Who Is An Entrepreneur: Everything You Need To Know

An entrepreneur is someone who creates value in exchange for profit. And, for a person to qualify as an entrepreneur, they have to bear the risks associated with their business and also enjoy the profits from the business.

Entrepreneurs are very important to the economy of any nation. At their core, they are people that can identify problems and proffer a solution to them. Therefore, any country that wants to see rapid growth should have a system that supports entrepreneurship.

In some quarters, the word “entrepreneur” refers to anyone that starts and operates a business, but in my opinion, an entrepreneur does much more than that.

In summary, an entrepreneur is an innovative and creative individual, who identifies problems as opportunities, and works to solve problems by providing value in exchange for profit.

See Also: Resources that will help you start, market and grow a sustainable business.

20 Definitions Of The Word – Entrepreneur From Top 20 Entrepreneurs

An entrepreneur is someone who can define the business they want to create, see where it is going, and do the work to get there. (Mark Cuban)

An entrepreneur is someone who mixes passion, innovation, and drives to turn a vision into a working business. (Jeet Banerjee)

An entrepreneur is someone who has a bias towards action. Someone who views the world through a different lens. Someone who takes “no” for a challenge, not an answer. (Matt Mickiewicz)

What differentiates entrepreneurs from everybody else is a vision of something that doesn’t exist (either at all or in the form they envision) and the willingness to do what other people are unwilling to do to make that vision a reality. (Rob Irizarry)

An entrepreneur is someone that goes out and does the work to create something that didn’t exist before. (Jamie Tardy)

An entrepreneur is someone who makes something useful or pleasurable out of nothing. (Michael Fitzgerald)

An entrepreneur is someone who conceives an idea, creates a path to success, does whatever it takes to succeed and tries to dominate their market! (Matthew Toren)

An entrepreneur is someone who creates a new company from scratch. (Brad Feld)

A person who has so much passion for an idea that they’re willing to risk almost everything to make their dream a reality. (Jared Tanner)

Someone who envisions, creates, and evangelizes an idea that they are absolutely crazy about. That idea (it could be a product, book, consultancy) makes it easier for them to get up in the morning, work ridiculous hours, and keep their brain buzzing. The entrepreneur can work alone, within a company, or in a group, but he/she gets itchy at the thought of working a 9-5 job and following the orders of anyone who isn’t efficient and imaginative. (Manoush Zomorodi)

Types Of Entrepreneurs

There are different types of entrepreneurs and there are also different classifications of entrepreneurs. But for the sake of this post, we have decided to classify entrepreneurs based on their industries. We find that this is a better way to classify entrepreneurs. Here are the different types of entrepreneurs:

Intrapreneurs

Intrapreneurs are people within a large corporate organisation that are tasked with identifying problems in a market and creating innovative products and services that address those problems.

Regarding an intrapeneur as an entrepreneur is a bit tricky. This is because we already established that for a person to qualify as an entrepreneur, they must face the risks that come with floating a business as well as enjoy the benefits but intrepreneurs typically do not deal with business risks directly nor are they in charge of the profits. But they can be looked at as entrepreneurs because they usually are in charge of developing the product/service for the organisation, and in a sense, even though they are not bearing any monetary risk for the project, they still put a lot on the line to guarantee that the product will work.

Finally, intrapeneurship means initiating and promoting entrepreneurial activities in a large organisation by building new products and services or improving old ones.

Top Intrapreneurs In History

Ken Kutaragi
Company: Sony
Product Developed: Play Station

Paul Buchheit
Company: Google
Product Developed: Gmail

Greg Greeley
Company: Amazon
Product Developed: Amazon Prime

Spencer Silva
Company: 3M
Product Developed: Sticky Notes

Technopreneurs

As the name suggests, technopreneurship is a facet of entrepreneurship that deals with technology. A technopreneur is an entrepreneur that creates innovative products and solutions using technology. Often than not, technopreneurs innovate by inventing or improving the way things are done using technology.

It, therefore, follows that for a person to be considered a technopreneur, they need to be tech-savvy, innovative and creative.
Additionally, for technopreneurs to succeed, they need to assemble a team of like-minded people who can buy into their vision as technopreneurship demands teamwork than any other form of entrepreneurship.

