Chapter One

Entrepreneurship an overview

1. Introduction
The term ‘entrepreneur’ first of all appeared in the French language. The word ‘Entrepreneur’ is derived
from the French word ‘Entreprendre
‘Entreprendre’’ meaning ‘to‘to undertake’.
undertake’. In fact, in the 16th century, the Frenchmen
who undertook military expenditures were referred to as ‘Entrepreneurs.’ It was extended to cover
construction and other civil engineering activities in the 17 th. Later on, in the 18th century, this term got
associated with persons who started their own enterprises.

Richard Cantillon, an Irish man living in France, was the first economist who introduced the term
‘entrepreneur’ referring to the risk taking function of establishing a new venture. The word ‘entrepreneur’
is widely used, both in everyday conversation and as a technical term in management and economics. The
idea that the entrepreneur is someone who undertakes certain projects offers an opening to developing an
understanding of the nature of entrepreneurship.

Undertaking particular projects demands that particular tasks be engaged in with the objective of
achieving specific outcomes and that an individual take charge of the project. Entrepreneurship is then
what the entrepreneur does. Entrepreneurial is an adjective describing how the entrepreneur undertakes
what he or she does. The entrepreneurial process in which the entrepreneur engages is the means through
which new value is created as a result of the project: the entrepreneurial venture.

This is the entrepreneurial age. It is estimated that as many as 460 million persons worldwide were either
actively involved in trying to start a new venture or were owner-managers of a new business in 2017.
More than thousand new businesses are born every hour of every working day in the world. Entrepreneurs
are driving a revolution that is transforming and renewing economies worldwide. Entrepreneurship is the
essence of free enterprise because the birth of new businesses gives a market economy its vitality.

New and emerging businesses create a very large proportion of innovative goods and services that
transform the way we work and live, such as personal computers, software, the Internet, biotechnologies,
and overnight package deliveries. They generate most of the new jobs.

1
Compiled by: Eshetu Mebratie Department of Management
 1.1. Entrepreneurship – Historical Perspective

What is entrepreneurship? And who is an entrepreneur? These two questions are asked more frequently
reflecting the increasing demand in the field of entrepreneurship. Offering a specific and unambiguous
definition of the term entrepreneurship /entrepreneur presents a challenge. This is not because definitions
are not available, but because there are so many. Here let us took into the historical development of
entrepreneurship so as to grasp the meaning of the word entrepreneurship.

During the ancient period the word entrepreneur was used to refer to a person managing large commercial
projects through the resources provided to him. In the 17 th Century a person who has signed a contractual
agreement with the government to provide stipulated products or to perform service was considered as
entrepreneur. In this case the contract price is fixed so any resulting profit or loss reflects the effort of the
entrepreneur.

In the 18th Century the first theory of entrepreneur has been developed by Richard Cantillon. He said that
an entrepreneur is a risk taker. If we consider the merchant, farmers and /or the professionals they all
operate at risk. For example, the merchants buy products at a known price and sell it at unknown price
and this shows that they are operating at risk.

The other development during the 18th Century is the differentiation of the entrepreneurial role from
capital providing role. The later role is the base for today’s venture capitalist. In the late 19 th and early 20th
Century an entrepreneur was viewed from economic perspectives. The entrepreneur organizes and
operates an enterprise for personal gain.

In the middle of the 20 th Century the notion of an entrepreneur as an inventor as established. “The
function of the entrepreneur is to reform or revolutionize the pattern of production by exploiting an
invention or more generally untried technological possibility for producing new commodities or
producing an old one in a new way or opening a new outlet for products by reorganizing a new industry.”
The concept of innovation and newness are at the heart of the above definition. From the historical
development it is possible to understand the fact that the perception of the word entrepreneur was evolved
from managing commercial project to the application of innovation (creativity) in the business idea.

Currently entrepreneurship is the fastest growing new field of study in the world’s higher education. It is
possible to study entrepreneurship in certificate, associates, bachelors, masters, and PhD programs.

That transformation in higher education itself is a wonderful example of entrepreneurial change has come
about because a whole body of knowledge about entrepreneurship has developed during the past two
decades or so. The process of creating a new business is well understood. Yes, entrepreneurship can be
taught. However, it is not simple to guarantee to produce a Bill Gates or zukerberg, any more than a
physics professor can guarantee to produce an Albert Einstein or athletics coach Haile Gebresilasse.

2
Compiled by: Eshetu Mebratie Department of Management
 1.2. Definition of Entrepreneurship

The ‘entrepreneur’ is very much related to the term ‘entrepreneurship.’ Both these terms are often used
interchangeably. But, they are conceptually different. Hence, before dealing at length about
entrepreneurship, it is better to have an exposure to the term entrepreneur. There have been hundreds of
definitions in dozens of books. Some of them are given as:

 Entrepreneur refers to a person who establishes his own business or industrial undertaking with a
view to making profit by taking the role of an organizer in the process of production.
 An entrepreneur is a person who has the initiative, skill for innovation and who looks for high
achievements. He/she is a agent of change and works for the good of people.
 Entrepreneurs are action-oriented, highly motivated individuals who take risks to achieve goals.
Entrepreneurs are people who have the ability to see and evaluate business opportunities; the
ability to gather the necessary resources to take advantage of them, and the ability to initiate
appropriate action to ensure success.
 An entrepreneur is a person who: create the job not a job-seeker; has a dream, has a vision;
willing to take the risk and makes something out of nothing

Other definition, views the term entrepreneur from three perspectives; i.e. from the economist,
psychologist and capitalist philosopher’s point of view.

 To an economist,
economist, an entrepreneur is the one who brings resource, labor, materials, and
other assets into combination that makes their value greater than before and also one who
introduces changes and innovations.
 To a psychologist,
psychologist, an entrepreneur is a person typically driven by certain forces need to
obtain or attain something, to experiment, to accomplish or perhaps to escape the
authority of others.
 For the capitalist philosopher an entrepreneur is one who creates wealth for others as
well, who finds better way to utilize resources and reduce waste and who produce job
others are glad to get.

 According to Evans “entrepreneurs are persons who initiate, organize, manage, and control the
affairs of a business unit that combines the factors of production to supply goods and services,
whether the business pertains to agriculture, industry, trade or profession: ”

 According to Joseph Schumpeter, an entrepreneur is an innovator who brings economic

development through new combinations of factors of production. In other word, a person who
introduces innovative changes is an entrepreneur and he is an integral part of economic growth.
However, this interpretation of the entrepreneur has been criticized. Under developed countries
like Ethiopia where private capital is shy and small, skill and technical knowledge is highly
deficient and socio-economic infrastructure is inadequate, do not have many innovators. Such
countries need ‘imitators’ who can implement the innovations made in developed countries.

3
Compiled by: Eshetu Mebratie Department of Management
Based on the above concepts of entrepreneurship, an entrepreneur is someone who perceives an
opportunity and creates an organization to pursue it with the intention of being profitable.

The meaning of entrepreneur may also depend upon the level of development of a country. For instance,
in a developed country only people carrying out innovations are termed entrepreneurs. But in
underdeveloped countries, imitators are also considered entrepreneurs.

