What is entrepreneurship? And who are considered entrepreneurs? In this video, we are going to talk about the different definitions of entrepreneurship coming from different sources.
We will also talk about the people who are considered entrepreneurs. Thomas Eisenman of Harvard Business School stated that the word entrepreneurship is elastic and he may not be wrong. The Macmillan Dictionary provides the definition closest to what many people believe.
According to Macmillan, entrepreneurship is the activity of using money to start businesses and make business deals. Pretty basic, huh? The Oxford Learner's Dictionary offers a similar but a more meaty definition.
According to Oxford, entrepreneurship is the activity of making money by starting or running businesses, especially when this involves taking financial risks. Similarly, the Merriam-Webster dictionary gives us the definition of an entrepreneur as someone who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise. Furthermore, the Cambridge Dictionary states that entrepreneurship is the skill in starting new businesses, especially when this involves seeing new opportunities.
In all these definitions, the following terms seem to be very relevant. Business, Opportunity, Organization, Management, Financial Risks. Putting together these important terms, we can perhaps come up with a more well-rounded definition of entrepreneurship. Well, we can say that entrepreneurship is this skill that involves seeing an opportunity, and then starting, organizing, and managing a business which involves taking financial risks.
Sounds awesome, doesn't it? However, we better take it from an expert on the topic of entrepreneurship. Howard Stevenson, a long-time professor at Harvard Business School and who is considered the godfather of entrepreneurship studies at Harvard Business School, gives his own definition of entrepreneurship. According to him, Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunity beyond resources controlled. Oh, well, perhaps reading it just one time won't give us a thorough understanding of its meaning.
So, let's read it again. This time, read with me. Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunity beyond resources controlled.
Cool! Before we lose so much blood through our nose trying to understand this, let's get some help. Joel Trammell, the CEO and founder of Karu Software, explains this definition in simple terms.
According to him, an entrepreneur is anyone who spots an opportunity and decides to pursue it regardless of the resources currently at their disposal. By opportunity, it could mean pioneering a truly innovative product, devising a new business model, creating a better or cheaper version of an existing product, or targeting an existing product to new sets of customers, and many more. Joel Trammell adds, An entrepreneur sees what is possible and finds a way to make it happen, even if he doesn't have everything on hand at the moment to do so. According to him, it's a leap. A risk that someone has to take in order to develop innovative new products, build better organizations, and keep companies and the larger economy strong and healthy.
With all these definitions of entrepreneurship, who then can be considered entrepreneurs? Well... From your Aunt Daniela, who saw an opportunity during the community lockdown to sell her food products to the neighborhood, to Ma'am Romina, the CEO and founder of RM Corporation, which is now bringing their products to new clients in another region, can both be considered entrepreneurs?
Which definition of entrepreneurship do you think best describes it? Why do you think so? Put your answers in the comment section below. Thank you for watching this video. Please subscribe to our YouTube channel and please ring the bell to get updates on our latest videos.