Also, it’s also important to note that although technopreneurship is a relatively new field of endeavour, it has produced some of the most popular and most successful entrepreneurs. A few of the best-known entrepreneurs include the following:

Popular Technopreneurs

1. Bill Gates
2. Larry Page
3. Sergey Brin
4. Mark Zuckerberg
5. Jack Dorsey
6. Kevin Systrom
7. Elon Musk
8. Jeff Bezos

Cultural Entrepreneurs

Cultural entrepreneurs promote the preservation of culture while innovating on service delivery in the sector. As a field, cultural entrepreneurship deals with creating and innovating on cultural products like literature, arts, theatre, museums, dance, etc.

Cultural entrepreneurs innovate in these fields, using newer tools and technology to present cultural products. As a result of this, cultural entrepreneurs create products that employ traditional professionals like artists, musicians, architects, dancers, actors, writers, etc. They also create products that affect newer professions like game developers, graphics designers, and bloggers.

International Entrepreneurship

International entrepreneurship is the act of entrepreneurs doing business beyond their national boundaries, It is a type of entrepreneurship that looks beyond national borders to target customers internationally.

An international entrepreneur engages in such activities as licensing, exporting, manufacturing, opening sales offices in new countries, franchise development, subsidiaries, etc.

Entrepreneurs often shift their attention towards global entrepreneurship when their products have achieved maturity in the local market or when their products fail locally but have an international appeal.

When engaging in international entrepreneurship, an entrepreneur can decide to go with the same product across markets or adapt the product to offer slightly different values in different markets. The latter seems to work especially well.

Ecopreneurs

Ecopreneurship otherwise known as environmental entrepreneurship is a branch of entrepreneurship that seeks to create enterprises that innovate to create products that solve problems in the environment and promotes sustainability in the ecosystem.

Furthermore, ecopreneurship as a word is a combination of two words “eco” meaning environment and entrepreneurship. Following that logic, ecopreneurship is simply entrepreneurship that pays attention to the environment.

Therefore, for an entrepreneur to qualify as an ecopreneur, they must not be found wanting in three major areas:

1. Social Bottomline: How does the business give back to society?
2. Environmental Bottomline: How does the business care for and improve the environment? Does it help sustain the environment?
3. Profit Bottomline: How does the business make a profit? And how can this profit be reinvested so that the environment becomes better for it?

See Also: Cost-effective ways to run and eco-friendly business

Top 10 Ecopreneurs

1. Van Jones – Pioneer of the Green Collar Economy
2. Derek McLeish – Transforming Carbon Emissions into Fuel
3. Paul Polizzotto – Creator of Green Media
4. Andy Keller – The Bag Monster
5. Larry Kaplowitz – Creator of Coconut Bliss
6. Jack Short and Daniel Lyons – Founders of Factory Green
7. Shai Agassi – Personal Transportation Guru
8. Catherine Flanagan & Jane Holt – Green Homes
9. Adam Neiman – Jewish distributor of Palestinian clothing
10. Bonnie Trust Dahan – Co-founder of Vivaterra

See Also: 12 Eco-friendly business ideas that can make you wealthy.

Social Entrepreneurs

A social entrepreneur is one that engages in entrepreneurship to help solve issues in society. For social entrepreneurs, they achieve success when they can innovate to create specific products and services that will help develop society.

Typically, social entrepreneurs focus on creating products that can help underserved communities or products that can bridge the gap between privileged and underprivileged communities.

They typically also focus on creating products that help the environment and help preserve culture. In this light, ecopreneurs and culture entrepreneurs fall under the umbrella of social entrepreneurs. However, not all social entrepreneurs are ecopreneurs and culture entrepreneurs.

A simple example of social entrepreneurs are microfinance banks. They aim to serve underserved communities and offer loans to individuals and groups that will otherwise not qualify for the service.

In recent times, many organisations are embracing social entrepreneurship as part of their strategy. They utilise corporate social responsibility (CSR) to give back to society in one way or the other.

It is also important to point out that while profit is not the primary goal of social entrepreneurship, the social entrepreneur must however make enough money to be able to impact his society, That is where social entrepreneurship differs for non-profit organisations.