Thus, the term ‘entrepreneur’ has been defined in various ways-an innovator, a risk taker, a resource
assembler, an organization builder, and so on. Truly speaking, an entrepreneur is all combined into one.
He introduces new ideas, carries on new activities, coordinates the factors of production and decides how
the business shall run. He anticipates the future trend to demand and price. He has vision, originally of
thought and ability to take calculated risks.

Entrepreneurship is the art of identifying viable business opportunities and mobilizing resources to
convert those opportunities into a successful enterprise through creativity, innovation, risk taking and
progressive imagination.

Entrepreneurship is a practice and a process that results in creativity, innovation and enterprise
development and growth. It refers to an individual’s ability to turn ideas into action involving and
engaging in socially-useful wealth creation through application of innovative thinking and execution to
meet consumer needs, using one’s own labor, time and ideas. Engaging in entrepreneurship shifts people
from being “job seekers” to “job creators”, which is critical in countries that have high levels of
unemployment. It requires a lot of creativity which is the driving force behind innovation.
In general, the process of entrepreneurship includes five critical elements. These are:
F The ability to perceive an opportunity.
F The ability to commercialize the perceived opportunity i.e. innovation
F The ability to pursue it on a sustainable (long-run) basis.
F The ability to pursue it through systematic means (art) and
F The acceptance of risk or failure.

So, based on the above concepts, one can define the term entrepreneurship easily as follows:

 Entrepreneurship is the process of creating incremental wealth. The wealth is created by

those individuals who assume the major risk in terms of equity and time or providing
value for others. OR
 Entrepreneurship is the process of creating something different and better with value by
devoting the necessary time and effort by assuming the accompanying financial, psychic
and social risks and receiving the resulting monetary reward and personal satisfaction.
Fundamentally, entrepreneurship is a human creative act.

4
Compiled by: Eshetu Mebratie Department of Management
 1.3. Entrepreneurship and economic development

Entrepreneurs are the innovators; they identify business opportunities, plan to address market needs, gather
resources, and manage the process of building business. Entrepreneurs create jobs, transfer technology to
the market and create value, adding immeasurably to our well being. Entrepreneurs make unique
contributions to a country's economy. Using innovations to grow their business, they provide concrete
benefits to the national economy. In general they play role in reducing unemployment, stabilizing
inflation, normalize balance of payment and business cycle and so on.

Developing economies need greater number of people possessing entrepreneurial qualities and capable of
taking decisions under conditions of uncertainties to transform their underdeveloped economies into
developed one. For this, well-developed institutional support is important.

1.4. The Role of the Entrepreneur in economic development

Entrepreneurial development is the most important input in the economic development of any country.
The objectives of industrial development, balanced regional growth, and generation of employment
opportunities are achievable through entrepreneurial development. Entrepreneurs are at the core of
industrial development which results in greater employment opportunities to the unemployed youth,
increase in per capita income, higher standard of living and increased revenue to the government in the
form of income, sales tax, export duties, import duties etc. The entrepreneurs serve as a key to the
creation of new enterprises, thereby rejuvenating economy and sustaining the process of economic
development in the following ways:

 Combination of economic factors: All the products bought and sold in an economy are a mix of
four primary economic factors (the raw materials, nature offers up, the physical and mental labor
people provide and capital (money). Now value is created by combing these three things together in a
way which satisfies human needs.
 Wealth Creation and Sharing: By establishing the business entity, entrepreneurs invest their own
resources and attract capital (in the form of debt, equity, etc.) from investors, lenders and the public.
This mobilizes public wealth and allows people to benefit from the success of entrepreneurs and
growing businesses. This kind of pooled capital that results in wealth creation and distribution is one
of the basic imperatives and goals of economic development.
 Generation of Employment Opportunities:
Opportunities: By creating a new business enterprise, entrepreneurs
generate employment opportunities for others. Unemployment is a major issue, especially in the
context of developing economies like Ethiopia. Educated youth often are unable to get to get a
suitable employment themselves. Thus, entrepreneurs not only self-employ themselves, but also
create jobs for others.
 Balanced Regional Development:
Development: Entrepreneurs help to remove regional disparities in economic
development. They set up the industries in the backward areas to avail various subsidies and
incentives offered by the Central and State Governments, thereby balancing the economic growth in
different regions in the country.

5
Compiled by: Eshetu Mebratie Department of Management
 Economic Independence:
Independence: Entrepreneurship is essential for self-reliance for a country.
Entrepreneurs create industries that manufacture indigenous substitutes, thereby reducing the
dependence on imports. Also, the goods are exported to other countries to earn foreign exchange.
This import substitution and export promotion results in more economic independence to the country

 Providing Market efficiency: Efficient means resources are distributed in an optimal way that is
the satisfaction that people can gain from them is maximized. An economic system can only reach
this state if there is competition between different suppliers. If a supplier is not using competition
then they will tend to demand profit in excess of what the market would allow and reduce the overall
efficiency of the system
 Accepting Risk: Risk is the potential variation in terms of future outcomes. We do not know exactly
what the future will bring. This lack of knowledge creates uncertainty. No matter how we plan there
is always a possibility of adverse deviation from what we expect or hoped for. Here the primary
function of the entrepreneur is to accept risk on behalf of other people.
 Maximizing investor’s return: Entrepreneurs create and run organizations which maximize long-
term profit on behalf of the investors which in turn generates overall economic efficiency.

1.5. Who Benefits from the entrepreneur’s Wealth?

No entrepreneur works in a vacuum. The venture they create touches the lives of many other people. To
drive his/her venture forward, the entrepreneur calls up on the support of a number of different groups. In
return for their support these groups expect to be rewarded from the success of the venture. Peoples who
have a part to play in the entrepreneurial venture generally are called stakeholder. The stakeholder groups
are; employees, investor, supplier, customer, the local community and government. Let us look at the
benefits of each stakeholder.

 Employees: They contribute physical and mental labor to the business. Success of the
entrepreneurial venture depends on their effort and motivation. so, they are rewarded with:
 Money – their wage or salary
 The possibility of owning a part of the firm through share schemes.
 A stage of which they can develop social relationships.
 The possibility of personal development.
 Investors: These are the peoples who provide the entrepreneur with the necessary money to start
the venture and keep it running. There are two main sorts of investors: stockholders and lenders.
Stockholders are those who buy the stock of the company and are true owners of the firm. The
actual return of the stockholders varies depending on how the business performs. Lenders, on the
other hand, are people who offer money to the venture on the basis of it being a loan. They do not
actually own a part of the firm and their return is independent of the businesses performance.
They also take priority for payment over shareholders and face lower level of risk than the
stockholders.
 Supplier: They are the individuals and organizations that provide the business with the materials,
productive assets and information it needs to produce its output. They are paid for providing these
inputs.

6
Compiled by: Eshetu Mebratie Department of Management
  Customers: Customers may need to make an investment in using a particular supplier. Changing
supplier may involve switching costs and supplier, risk of quality and expenses incurred in
changing over to new inputs. The entrepreneur may reward customers by offering quality
products, fair prices, regular and consistency of supply, loan arrangement etc.
 The local community: Businesses have physical locations. The way they operate may affect the
people who live and other businesses which operate nearby. A business has a number of
responsibilities, which may be defined or not in national laws, to this local community. Such as:
 Not polluting their shared environment
 Contributing and sponsoring local development activities
 Contribution for political and cultural stabilities and economic improvements
 Acting in an ethical way and so on.

