social mission
Social engagement
Intrapreneurship Innovation
Business creation within an existing organization
Profit
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The Myths of Entrepreneurship
There are lots of myths out there about entrepreneurs that may be worthwhile for you
to examine as you think about whether starting a business is right for you. Below is a list
of some of the common myths of entrepreneurship that usually people talk about.
1. Many people start a business to be their boss and have control over their
schedules.
2. All entrepreneurs are risk-takers and gamblers.
3. If everyone in your family is an entrepreneur, you’ll be successful.
4. White-collar professionals will never be great entrepreneurs.
5. You must invent something new.
6. You need to do all the work yourself when starting your business.
7. A good product automatically translates into business success.
8. You should try and get as many clients as possible.
9. Never give your service or product away for free.
10. You should start a business when you have some extra time on your hands.
The Entrepreneurial Process
The entrepreneurial process can be broken into seven key steps, which can be
applied to any type of venture.
1. Identify an opportunity. Use creative techniques to come up with a new

idea, seek inspiration from existing sources to find an opportunity, or create
one of your own.
2. Conduct feasibility analysis. Understand the attractiveness or profitability of
the idea with technical feasibility analysis, a market feasibility analysis, and
industry feasibility analysis, and financial feasibility analysis.
3. Develop the concept. Create a strategy and a business model, and write
a venture plan.
4. Determine the resources needed. Use the feasibility studies to understand
what resources are required to conduct the venture.
5. Acquire the resources. Engage in activities such as hiring employees,
renting space, buying materials, and acquiring supplies.
6. Implement and manage the venture. Run the venture, and adapt to
changing conditions as necessary.
7. Harvest/exit the venture. Close, sell, or transform the venture into something
new.

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Introduction to Entrepreneurship

Why This Lesson

In modern times, the definition of entrepreneurship has been broadened to describe

Goals and Objectives of Entrepreneurship

Commercial entrepreneurs often come to mind when one thinks about

Table 1-1: Types of Entrepreneurship

The Entrepreneurial Process

1. Identify an opportunity. Use creative techniques to come up with a new

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