Top 10 Most Successful Social Entrepreneurs

1. Hannah Davis, Founder & President of BANGS Shoes
2. Colleen Clines, CEO of the Anchal Project
3. Laura Wittig, Founder of Brightly
4. Yoni Medhin, CEO of Grain4Grain
5. Paul Hargreaves, CEO of Cotswold Fayre
6. Max Rivest, CEO & Co-Founder of Wize Monkey
7. Paul Bain, Tea Captain (& CEO) of Justea
8. Dave Fortson, CEO of LOACOM
9. Sarah Woolsey, Founder of The Impact Guild
10. Michèle Soregaroli, Founder & CEO of Transformation Catalyst

Agripreneurs

Agripreneurs or agricultural entrepreneurs are people who are innovating by exploring new ways to produce food items and creating a value chain in the agricultural space. This starts when crops and animals are planted and reared respectively to the final moment it becomes food on consumers’ plates. In other words, the term “agripreneur” refers to entrepreneurs who are creating businesses in such fields as agriculture, floriculture, horticulture, sericulture, aquaculture, animal husbandry, and biotechnology to mention a few.

It is important to note that agricultural markets around the world have witnessed massive growth in the last three decades. Also, with the drive for globalisation and connectivity, there has emerged a need for entrepreneurs to innovate in the field of agriculture.

Accordingly, agriculture entrepreneurs are innovating and creating products and solutions that are revolutionising the agriculture industry. A key area of agripreneurship that has witnessed explosive growth in the past few decades is Agritech. Due to the growth in the sector, entrepreneurs are now combining agriculture and technology to deliver innovative solutions in the areas of farm financing, farm management, supply chain management, agricultural investments, and a host of other areas.

See Also: Lucrative agricultural businesses you can start now and make money.

Top 10 Agripreneurs In The World

1. Jamila Abass, Kenya
2. Onyeka Akumah, Nigeria
3. Alli Cecchini, United States
4. Alfredo Costilla Reyes, Mexico
5. Luke Craven, United Kingdom
6. Matt Fountain, Scotland
7. Josh Gilbert, Australia
8. Dean Hale, Canada
9. Kate Hofman, United Kingdom
10. Justin Kamine, United States

Commercial Entrepreneurs

Unlike social entrepreneurs, commercial entrepreneurs are business people that are simply in business to make a profit. They identify a gap in the market, create innovative products and solutions that solve those problems, and seek to make a profit from it.

In other words, commercial entrepreneurship is the identification, evaluation, and exploitation of viable business opportunities with the intention of making a profit.

The fact that commercial entrepreneurs are running their business for personal gain as against social entrepreneurs can be overstated at times though. Commercial entrepreneurs benefit society as well in that they birth new products and solutions that benefit society, create jobs, and also improve existing processes.

Netpreneurs (E-Entrepreneurship/Cyberpreneurship)

Netpreneurs have come to be known by different monikers- E-entrepreneurs, Cyberpreneurs, and Internet Entrepreneurs are some of the other names they are called. But what exactly is Netpreneurship?

Netpreneur refers to entrepreneurs that start and run their businesses expressly online without the need for a physical office. E-learning platforms, e-commerce platforms, and others are examples of strong netpreneurship businesses.

Top 100 Entrepreneurs Of All Time

1. Alvin Ailey
2. Giorgio Armani
3. Mary Kay Ash
4. Steve Ballmer
5. P.T. Barnum
6. Warren Bechtel
7. Jeff Bezos
8. Charles C. Spaulding
9. Thomas Watson, Sr.
10. Jack Welch
11. Meg Whitman
12. Oprah Winfrey
13. Steve Wynn
14. Robert S. Abbott
15. Thomas Adams
16. Clarence Birdseye
17. Michael Bloomberg
18. Richard Branson
19. William Boeing
20. Warren Buffett
21. Andrew Carnegie
22. Steve Case
23. Jim Clark
24. Walter Chrysler
25. Michael Dell
26. Fred DeLuca
27. Walt Disney
28. Arthur Dorrance
29. George Eastman
30. Thomas Edison
31. Larry Ellison
32. Debbi Fields
33. Edward Filene
34. David Filo
35. Donald and Doris Fisher
36. Steve Forbes
37. Henry Ford
38. Ernest & Julio Gallo
39. Frank Gannett
40. Bill Gates
41. J. W. Marriott
42. Louis B. Mayer
43. William McGowan
44. Vince McMahon
45. Scott McNealy
46. Judi Sheppard Missett
47. Gordon Moore
48. Andrew Morrison
49. Rupert Murdoch
50. Pierre Omidyar
51. David Packard
52. P. Giannini
53. Samuel Goldwyn
54. Walt Goodridge
55. Leo Goodwin
56. Barry Gordy
57. Andrew Grove
58. Joyce Hall
59. William Randolph Hearst
60. Richard A. Henson
61. Fernando Hernandez
62. Milton Hershey
63. William R. Hewlett
64. James J. Hill
65. Conrad Hilton
66. George A. Hormel
67. Wayne Huizenga
68. Steve Jobs
69. Robert L. Johnson
70. John Johnson
71. Henry J. Kaiser
72. Herb Kelleher
73. Calvin Klein
74. Ray Kroc
75. Ralph Lauren
76. William Levitt
77. Henry Luce
78. John Mackey
79. William S. Paley
80. Ross Perot
81. T. Boone Pickens
82. Jay Pritzker
83. Ralph Roberts
84. John D. Rockefeller
85. Carlos Santana
86. David Sarnoff
87. Howard Schultz
88. Gloria Steinem
89. Martha Stewart
90. Dave Thomas
91. Donald Trump
92. Ted Turner
93. Madam C. J. Walker
94. Sam Walton
95. Charles Schwab
96. Richard W. Sears
97. Colonel Sanders
98. Eric Schmidt
99. Russell Simmons
100. Aliko Dangote