 Government: The responsibility of government is to ensure that businesses can operate in an

environment which has political and economic stability. In addition, it provides central services
such as education and health-care. These activities cost money to provide. Therefore, government
should be rewarded for its services. Hence, government taxes individuals and businesses.

1.6. Qualities of successful entrepreneurs

The characteristics of an entrepreneur that contribute to success are the result of his/her achievement
motivation. A successful entrepreneur must be a person of opportunity-seeking, Persevering,
Persevering, Risk Taking,
Taking,
Demanding for efficiency and quality,
quality, Information-seeking,
Information-seeking, Goal Setting,
Setting, Planning,
Planning, Persuasion and
networking,
networking, Building self-confidence,
self-confidence, Listening to others and Demonstrating leadership.

F Opportunity-seeking: An opportunity is a favorable set of circumstances that creates a need for

a new good, service or business. It includes access to credit, working premises, education,
trainings etc. An entrepreneur always seeks out and identifies opportunities. He/she seizes an
opportunity and converts it into a realistic and achievable goal or plan.

F Perseverance and patience: An entrepreneur always makes concerted efforts towards the
successful completion of a goal. The entrepreneur must start from the premise that the seed takes
time to germinate. Who can think that a clientele can be built in a few weeks? Some activities
may take several years to build a more or less stable clientele. Lack of patience leads to
discouragement and a form of disillusionment. On the contrary, the persevering entrepreneur
will start cautiously, listen to the signals of his environment, adapt gradually and consider each
sale as a positive and encouraging signal.

F Risk Taking: Taking risks is closely linked with entrepreneurship. 

entrepreneurship. Leaving a steady-paying job
to start your own business is a risk in and of itself and often, requires a substantial amount of
money. If your product has never been on the market before, you also put your reputation at risk.
Entrepreneurship overall involves a great deal of risk, and you need to be ready to take these
risks on before deciding to go into business.

Entrepreneurship mentor and consultant of Babson College Leonard C. Green always tell that
“Entrepreneurs are not risk-takers. They are calculated risk-takers.” Entrepreneurs do not just
gamble everything into their venture—they find ways to reduce risk as they move forward with
their business.

7
Compiled by: Eshetu Mebratie Department of Management
 F Demanding for Efficiency and Quality: a successful entrepreneur needs to be efficient to mean
“producing results with little wasted effort”.
effort”. The entrepreneur also must be concerned on quality
of the product to be produced. The term quality here denotes that “A
“A characteristic (ability) of
the good or service that makes it fit to use, meet a customer’s expectations or makes it desirable.
Quality plays an important role in this new era of globalization because it confers certain
benefits which includes:
 Reduction of waste:
waste: Striving to maintain quality means examining all processes that
contribute to the creation of a product, to remove non-productive processes and waste.
If businesses keep to their standard of maintaining the quality of the product, the
number of defective products will be reduced. Consumers prefer to buy quality
products.
 Cost-effectiveness:
Cost-effectiveness: Striving to ensure quality helps businesses to minimize the chances
that they will make mistakes. As a result, the costs of re-doing work or changing the
product after it has been sold are greatly reduced.
 An increase in market share:
share: Customers prefer to buy the same product again and
again if they are satisfied with the quality. If they are satisfied with the quality of a
product, then they will not only purchase the product more than once, but they will also
recommend it to their friends. As a result, this contributes to an increase in the
company’s market share.
 Better profitability:
profitability: Better quality of product satisfies customers. Increased customers
means increase sales, increased shares in market and consequently increased profits.
 Social responsibility:
responsibility: By providing quality products, a company is more likely to be
able to fulfill its responsibility to the community and meet standards set by
government.
 Reputation: Quality of goods and services improves the reputation of the business for
competition in the market and growth.

F Information-seeking: Successful entrepreneurs do not rely on guesswork and do not rely on

others for information. Instead, they spend time collecting information about their customers,
competitors, suppliers, relevant technology and markets. Gathering relevant information is
important to ensure that the entrepreneur makes well informed decisions. Information on the area
of market, supply, operations, finance, legislation, and infrastructure are important for
entrepreneurs.

F Goal Setting: in this trait of a successful entrepreneur, two very important concepts need to be
discussed which are goal and objectives. By the tem “goal “goal”” we are talking about a general
direction (not specific enough to be measured) or long-term aim (not necessarily time-bound) that
you want to accomplish. Whereas, Objectives are more specific,
specific, measurable, concise & specific as
compared to goal. An entrepreneur must have a goal and an objective which is specific,
measurable, attainable relevant, and time bound (SMART).

8
Compiled by: Eshetu Mebratie Department of Management
F Planning: Planning is making a decision about the future in terms of what, when, where, how, by
whom and using what resources to do what you want. An effective entrepreneur therefore usually
plans his/her activities and accounts as best as they can for unexpected eventualities.

F Persuasion and Networking: Persuasion is a way of convincing someone to get something or

make a decision in your favor. It is inducing or taking a course of action or embracing a point of
view by means of argument, reasoning, or entreaty; to convince; to succeed in causing a person to
do or consent to something; to win someone over, as by reasoning or personal forcefulness; to
cause to believe; to induce, urge, or prevail upon successfully. Hence we purchase goods from
people, sell goods to people, need support from people and work with people Persuasion is very
important in Business.

Networking is an extended group of people with similar interests or concerns who interact and
remain in informal contact for mutual assistance or support. In a business environment where we
are in, we network with customers, suppliers, competitors, various firms, different organizations,
government offices and family, etc.

Factors that Affect Persuasion and Networking

 Socio-cultural background and perceptions
 Communication skills (both verbal and non-verbal) and
 Negotiation skills
F Building Self-confidence: Self-confidence is the state of being certain that a chosen course of
action is the best or most effective given the circumstances. Confidence can be described as a
subjective, emotional state of mind, but is also represented statistically as a confidence level
within which one may be certain that a hypothesis will either be rejected or deemed plausible.
Self-confidence is having confidence in oneself when considering a capability.

Overconfidence is having unmerited confidence-believing something or someone is

capable when they are not.

F Listening to Others: An entrepreneur does not simply impose his/her idea on others. Rather,
he/she listens to other people in their sphere of influence, analyses their input in line with his/her
own thinking and makes an informed decision.

F Demonstrating Leadership: An entrepreneur does not only do things by him/herself, but also
gets things done through others. Entrepreneurs inspire, encourage and lead others to undertake the
given duties in time.

