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An entrepreneur is someone who starts a business and seeks to build it from scratch. Entrepreneurship refers to set of skills which can help you build that business.

Many people like to think of themselves as entrepreneurs, or having the qualities of entrepreneurship, but what do we exactly mean by these? The two often get confused. In this blog we’ll look at the subtle but important differences and how you can build your skills in one to succeed at being the other. 

Definition of entrepreneur 

An entrepreneur is a person who starts a business with minimal capital and builds it up from scratch. He or she will have the vision to create a new service or product and will be responsible for all the risks of the business. 

Risk is part and parcel of the job. An entrepreneur is willing to take on the high risks of failure which come with starting a new business in return for the high rewards on offer if things work out well. Entrepreneurs devote a huge amount of time and energy into developing and building the product or service and have the vision for what it might be in the future. 

Although some functions might be outsourced, the buck always stops with the entrepreneur. It is he or she who takes on all the financial risk if the business collapses and will be blamed if things go wrong. 

Not an entrepreneur 

Many businesspeople will describe themselves as entrepreneurs. However, those who simply work for a start up or are buying or selling goods are not entrepreneurs. They are simply businesspeople seeking to buy low and sell high to make a bit of money. 

There’s nothing wrong with it, but they are not creating anything unique or new. 

Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, are true innovators. They are creating something from scratch or creating an entirely new spin on something which already exits. This is why a country with a high proportion of entrepreneurs will enjoy a more dynamic and sustainable economy.  

Entrepreneurship definition 

Entrepreneurship refers the skills and attributes entrepreneurs will use. It is the process of thinking out of the box, taking risks and developing something new. For example, selling shampoo is not entrepreneurship; developing your own shampoo which does the job differently and better than others would be. 

There is no one size fits all definition and there are many different types of entrepreneurship. However, at heart it’s all about innovation, risk, flexibility and resilience. These are the ingredients which go into making a good entrepreneur.

They are also skills which can be taught and encouraged. While much of the education system looks at ticking boxes and transferring knowledge, entrepreneurship is all about teaching skills and promoting an outlook which encourages innovation and embraces risk. 

It is, therefore, a state of mind and a set of characteristics. As an entrepreneur, you’ll get a lot further if you possess the skills and mindset of entrepreneurship and it is this which we attempt to install in when nurturing the next generation of entrepreneurs.