Top Characters Of An Entrepreneur

Entrepreneurs Are Creative

One of the characteristics of an entrepreneur is the ability to be creative. Entrepreneurs are creative creatures. Creativity is the ability to think outside the box.

When you look around you, you will see problems. When an entrepreneur looks at these problems, what he sees is opportunities. What they then do is look for innovative ways to proffer solution to the problems around them and creatively market these solutions to the market.

Entrepreneurs Are Optimistic

Entrepreneurship is all about risk-taking and taking no risk is a risk in itself. As you take calculated risks, you need to believe that everything will work out fine even if no one believes in your idea. Being optimistic is persevering in the face of challenges and being hopeful for a positive outcome.

Entrepreneurs Are Organised

One of the characteristics of the entrepreneur is that he is organised. Being organised starts from always having a tidy desk space although that is never always the case with entrepreneurs.

A successful entrepreneur follows up on plans and delivers on promises. Additionally, being organised is retaining detailed knowledge of your business processes.

See Also: Habits of effective entrepreneurs that will help grow your business.

Entrepreneurs Are Self-disciplined

Discipline is the first quality that an entrepreneur should imbibe. Self-discipline is disciplining yourself to do what you should do whether you feel like it or not.

Accordingly, self-discipline defines how you act, spend your time, the quality of life and your lifestyle as an entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurs Are Leaders

As an entrepreneur, you have multiple roles. You are a leader charged with the responsibility of motivating your employees, acting as a role model, and acting as the head of your business.

It is important to note that you don’t have to have employees to be a leader. Even as a solopreneur, you need to show good leadership while dealing with contractors, clients, and the general marketplace.

Entrepreneurs Are Committed

Success does not happen in a flash; it takes time and requires hard work. In the end, it boils down to the ability of the entrepreneur to commit to the vision of the startup.

Therefore, committed entrepreneurs take risks, are responsible, and achieve their goals no matter the challenges they face.

Entrepreneurs Are Open-Minded

Can you be flexible and open-minded in the face of change? Being open-minded is an important characteristic of the entrepreneur.

Therefore, an entrepreneur should be determined and face his wins humbly and his losses with a positive attitude. Having the right mentality to business where you don’t frown at defeat is what being a successful entrepreneur entails.

Entrepreneurs Are Resourceful

Being resourceful entails having complete knowledge of your industry. When you are knowledgeable about your industry, then you can tackle any crisis that rears up its head.

A successful entrepreneur, therefore, is always increasing his knowledge bank which is why he constantly learns and acquires knowledge.

Successful Entrepreneurs Are Team-Builders

A successful entrepreneur knows that he needs the help and support of a team to build a successful business. Therefore, he commits a considerable amount of time to build a strong team.

As an entrepreneur, one of your most important tasks is finding the right people who have the right mindset and who will buy into your vision.

Entrepreneurs Are Adventure-Seekers

An entrepreneur is born to take risks, without risk, he cannot build something out of anything. Taking calculated risk is the main course on the menu for the entrepreneur.

Frequently Asked Questions About Entrepreneurship

What Books Should Entrepreneurs Read?