9
Compiled by: Eshetu Mebratie Department of Management
 1.7. The Entrepreneur’s Tasks

We recognize entrepreneurs, first and foremost, by what they actually do –by the tasks they undertake. A
number of tasks have been associated with the entrepreneur. Some of the most important are:
a) Owning Organizations: Ownership lies with those who invest in the business and own its stock –
the principals, while the actual running is delegated to professional agents or managers.
Therefore, if an entrepreneur actually owns the business then he is, in fact, undertaking two roles
at the same time that of an investor and that of a manager. Here we can also recognize many
people as entrepreneur even if they do not own the venture they are managing.
b) Founding New Organizations: The entrepreneur is recognized as the person who undertakes the
task of bringing together the different elements of the organization (people, property, productive
resource, etc) and giving them a separate legal entity. The entrepreneur makes major changes in
their organizational word.
c) Bringing Innovations to Market: The idea of innovation encompasses any new way of doing
something so that value is created. Innovation can mean a new product or service but it can also
include a new way of delivering an existing product or service, new methods of informing the
consumer about the product or new ways of organizing the company.
d) Identification of Market Opportunity: An opportunity is the gap in a market where the potential
exists to do something better and create value. New opportunities exist all the time but they do
not necessarily present themselves. If they are to be exploited they must be actively sought out.
Note that opportunity always takes priority over innovation.
e) Application of Expertise: A slight more technical notion is that they have a special ability in
deciding how to allocate scarce resources in situations where information is limited. It is their
expertise in doing this that makes entrepreneurs valuable to investors.
f) Provision of leadership: Entrepreneurs can rarely drive their innovation to market on their own.
They need the support of other people both from their organizations and from people outside such
as investor, customer and supplier.
g) The entrepreneur as manager: At the end of the day the entrepreneur is a manager. The
distinction between an entrepreneur and ordinary manager may lie on what the entrepreneur
manager manages, how they manage, their effectiveness and the effect they have as a manager
not by the particular tasks they undertake.

1.8. Entrepreneurial Skills

A skill is simply knowledge which is demonstrated by action. It is an ability to perform in a certain way.
An entrepreneur is someone who has a good business idea and can turn that idea into reality. To be
successful, an entrepreneur must not only identify an opportunity but also understand it in great depth. He
or she must be able to spot a gap in the market and recognize what new products or services fill the gap.
He or she must know what features it will have and why they will appeal to the customer. The
entrepreneur must also know how to inform the customer about it and how to deliver the new offerings.
All this calls for an intimate knowledge of a particular sector of industry. Turning an idea into reality calls
upon two sorts of skills:
i. General management skills and
ii. People management skills

10
Compiled by: Eshetu Mebratie Department of Management
Each of them will be discussed as follows.

1) General Management Skills: These are skills required to organize the physical and financial
resources needed to run the venture. Some of the most important general management business skills
are:
 Strategy Skills – An ability to consider the business as a whole, to understand how it fits within
its market place, how it can organize itself to deliver value to its customers, and the ways in
which it does this better than its competitors.
 Planning Skills – An ability to consider what the future might offer, how it will impact on the
business and what needs to be done to prepare for it now.
 Marketing Skills – An ability to see the past firm’s offerings and their features, to be able to see
how they satisfy the customer’s needs and why the customer finds them attractive.
 Financial Skills – An ability to manage money; to be able to keep track of expenditure and to
monitor cash-flow, but also an ability to assess investments in terms of their potential and their
risks.
 Project Management Skills – An ability to organize projects, to set specific objectives, to set
schedules and to ensure that the necessary resources are in the right place at the right time.
 Time Management Skills – An ability to use time productively, to be able to priorities important
jobs and to get things done to schedule.

2) People Management Skills: Businesses are made by people. A business can only be successful if
the peoples who make it up are properly directed and are committed to make an effort on its behalf.
An entrepreneurial venture also needs the support of people from outside the organization such as
customers, suppliers and investors. To be effective, an entrepreneur needs to demonstrate a wide
variety of skills in the way he/she deals with other people. Some of the most important skills we
might include under this heading are:
 Leadership Skills – An ability to inspire people to work in a specific way and to undertake the
tasks that are necessary for the success of the venture. Leadership is about more than merely
directing people; it is also about supporting and helping them to achieve the goals they set.
 Motivation Skills – An ability to enthuse people and get them to give their full commitment to
the tasks in hand. Being able to motivate demands and understanding of what drives people and
what they expect from their jobs.
 Delegation Skills – An ability to allocate tasks to different people. Effective delegation involves
more than instructing. It demands a full understanding of the skills that people posses, how they
use them and how they might be developed to fulfill future needs.
 Communication Skills – An ability to use spoken and written language to express ideas and
inform others.
 Negotiation Skills – An ability to understand what is wanted from situations, what is motivating
others in that situation and recognize the possibilities of maximizing the outcomes for all parties.

All these different people skills are interrelated. Here entrepreneurial performance results from a
combination of industry knowledge, general management skills; people skills and personal motivation
(see the figure shown below). The successful entrepreneur must not only use these skills but learn to use

11
Compiled by: Eshetu Mebratie Department of Management
them and to learn from using them. Entrepreneurs should constantly recognize their strengths and
weaknesses and plan how to develop these skills in the future.

General Management Skills

Entrepreneurial Performance
Industry Knowledge Personal Motivation

Human Relation Skills

1.9. Who Becomes An Entrepreneur?

Anyone with the following characteristics can be an entrepreneur.

 The Inventor: The inventor is someone who has developed an innovation and who has decided to
make a career out of presenting that innovation to the market. It may be a new product or idea for
a new service. In this case successful entrepreneurship calls upon a wide range of management
skills, not just an ability to innovate. The entrepreneur must establish a market potential for their
innovation and lead an organization which can deliver it profitably.
 The Unfulfilled Manager: Life as a professional manager in an established organization brings
many rewards. It offers a stable income, intellectual stimulation, status and degree of security. For
many people though this still is not enough. The organization may not offer them a vehicle for all
their ambitions; for example, the desire to make a mark on the world, to leave a lasting
achievement, to stretch their existing managerial talents to their limit and to develop new ones. If
many simply not let them do things on their way. Such a manager confident in their abilities and
unsatisfied in their ambitions may decide to embark on an entrepreneurial career.
 The Displaced Manager: Managers are likely to make an increasingly large number of career
changes during their professional lives due to the increasing pace of technological and economic
changes. Unemployment among professional groups increases in many parts of the world due to
restructuring trends like downsizing. This increases the pressure on managers to work for them
and one possibility is to undertake an entrepreneurial route.
 The Young Professionals: Increasingly young and highly educated people often with formal
management qualifications are skipping the experience of working for an established organization
and moving directly to work on establishing their own ventures.
 The Excluded: Some people turn to an entrepreneurial career because nothing is open to them.
Displaced communities and ethnic and religious minorities have not been invited to join the wider
economic community due to a variety of social, cultural and political and historical reasons. As a
result, they may form their own internal networks, trading among themselves and, perhaps, with
their ancestral countries.

12
Compiled by: Eshetu Mebratie Department of Management
 1.10. Entrepreneurship and Environment

Business environment refers to the factors external to a business enterprise which influence its operations
and determine its effectiveness. Business environment
environment may be healthy or unhealthy. Healthy business
environment means the conditions are favorable to the growth of business whereas unhealthy environ -
ment implies conditions hostile or unfavorable to business operations.

Business and its environment interact with each other. Economic system and other condi tions in the
environment determine the success of business enterprises. The firm and its management have to adjust to
the conditions prevalent around it. However, business enterprises try to influence and shape the
environment. Successful
Successful working of business concerns improves the economic and social condi tions in
the country.

No business concern can ignore the 

the environment around it except at its own peril. “The penalty of environ
mental disregard is heavy. It not only reduces profit margins and makes opportunities for expansion slip,
but it also arouses social hostility and makes social environment growingly inhospitable to business
operations.”

