An entrepreneur requires many skills. But, an entrepreneurial perspective is more about a state of mind. That is, an entrepreneur will be more willing to take a risk than a small business manager. Further, an entrepreneur will tend to be more innovative in continually seeking out new opportunities. Eventually, however, the entrepreneur will move on to a new initiative; or to adopt the perspective of a small business manager. This chapter presents the evolving role of the entrepreneur's involvement in small business.
TopTypes Of Entrepreneurs
The origin of the term “entrepreneur” is derived from the French word “entreprende” which means “to undertake” (Brouwer, 2002).
It has been suggested that an entrepreneur is, “...someone who specialises in taking judgemental decisions about the coordination of scarce resources.” (Casson, 2003, p. 225). This definition does not include a comment about the size of the business. An entrepreneur may be involved in a small business or a large company. The definition thus emphasizes an individual’s approach to making decisions. Entrepreneurs, however, tend to be found more often in small business. This is the focus of this chapter. Because of the size of a small business and the lack of time, finances, and skills (Thong et al, 1994) these entrepreneurs will typically have to make decisions within the context of allocating scarce resources.
Birley (1996) suggested entrepreneurs tend to focus more on changing the current small business environment by implementing innovative management processes.
More recently, the term has been defined as, “…a person who has a financial stake in [a small business]; …is involved in the production and sales of existing and innovative goods with the intent to maximize enterprise profits for personal benefit…” (Konorti, 2010, p. 14).