Defining the term “entrepreneur” can be tricky, and it is not rare that we find various definitions falling short of the true meaning of the word, offering only partial explanation. It is difficult to draft an one liner that sums it all, every aspect of what it truly means to be an entrepreneur, especially since the meaning of the word have had its natural evolution from the time it was first introduced. According to Wikipedia, the word itself is taken from French, and it is believed that the creator of the word was a 19th century french economist Jean-Baptiste Say who defined entrepreneur as “one who undertakes an enterprise, especially a contractor, acting as intermediary between capital and labour”. With the progress of the economy, and the development of structurally diverse enterprises, it was not until 1970’s that the concept of entrepreneurship was positioned as significant enough part of the economy to even need a definition.
Some of the early definitions of the word describe entrepreneur as a person who creates a product on his own account. Naturally, this definition doesn’t hold truth for the modern day entrepreneur. Merely creating a product is not what makes an entrepreneur. Searching through online resources, word entrepreneur can often be found as a synonymous with founder or an individual who is starting a small business. But then the question arises if one actually stops being an entrepreneur when one’s business is no longer in its start up phase. The way I see it, an entrepreneur would be a person who recognizes and seizes the opportunity of opening a small business entity that he or she will manage and organize assuming all the risk and responsibility, and at the same time bringing something innovative and valuable to the market. Entrepreneurs are capable of finding the way to get their hands on resources needed to realize their business ideas. Many successful entrepreneurs built their enterprises from nothing taking what is often called an educated risk. Without the proper knowledge of the market, many entrepreneurs fail in their endeavors relying only on the skills they have in their particular industry. Risk taking cannot be separated from entrepreneurship as it is one of its main characteristics.
Entrepreneurs want to be masters of their own faith, personally and professionally. Even if they do not achieve their goals, they enjoy the journey, and after one failure, they often jump strait back into fire. Being an entrepreneur is mainly looked as equal to being a small business owner, but in reality, entrepreneurial spirit is a foundation to all size of enterprises. Being an essential fuel that drives the economy, entrepreneurs have a valuable place in today’s society. The best way for an entrepreneur to succeed in the market is to chose a niche which is new and not already noticed by existing businesses. All entrepreneurs have few key characteristics in common, they are creative and have visionary spirit, they are able to make decisions no matter what the situation, and most of all they have no issue with taking risks often seen as too grand by other people. A true entrepreneur is born to make something new and valuable, and has a capability to persist through all the hardships that go along with the creation of new enterprise.