Thus, the entrepreneur should continuously study the nature of environment and its influence on business.
However, mere study is not enough. Attempts must be made to influence the environment in order to
make it congenial and favorable to entrepreneurial activities. The most successful entrepreneur is one
who not only adjusts to the environment but also modifies the environment to suit his requirements
through the direct and indirect influences s/he can exercise over the system.

Phases of Business Environment

Business environment may be classified into two broad categories; namely external; and internal
environment. They are discussed here under in detail:

A) External Environment: It is the environment which is external to the business and hardly to
influence independently. The following are included under this categories:

 Economic Environment: it is of multidimensional nature. It consists of the structure of

the economy, the industrial, agricultural, trade and transport policies of the country, the
growth and pattern of national income and its distribution, the conditions prevailing in
industrial, agricultural and other sectors, the position relating to balance of trade and balance
of payments, and other miscellaneous conditions of the economy. There is a close
relationship between a business firm and the economic environment around it. The success
of a business enterprise depends considerably
considerably upon the State and growth of the economy.

 Legal Environment: Business must function within the framework of legal structure.
Therefore, an adequate knowledge of laws and rules is necessary for efficient managerial
performance. When new laws are made and controls exercised through legal enactments, the
first reaction of the business community is to oppose them and disobey them. Management
should try to understand what should be the right laws and strictly obey them when so made.

13
Compiled by: Eshetu Mebratie Department of Management
 In addition, it can influence the government
government to change and improve the law and make it
useful to the business community. There are several business laws in our country. A
working knowledge of these laws is very helpful for the entrepreneur. Such knowledge will
keep them away from innocent breaches and resultant penalties. Some laws differ from
region to region and amendments arc made from time to time. Therefore, the entrepreneur
must always keep in touch with those who know the latest position in law.

 Political Environment: In a democratic country, politics cannot be ignored. Managers

and entrepreneurs should understand the working of the political system. Such
understanding and concern for national problems will help them in the long run in
discharging their responsibilities to the satisfaction of the public. Public opinion is very
important and today's public opinion becomes tomorrow's legislation. Businessmen should,
therefore, learn to take public opinion into account in the decision-making process. If
business does not learn how to deal adequately with public opinion, it will face a disaster.
This does not mean that business should surrender itself to public opinion. Rather, it implies
intelligent
intelligent response in order to change wherever necessary and a constructive approach to
problems.

 Socio-Cultural Environment:
Environment: It consist the social and cultural norms of a society in a
given period of time. The variables that are appraised are values, beliefs, norms, fashions
and fads/trend of a particular society. It can help in understanding the level of
rigidity/flexibility of a given society towards a new product/service/concept. Traditional
culture should be protected in so far as it is not a hindrance to innovation, motivation, and
development.

 Demographic Environment:
Environment: It assesses the overall population pattern of a given
geographical region. It includes variables like age profile, distribution, sex, education
profile, income distribution etc. The demographic appraisal can help in identifying the size
of target customers.

B) Internal Environment: Internal environment is the environment which is under the control
of a given organization. Following are the components of internal environment of a business:

 Raw Material: It assesses the availability of raw material now and in the near future. If the
availability of raw material is less now or would be less in future then the entrepreneur
should give a serious thought to establishing a venture as the entire system can come to a
standstill due to shortage of raw material.

 Production/Operation: It assesses the availability of various machineries, equipment,

tools and techniques that would be required for production/operation.

14
Compiled by: Eshetu Mebratie Department of Management
  Finance: It assesses the total requirements of finance in terms start-up expenses, fixed
expenses and running expenses. It also indicates the sources of finance that can be
approached for funding.

 Human Resource: It assesses the kind of human resources required and its demand and
supply in the market. This further helps in estimating the cost and level of competition in
hiring and retaining the human resources.

Environmental Factors Affecting Entrepreneurship

A complex and varying combination of financial, institutional, cultural and personality factors determines
the nature and degree of entrepreneurial activity at any time. The personal backgrounds of the
entrepreneurs are determined mainly by the environment in which they are born and brought up and
work. A multitude of environmental factors determine the entrepreneurial spirit among people. The
entrepreneurs in turn create impact on the environment. The interaction between the entrepreneur and his
environment is an ongoing process. At any given point of time, the entrepreneurs derive meanings from
the environment prevailing at that time and try to adapt and/or change the environment to suit their needs.
Some of the environmental factors which hinder entrepreneurial growth are given below:
 Sudden changes in Government policy.
 Sudden political upsurge.
 Outbreak of war or regional conflicts.
 Political instability or hostile Government attitude towards industry.
 Excessive red-tapism and corruption among Government agencies.
 Ideological and social conflicts.
 Unreliable supply of power, materials, finance, labor and other inputs.
 Rise in the cost of inputs.
 Unfavorable market fluctuations.
 Non-cooperative attitude of banks and financial institutions.

Entrepreneurship is environmentally determined. The most important essential for entrepreneurial growth
is the presence of a favorable business environment. A healthy business environment requires active
social and cultural behavior of the people, efficient economic conditions, helpful motivating Government
policies, etc.

15
Compiled by: Eshetu Mebratie Department of Management
 1.11. Creativity, innovation and Entrepreneurship

Creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship, have been recognized as important contributors to a nation’s
economic growth. These three terminologies are interrelated and it is very important to look in to them to
get their full picture.

Now, it is necessary to see the distinction (difference) between creativity and innovation. Creativity is the
ability to bring something new into existence. Here, there is no action to make the idea a reality. It is the
seed that inspires entrepreneurship and it is the prerequisite to innovation.

Creativity is defined as the tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that may
be useful in solving problems, communicating with others, and entertaining ourselves and others. It is the
ability to come up with new idea and to identify new and different ways of looking at a problem and
opportunities. It is a process of assembling ideas by recombining elements already known but wrongly
assumed to be unrelated to each other.

In order to be creative, you need to be able to view things in new ways of from a different perspective.
Among other things, you need to be able to generate new possibilities or new alternatives. Tests of
creativity measure not only the number of alternatives that people can generate but the uniqueness of
those alternatives. The ability to generate alternatives or to see things uniquely does not occur by change;
it is linked to other, more fundamental qualities of thinking, such as flexibility, tolerance of ambiguity or
unpredictability, and the enjoyment of things here to for the unknown. Thus, creativity is the development
of ideas about products, practices, services, or procedures that are novel and potentially useful to the
organization.

Steps in the Creative Process

Step1: Opportunity or problem Recognition: A person discovers that a new opportunity exists or a
problem needs resolution.
Step2: Immersion: the individual concentrates on the problem and becomes immersed in it. He or she
will recall and collect information that seems relevant, dreaming up alternatives without refining
or evaluating them.
Step 3: Incubation: the person keeps the assembled information in mind for a while. He or she does not
appear to be working on the problem actively; however, the subconscious mind is still engaged.
While the information is simmering it is being arranged into meaningful new patterns.
Step 4: Insight: the problem-conquering solution flashes into the person’s mind at an unexpected time,
such as on the verge of sleep, during a shower, or while running. Insight is also called the Aha!
experience.
Step 5: Verification and Application: the individual sets out to prove that the creative solution has
merit. Verification procedures include gathering supporting evidence, using logical persuasion,
and experimenting with new ideas.