Here are some amazing books for entrepreneurs to read:

1. The Empathy Edge: Harnessing The Value Of Compassion As Engine For Success by Maria Ross
2. The Bezos Letters: 14 Principles To Grow Your Business Like Amazon by Steve and Karen Anderson
3. Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
4. Good To Great: Why Some Companies Make The Leap And Others Don’t by Jim Collins
5. The Surprising Science Of Meetings: How You Can Lead Your Team To Peak Performance by Steven G. Rogelberg
6. Virtual Freedom: How To Work With Virtual Staff To Buy More Time, Become More Productive And Build Your Dream Business by Chris Ducker
7. Africa – The Ultimate Frontier Market: A Guide To The Business And Investment Opportunities In Emerging Africa by David Mataen
8. Reaching Millions With Impact by Ndidi Okonkwo Nwueli
9. 10X Marketing Formula: Your Blueprint For Creating ‘Competition-Free Content’ That Stands Out and Gets Results by Garrett Moon
10. Dare To Become A Success- Lessons From Ants by Mulenga C. Kasoma

See Also: Books that entrepreneurs should read

How Can I Become A Successful Entrepreneur?

Here are some things that you can do to become a successful entrepreneur:

1. Stay flexible.
2. Talk about your business.
3. Understand your finances.
4. Determine what the potential losses should be.
5. Form partnerships.
6. Focus on activities that you can control.

Does Getting An MBA Make Someone A Better Entrepreneur?

The top entrepreneurs in the world did not necessarily need an MBA to become successful, but an MBA does expose you to knowledge that will help you improve your business. If you are considering going for an MBA, read about the top business schools in the world here.

What Are Good Movies For Entrepreneurs To Watch?

1. The Social Network
2. Pirates of Silicon Valley
3. Startup.com
4. Wall Street
5. Glengarry Glenn Ross
6. The Big Short
7. The Wolf of Wall Street
8. Boiler Room
9. Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened
10. The Aviator
11. Moneyball
12. The Founder
13. Margin Call
14. Steve Jobs
15. Thank You for Smoking
16. The Pursuit of Happyness
17. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
18. Any Given Sunday
19. The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley
20. The Great Hack

See Also: Movies that entrepreneurs should watch on Netflix.

What Are The Best Productivity Tools For Entrepreneurs?

1. Canva: Use Canva to design stunning social media and blog graphics.
2. Asana: Use Asana to track your team’s work & manage projects
3. Buffer: Use Buffer to manage all your social media channels in one dashboard.
4. RocketReach: Use RocketReach to find important contacts for B2B marketing and networking.
5. Wave: Use wave for easy invoicing on the go.
6. HubSpot: Use Hubspot for your customer relationship management. They have a free plan that offers you a lot.
7. MailChimp: Marketing Automation: Use Mailchimp for your email marketing efforts. If your email list is still under 2,000, you can use Mailchimp for free!
8. Medium: Use Medium for your content marketing efforts. Share your content on this amazing platform and also learn from top publishers
9. Fiverr: Use Fiverr to hire freelancers to handle some tasks for you. Their price starts from as low as $5
10. Google Analytics: Use this tool to analyse your website traffic and track conversions
11. JotForm: Build and create forms in minutes. Useful for collecting leads, conducting surveys, etc.
12. Grammarly: Free Grammar Checker. It is useful for editing emails and documents
13. Design Wizard: To create impressive videos and images
14. HelloSign: To securely send and receive e-signatures.
15. Zoom: For video and audio conferencing. Perfect for meetings
16. Calendly: To schedule meetings easily

What Are The Best TED Talks For Entrepreneurs?

1. Paul Tasner: How I Became an Entrepreneur at 66
2. Simon Sinek: How Great Leaders Inspire Action
3. Susan Cain: The Power of Introverts
4. Tim Urban: Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator
5. Eduardo Briceño: How to Get Better at the Things You Care About
6. Bill Gross: The Single Biggest Reason Why Startups Succeed
7. Angela Duckworth: Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
8. Majora Carter: 3 Stories of Local Eco-Entrepreneurship
9. John Doerr: Why the Secret to Success is Setting the Right Goals
10. Tim Ferriss: Why You Should Define Your Fears Instead of Your Goals

Conclusion

Entrepreneurs are people that create valuable products and solutions with the goal of making considerable profits from their enterprise. Additionally, there are many types of entrepreneurs who are making an impact across various fields. If you are on a quest to become an entrepreneur, then you should learn about the character and traits of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs.

Thinking of starting your own entrepreneurship journey? Here are 35 booming business ideas and step-by-step guides to start them. It’s a strategic and financial breakdown of the most lucrative businesses in Nigeria. Get it now and start building the business of your dream.

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