INTRODUCTION

TO
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
G. E 1 02- ENTRE PRE N E URI A L M I ND
At the end of the lesson, you will be able to:

give insight into what entrepreneurship is

and what an entrepreneur is;

describe what an entrepreneurial

mindset is;
describe how entrepreneurs create value

for society;
enumerate how online markets create

value;
compare and contrast a bookstore and

online market; and

explain how an entrepreneur becomes a

visionary, optimist, strategist, confident

and hardworking.
"Entrepreneurship is a state of mind. It is not

to be identified or measured with the type of

business a person is in or the size or success

of the business. It is the total way of life for

entrepreneurs. It is to do what one loves to

do."
(Gilles, A. & Modejar, R., 2006)
Does someone need to start a business

from scratch to be called an entrepreneur?

Can we call someone an entrepreneur if

they bought an ongoing business from

someone else or took over the operations

of a family business from their parents?

If someone starts a small business and

never needs to hire employees, can they be

called an entrepreneur?
If someone buys a business that hires

professional managers to run it so they

don't have to be involved in the operations,

are they an entrepreneur?

Is someone an entrepreneur if they buy

into a franchise so they can follow a

well-established formula for running the

operation?
Is someone an entrepreneur because of

what they do or because of how they

think?
Can someone be an entrepreneur without

owning their own business?

Can a person be an entrepreneur

because of the nature of the work that

they do within a large corporation?

 Attributes that showed up in the definition of

entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship provided by

entrepreneurs and other experts in the field:

1 I NNOVATI ON
Does a person need to be innovative to be

considered an entrepreneur? Can an activity be

considered to be entrepreneurial if it is not

innovative?

2 ACTI VI TI ES
What activities does a person need to do to be

considered an entrepreneur?

3 CR EATI ON O F A N EW B U SIN E SS
Does someone need to start a new business to be

considered to be an entrepreneur, or can

someone who buys a business, buys into a

franchise, or takes over an existing family

business be considered an entrepreneur?

4 STARTS AN I N N O VAT I V E V E N TU RE

WI THI N AN ES T AB L I S H E D

OR GANI ZATI O N
Can someone who works within an existing

organization that they don' t own be considered

an entrepreneur if they start an innovative

venture for their organization

5 CR EATI ON O F A N O T - FO R- P RO F IT

BUS I NESS
Can a venture be considered to be

entrepreneurial if it is a not-for-profit, or

should only for-profit businesses be considered

entrepreneurial?
 ENTREPRENEUR
DEF I NI TI ON

-creates a new business in

- s omeone wh o

the face of risk and

-one who organizes,

p r e f er s a li f e o f
manages, and assumes

uncertainty for the purpose

b oundless

of achieving profit and

the risks of a business

un c er t a i nt y t o t ha t
or enterprise
growth by identifying

of p r edi ct a bi li t y a n d

significant opportunities

cho os es t o bet o n

and assembling the

necessary resources to
t he ms el v es b e f o r e

capitalize on them a n yone el s e

Zimmerer & Scarborough, 2008 Drew Downs Entrepreneur, n.d.

Entrepreneur
-the person who sees a problem
in the world and immediately
focuses on creating the
solution. They're the leaders
that strike out on their own to
improve society. Whether
they're creating jobs or a new
product, they constantly take
action to ensure world progress
 ENTREPRENEURSHIP
DEF I NI TI ON

-field of business that seeks to

- i s t h a t i t i s t h e p r o c e s s o f p u r s u i n g

understand how opportunities to

o p p o r t u n i t i e s w i t h o u t l i m i t a t i o n b y

create something new arise and are

r e s o u r c e s c u r r e n t l y i n h a n d ( B r o o k s ,

discovered or created by specific

2 0 0 9 ) a n d t h e p r o c e s s o f d o i n g

persons, who then use various

s o m e t h i n g n e w a n d s o m e t h i n g d i f f e r e n t

means to exploit or develop them,

f o r t h e p u r p o s e o f c r e a t i n g w e a l t h f o r

thus producing a wide range of

t h e i n d i v i d u a l a n d a d d i n g v a l u e t o

effects society (Kao, 199)

Baron, Shane & Reuber, 2008 Brooks, 2009 & Kao, 1993 respectively
Parameter of Comparison ENTREPRENEUR BUSINESSMAN