16
Compiled by: Eshetu Mebratie Department of Management
 Barriers to Creativity

Be aware that there are numerous barriers to creativity, including the followings:
 searching for the one ‘right’ answer
 focusing on being logical
 blindly following the rules
 constantly being practical
 viewing play as frivolous
 becoming overly specialized
 avoiding ambiguity
 fearing looking foolish
 fearing mistakes and failure
 believing that ‘I’m not creative

Innovation is the process of doing new things. It is the transformation of creative ideas into useful
applications, which results in new products, services or processes. Innovation is the process of
entrepreneurship. It implies action, not just a new idea. For an idea to have value, it must be proven
useful or be marketable. Innovation is the transition of creative idea into a useful application. One quality
of entrepreneurs is innovation. Schumpeter has emphasized in his writings that innovation as a step
forward to shatter the status quo through new combination of resources and new methods of commerce.

Types of Innovation
It is remarkable how many people are under the false assumption that companies are either innovative or
not. 
not.   This is a very polarizing and simplistic perspective that does not take into account the different
types of innovations that companies can and do pursue.

 Incremental Innovation: Incremental Innovation is  is the most common form of innovation. It
utilizes your existing technology and increases value to the customer (features, design changes,
etc.) within your existing market. 
market.  Almost all companies engage in incremental innovation in one
form or another.

Examples include adding new features to existing products or services or even removing features
(value through simplification). 
simplification).   Even small updates to user experience can add value. for
example below is an older version of Constant Contact’s email schedule page:

17
Compiled by: Eshetu Mebratie Department of Management
 There is nothing majorly wrong with this
page, however it is easy to see that the
page title is “Schedule”, yet there are no
schedule settings anywhere to be seen. 
seen.  In
fact, in this version, you have to click on
the yellow schedule button on the upper
right-hand corner to actually pop up the
schedule settings. 
settings.  In addition, there is a
huge empty space on the right side of the
page that does not contribute much value
to the user. 
user.   Below is a more current
version of the same page:

This updated version replaces the

“Schedule” title with the title of the email
campaign. 
campaign.  This makes it easier for the
user to see which campaign they are
working on.  Actual 
Actual schedule settings have
replaced the awfully huge empty space on
the right-hand side, which makes it
possible for the big yellow “Schedule”
button to actually schedule. 
schedule.   Also, larger
sized form fields have been introduced to
allow easy clicking on those elements. 
elements.  All
these changes, which may seem as just
updates, are actually small incremental
changes focused on adding more value to
an existing product. 
product.   They will prove to be
incrementally innovative if customers have
a better experience with the product and
are able to schedule email campaigns much
easier.

18
Compiled by: Eshetu Mebratie Department of Management
  Disruptive Innovation: Disruptive innovation, also known as stealth innovation, involves
applying new technology or processes to your company’s current market.    It is stealthy in nature
since newer tech will often be inferior to existing market technology.    This newer technology is
often more expensive, has fewer features, is harder to use, and is not as aesthetically pleasing.    It
is only after a few iterations that the newer tech surpasses the old and disrupts all existing
companies. 
companies.  By then, it might be too late for the established companies to quickly compete with
the newer technology.

There are quite a few examples of disruptive innovation, one of the more prominent being
Apple’s iPhone disruption of the mobile phone market. 
market.   Prior to the iPhone, most popular phones
relied on buttons, keypads or scroll wheels for user input. 
input.   The iPhone was the result of of a
technological movement that was years in making, mostly iterated by Palm Treo phones and
personal digital assistants (PDAs). 
(PDAs).   Frequently you will find that it is not the first mover who
ends up disrupting the existing market. 
market.  In order to disrupt the mobile phone market, Apple had to
cobble together an amazing touch screen that had  had a simple to use interface, and provide users
access to a large assortment of built-in and third-party mobile applications.

 Architectural Innovation: Architectural innovation is simply taking the lessons, skills and
overall technology and applying them within a different market.    This innovation is amazing at
increasing new customers as long as the new market is receptive.    Most of the time, the risk
involved in architectural innovation is low due to the reliance and reintroduction of proven
technology. 
technology.   Though most of the time it requires tweaking to match the requirements of the new
market. In 1966, NASA’s Ames Research Center attempted to improve the safety of aircraft
cushions. 
cushions.  They succeeded by creating a new type of foam, which reacts to the pressure applied to
it, yet magically forms back to its original shape.     Originally it was commercially marketed as
medical equipment table pads and sports equipment, before having larger success as use in
mattresses. 
mattresses.   This “slow spring back foam” technology falls under architectural innovation.   It is
commonly known as memory foam.

 Radical innovation: Radical innovation is what  what we think of mostly when considering
innovation. 
innovation.   It gives birth to new industries (or swallows existing ones) and involves creating
revolutionary technology. 
technology.   The airplane, for example, was not the first mode of transportation,
but it is revolutionary as it allowed commercialized air travel to develop and prosper.

The four different types of innovation mentioned here – Incremental, Disruptive, Architectural and
Radical – help illustrate the various ways that companies can innovate.   There are more ways to innovate
than these four. 
four.   The important thing is to find the type(s) that suit your company and turn those into
success.

19
Compiled by: Eshetu Mebratie Department of Management
 Areas of Innovation

The following are some of the major areas in which valuable innovation might be made.
 New product: A new product can be developed through new or existing technology. The new product
may offer a radically new way of doing something or it may simply be an improvement on an existing
item. The new product must offer the customer an advantage if it is to be successful.

 New Production Techniques: Innovation can be made in the way in which a product is to be
manufactured. A new production technique should allow the end user to obtain the product at a lower
cost, or a product of higher quality or better service in the supply of the product.

 New Way of Delivering the Product to the Customer: Customer can only use product they can
access. A common innovation is to take a more direct routine by cutting out middleman.

 New Operating Practices: As with innovations in the production of physical products, innovation in
service delivery must address customers need and offer them improved benefits, for example easier
access to the service, a higher quality service, a more consistent service, a faster or less time
consuming service etc.

 New Means of Informing the Customer about the Product: People will only use a product if they
know about it. Demand will not exist if the offering is not properly promoted to them. Promotion
consists of two parts; a message what is said and a means – the route by which that message is
delivered.

 New Means of Managing Relationship within the Organization: Any organization has a wide
variety of communication channels running through it. The performance of the organization will
depend to a great extent on the effectiveness of its internal communication channels. These
communication channels are guided by the organization’s structure.

 New Ways of Managing Relationships between Organizations: Organizations sit in a complex web
of relationships to each other. The way they communicate and relate to each other is very important.

Creativity 
Creativity is the ability to develop new ideas and to
discover new ways of looking at problems and
opportunities.
Innovation is the ability to apply creative solution to
those problems and opportunities in order to enhance
people’s lives or to enrich society.
   Creativity 
Creativity + innovation=
innovation=Entrepreneurship

20
Compiled by: Eshetu Mebratie Department of Management
 1.12. Kinds of entrepreneurs

The field of small business encompasses a great variety entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial ventures. This
section examines this spectrum of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship by identifying the varied types of
people and firms that exist. The followings are various types’ entrepreneurs’ identified:

 Innovating entrepreneurs: Innovative entrepreneurship is characterized by aggressive

assemblage of information and the analysis of results derived from sound combination of
factors. An innovating entrepreneur is one who introduces new goods, inaugurates new method
of production, discovers new market and reorganizes the enterprise. It is important to note that
such entrepreneurs can work only when a certain level of development is already achieved, and
people look forward to change and improvement. Generally, they are typical of developed
countries. A country with little or no industrial tradition can hardly produce role in the rise of
modern capitalism, through their enterprising sprit, hope of money making, ability to recognize
and exploit opportunities, etc. the innovating entrepreneur does not invent rather commercializes
the inventions or implements the inventor’s ideas.
 Adoptive or imitative entrepreneurs: these are characterized by readiness to adopt successful
innovations inaugurated by successful innovating entrepreneurs. They lap up innovations
originated by innovating entrepreneurs. Imitative entrepreneurs do not innovate the changes
themselves, they only imitate techniques and technology innovated by others. Such types of
entrepreneurs are particularly suitable for the underdeveloped regions for bringing a mushroom
drive of imitation of new combinations of factors of production already available in developed
regions. In highly backward countries, there is shortage of imitative entrepreneurs also. People
who can imitate the technologies and products to the particular conditions prevailing in these
countries are needed. Imitative entrepreneurs face lesser risks and uncertainty than innovative
entrepreneurs. While innovative entrepreneurs are creative, imitative entrepreneurs are adoptive.
 Fabian entrepreneurs: entrepreneurs of this type are very cautious and skeptical while
practicing any change. They have neither the will to introduce new changes nor the desire to
adopt new methods innovated by the most enterprising entrepreneurs. They imitate only when it
becomes perfectly clear that failure to do so would result in a loss of the relative position in the
enterprise. They are lazy & shy and also lack the will to adapt to new methods of production.
Their dealings are determined or dominated more customs, religions, tradition, and past
practices. They are not much interested in taking risk and they try to follow the footsteps of the
predecessors.
 Drone entrepreneurs: drone entrepreneurs is characterized by a refusal to adopt and use
opportunities to make changes in production formulae even at the cost of severely reduced
returns relative to other like producers. Such entrepreneurs may even suffer losses but they are
not ready to make changes in the existing production methods. They struggle to exist, not to
grow. Thus, they are laggards as they continue to operate in the traditional way and resist
changes. They blindly follow traditional methods of production even when it causes loss to him.
When their product loses marketability and their operations become uneconomical they are

21
Compiled by: Eshetu Mebratie Department of Management
 pushed out of the market. They are conventional in the sense that they stick to conventional
products and ideas.
 Women entrepreneurs: women entrepreneurs has rising dramatically in this century. News
papers and business magazines frequently feature women as successful entrepreneurs. A study
by economist David Birch, released in 1992, reported than women owned 28 percent of the
business in U.S. and that they employed 10 percent of the country’s workers. Women’s
businesses ownership has been expanding much more rapidly than men’s business ownership,
but women are expanding from a smaller base of ownership.

Generally, where the supporting conditions have been favorable, there is a phenomenal increase
in the number of self-employed women (referring to women entrepreneurs) in the advanced
countries of the world. To quote, women own 20 percent of all businesses in France, 25 percent
in United States, and 33 percent in Canada. Whereas it seems less in developing countries, such
as India 9.01 percent of the total 1.70 million entrepreneurs during 1988-89. However, owning
to the various governmental schemes and efforts of various voluntary organizations, the number
of women entrepreneurs in India is growing but slowly.

Women entrepreneurs obviously face problems common to al entrepreneurs. However, they

must also contend with difficulties associated with their newness in entrepreneurial roles. Lack
of access to credit has been a problem frequently cited by women who enter business. This is a
troublesome area for most small business owners, but many women entrepreneurs feel they carry
an added burden of discrimination. Another barrier for some women is the limited opportunity
they find for business relationships with others in similar positions. It takes time and effort for
them to gain full acceptance and to develop informal relationships with others in local, mostly
male, business and professional groups.

1.13. THE POTENTIAL LIMITATIONS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Although owning a business has many benefits and provides many opportunities, anyone planning to
enter the world of entrepreneurship should be aware of its potential drawbacks.
 Uncertainty of income;income; opening & running a business provides no guarantees that an
entrepreneur will earn enough money to survive. Some small businesses barely earn enough to
provide the owner-manager with an adequate income. In a business’s early days the owner often
has trouble meeting financial obligations and may have to live on savings. The steady income
that comes with working for someone else is absent. The owner is always the last one to be paid.
 Risk:
Risk: starting or buying a new business involves risk, and the higher rewards, the greater the
risk entrepreneurs usually face. This is why entrepreneurs tend to have evaluated risk very
carefully. It should be noted that that “people who successfully innovate and start businesses
comes in all shapes and sizes but they do have a few things others do not. In the deepest sense,
they are willing to accept risk for what they believe in.
Entrepreneurs face a number of different types of risk. These can be grouped into four basic areas,
namely financial, career, family & social and psychic risks.
risks.

22
Compiled by: Eshetu Mebratie Department of Management
  Financial risk:
risk: in most new ventures the individual puts a significant portion of his or
her savings or other resources at stake. This money or these resources will, in all
likelihood, be lost if the venture fails. The entrepreneur also may be required to sign
personally on company obligations that far exceed his or her personal net worth the
entrepreneur is thus exposed to personal bankruptcy. Many people are unwilling to risk
their savings, house, property and salary to start a new business.
 Career risk:
risk: a question frequently raised by would-be entrepreneurs is whether they will
be able to find a job or go back to their old job if their venture should fail. This is a
major concern to managers who have a secure organizational job with a high salary and a
good benefit package. To reduce such risk, starting a part-time business is popular
gateway to entrepreneurship. Part-time entrepreneurs have the best of both worlds: they
can ease into business for themselves without sacrificing the security of a steady
paycheck and benefits. A major advantage of going into business part-time is the lower
risk in case the venture flops. Many part-timers are “testing the entrepreneurial waters”
to see whether their business ideas will work and whether they enjoy being self-
employed. As they grow, many part-time enterprises absorb more of the entrepreneur’s
time until they become full-time businesses.
 Family and social risk:risk: starting a new venture uses much of the entrepreneur’s energy
and time. Consequently, his or her other commitments may suffer. Entrepreneurs, who
are married, and especially those with children, expose their families to risks of an
incomplete family experience and the possibility of permanent emotional scars. In
addition, old friends may vanish slowly because of missed get-togethers.
 Psychic Risk:
Risk: The greatest risk may to the well being of the entrepreneur. Money can be
replaced; a new house can be built; spouse, children, and friends can usually adapt. But
some entrepreneurs who have suffered financial catastrophes have been unable to bounce
back, at least not immediately. The psychological impact has proven to be too severe for
them.
 Long hours & hard work: work: Business start-ups often demand that owners keep nightmarish
schedules. In many start-ups, six-or seven-day workweeks with no paid vacations are that
norm. When the business closes, the revenue stops coming in and the customers go elsewhere.
Even when you own your own business, you still always are working for someone else—your
else—your
customers and clients.
clients.
 Lower quality of life until the business gets established;
established; the long hours & handwork needed
to launch a business can take their toll on the rest of the entrepreneur’s life. Business owners
often find that their roles as husband or wives & fathers or mothers take a back seat to their
roles as business founders. Part of the problem is that most entrepreneurs launch their business
between the ages of 25 and 39, just when they start their families. It is very tough to give the
amount of work that’s required to build a company without slighting your family. As a result,
marriages and friendships are too often casualties of small business ownership.
 High level of stress:
stress: Starting & managing a business can be an incredibly rewarding
experience, but it also can be a highly stressful. Entrepreneurs often have made significant
investments in their companies, have left behind the safety & security of a steady paycheck
and have mortgaged everything they own to get into business. Failure may mean total
financial ruin, and that creates intense levels of stress and anxiety!