A creative person who introduces

A person who follows the already

Definition
new ideas to run business existing ideas

Nature Innovative Traditional

Goal Costumer- oriented Profit- oriented

Risk Margin High Low

Market Position Market leader Market player

Orientation Opportunity oriented Resource Oriented

BEI NG ENTR EP RENEURI A L CAN ME AN ...

k n o w i n g y o u r i n d u s t r y i n s i d e o u t ,

a n d b e i n g a b l e t o e x p l o i t t h a t

k n o w l e d g e t o c r e a t e n e w

opportunities

s h a r i n g i d e a s f r e e l y , a n d

c e l e b r a t i n g s o - c a l l e d f a i l u r e s a s

learning and growing experiences

 ENTREPRENEURIAL
MINDSET
...allows the entrepreneur to see things in a

very positive and optimistic light in the midst

of crisis or difficult situations

- v i e ws needs , p r o b l e ms a n d cha ll e n ge s a s o p p o rtun i t i e s

a n d b l e s s i ng s
- co mes up wi t h i n n o v a t i v e wa ys to de a l wi th
cha l l eng es / pr o b l e ms
- r e a l i z es t ha t he / she i s i n the b usi n e s s o f cre a ti n g
v a l ue
- t hi nks / l ea r ns a he a d a n d co n so li da te s o p p o rtun i ti e s
b e f or e t hey b e co me o b v i o us
 ENTREPRENEURIAL
MINDSET
Thi nki ng l i ke a n

ent repreneur wi l l h el p

you r i g ht f rom th e

beg i n ni ng
Peo pl e trust oth ers wh o s eem

to know wha t th ey' re do i n g

An ent r epr ene ur i a l

Thi nki n g li ke a n

mi n dset wi l l e n co ur a g e
e n t r epr eneur

cr e a t i v i t y a nd wi l l he l p wi l l e na bl e yo u

you i n ot her a r e a s o f
t o t a ke hea l t hy

your l i f e b r e a ks
 ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE

ENTREPRENEURIAL
MINDSET

Creativity
The seed of entrepreneurship is th e
ability to see thi ng s diff eren tl y.
Whether it's with new p roducts or new
processes, entrepreneurs a re driven by
uncanny knack to see hol es in th e
marketplace and devi se in nova tion s to
fill them.
 ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE

ENTREPRENEURIAL
MINDSET

Suspicion of predictors
Entrepreneurs tend to l abor un der th e
assumption that data is the sol e
predictor of an outcome. Especial l y in
new markets and with new products
where data i s largel y interpretive or
extrapolated, entrepren eurs a re
undaunted by the typical predictors
that may put off fainter hea rts .
 ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE

ENTREPRENEURIAL
MINDSET

comfort with uncertainty

Similarly, a distrust of prediction a nd
analysis creates an atmosph ere where
uncertainty rul es. Indeed, uncertainty
is the very es sence of
entrepreneurship.
 ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE

ENTREPRENEURIAL
MINDSET

openness to experimentation
A comfort with experimenta tion goes
beyond educated trial a nd error. The
ability to experiment with products ,
processes and outcomes , no ma tter
where the resul ts may l ead, is the key
element of thi s quantity.
 ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE

ENTREPRENEURIAL
MINDSET

Functional humility
Egos can destroy the very best
ideas. Entrepreneurs who are
committed to sol vi ng a bus iness
problem or reinventing a
product or servi ce displ a y a
functional humil ity.
"Entrepreneurs must see
things from different
perspectives, be willing to try
new things, willing to tolerate
a higher level ambiguity, do
not fear failure, seek and
embrace new norms, and most
importantly realign our
mental attitude."
ENTREPRENEURIAL

COMPETENCIES

HAR DWORK I N G COMMI TTED ABILITY TO ACCEPT

CON FI DENT CHANGE OCC URS

CHANGE
DI S CI PLI NED FR EQUENTL Y INITIATIVE
PROFIT-ORIENTED
PER SI S TENT CR EATI VE
ASSERTIVE
I NF ORMATI ON
PR OBLEM SO L VE R
CONCERN FOR OTHERS'

S EEKER
WELFARE
 Sahar
Bill

Hashemi Roche