23
Compiled by: Eshetu Mebratie Department of Management
  Complete responsibility: It is great to be the boss, but many entrepreneurs find that they
must make decisions on issues about which they are not really knowledgeable. When there is
no one to ask, the pressure can build quickly. The realization that the decisions they make are
the cause of success or failure has a devastating effect on some people. Small business owners
discover quickly that they are the business.

1.14. Factors Necessary to Start a New Business

For the person who actually starts his/her own business, the experience is filled with enthusiasm,
frustration, anxiety & hard work. There is a high failure rate due to poor sales, intense competition, or
lack of capital. The financial and emotional risk can be very high. What then causes a person to make
this difficult decision?
Many individuals have difficulty in bringing their ideas to the market and creating a new venture. Yet,
entrepreneurship and the actual entrepreneurial decision have resulted in several million new
businesses throughout the world. Each of these companies is formed through a very personal human
process that although unique, has some common characteristics. Like all processes, it entails a
movement from something to something – a movement from a present life-style to forming a new
enterprise. So, an entrepreneur should decide on the following case:
 The decision to leave a present career or life-style.
 The decision that an entrepreneurial venture is desirable.
 The decision that both external & internal factors make the venture possible.

1) Changes from present life-style: The decision to leave a present career and life-style is not an
easy one. It takes a great of energy to change and create something new. The two most
important incentives to leave a present life-style and start a business are work environment and
disruption.
 Work environment: - While individuals tend to start businesses in familiar areas, two
work environments tend to be particularly good in spawning new enterprises:
research & development and marketing. Working in technology (Research and
development), individuals develop new product ideas or processes and often leave to
form new companies when the present employers do not accept the new ideas.
Similarly, individuals in marketing become familiar with the market & unfilled
customers’ wants and needs and frequently start new enterprises to fill these needs.

 Disruption:
Disruption: - Perhaps even more incentives to leave a present life-style and overcome
the inertia by creating something new come from a negative force-disruption;
People who have retired, who are relocated, or who have been fired form a
significant number of companies. There is no greater force than personal dislocation
to galvanize a person into action.

24
Compiled by: Eshetu Mebratie Department of Management
2) Desirable: The perception that starting a new company is desirable results from an individual’s
culture, subculture, family, teachers & peers.
 Culture: - a culture that values an individual who successfully creates a new business
will spawn more company formations than one that does not. For example, the
American culture places a high value on being your own boss, having individual
opportunity being a success, and making money-all aspects of entrepreneurship. On
the other hand, in some countries (Includes Ethiopia) successfully establishing a new
business and making money is not as highly valued & failure may be a disgrace.
Enterprise culture in Ethiopia has not been developed. The reasons might be
(according to Andualem Tegene: may 2004) includes: The existence of feudal system
for longer period that inhibited private enterprise; the country has often been fighting
for over centuries and people have been oriented toward war and the formal education
system that the country has pursued doesn’t prepare students for enterprise.
 Family:
Family: - Family traits play an important role in entrepreneurship. Studies of
companies in a variety of industries in many countries indicate that 50 to 72 percent of
founders of companies had father and/or mothers who valued their independence. The
independence achieved by being company owners, professionals, artists, or farmers
permeates the entire family life, giving encouragement and value to the company
formulation activity.
 Teachers:
Teachers: - Encouragement to form a company is further gained from teachers, who
can significantly influence individuals regarding not only business careers but
entrepreneurship as one possible career path-schools with exciting courses in
entrepreneurship and innovation tend to spawn. Colleges and universities have
discovered that entrepreneurship is extremely popular course of study. Due to lack of
job opportunity and less promising career paths, a rapidly growing number of students
sees owning a business as an attractive career option.
 Peers:
Peers: - Finally, peers are very important in the decision to form a company. An area
with an entrepreneurial pool & meeting places where entrepreneurs and potential
entrepreneurs meet and discuss ideas, problems, & solutions spawn more new
companies than an area where this does not occur.
3) Possible:
Possible: - While the desire generated from the individual’s culture, family, teachers, and peers
must be present before any action is taken, the second part of the equation centers on the
question: what makes it possible to form a new company?
company? Several factors like government,
background, marketing, role models, and finance – contribute to the creation of a new venture.
 Government:
Government: - The government contributes by providing the infrastructure to support
a new venture. It is no wonder that more companies are formed in the United States
given the roads, communication & transportation systems, utilities, and economic
stability available versus that available in other countries. Even the tax rates for
companies facilitate or hinder entrepreneurship. Countries having a regressive tax
rate, particularly on individuals, can suppress company formation since a significant
monetary gain cannot be achieved even though the social, psychological, and financial
risks are still present.

25
Compiled by: Eshetu Mebratie Department of Management
  Background:
Background: - The entrepreneur also must have the background needed to make the
company formation possible; knowledge acquired from formal education & previous
business experience makes a potential entrepreneur feel capable of forming &
managing a new enterprise. While educational systems are important in providing the
needed knowledge of business, individuals still tend to start successful businesses in
fields in which they have worked. In fact, in many cases, the idea for the new
company occurs while the individual is working in a particular business position.
Indeed, entrepreneurs are not born, they developed.
 Marketing:
Marketing: - Marketing also plays a critical role in forming a new company. Not only
must a market of sufficient size be present but also the marketing know-how to put
together the best total package of product, price, distribution, & promotion needed for
successful product launching. A company is more easily formed in an area where
there is market demand, not only technology push.
 Role Models:
Models: - perhaps one of the most important factors influencing entrepreneurs in
their career choice is role model. Role models can be parents, brothers or sisters other
relatives or successful entrepreneurs in the surrounding community or nationally
touted entrepreneurs. Potential entrepreneurs view successful entrepreneurs as catalyst.
There is no more powerful teacher than a good example. Numerous studies show a
strong connection between the presence of role models and the emergence of
entrepreneurs. To see someone else succeed makes it easier to picture you doing a
similar activity – better, of course. A frequent comment of entrepreneurs when
queried about their motivation for starting their new venture is; “if that person could
do it, so can I.” Role models can also serve in supportive capacity as mentors during
and after the new venture is launched.
 Finance:
Finance: - Finally, financial resources needed to form a new company must be readily
available. While most of the start-up money for any new company comes from
personal savings, credit, friends, & relatives, there is still often a need for seed (start-
up) capital. Each venture has a common trait-the need for seed & other types of risk
capital. Risk capital investors play an essential role in the development and growth of
entrepreneurial activity. More new companies form when seed capital is readily
available.
Form new enterprise
 Desirable
 Culture
Change from present life –style  Family
 Work environment  Teachers
 Disruption  Peers
 Possible
 Government
 Background
 Marketing
 Finance
 Role models
End of the
chapter!

26
Compiled by: Eshetu Mebratie Department of Management