The entrepreneurial journey (1)

The journey of an entrepreneur does not begin with many, neither does it begin with money; it begins with a meaning! Entrepreneurship is the practice of problem solving, innovation, value-creation, opportunity finding and technology application (PIVOT), for the purpose of impact and profit.

Over time, scholars have defined the term entrepreneurship in different ways as follows:

1725: Richard Cantillon – An entrepreneur is a person who pays a certain price for a product to resell it at an uncertain price thereby making decisions about obtaining and using the resources and consequently admitting the risk of enterprise.

1803: Jean-Baptiste Say – An entrepreneur is an economic agent who unites all means of production – land of one, the labour of another and the capital of yet another and thus produces a product. By selling the product in the market he pays rent of land, wages to labour, interest on capital and what remains is his profit. He shifts economic resources out of an area of lower and into an area of higher productivity and greater yield.

1934: Schumpeter – Entrepreneurs are innovators who use a process of shattering the status quo of the existing products and services, to set up new products, new services.

1949: C.H. Danhoff – Entrepreneurship is an activity or function and not a specific individual or occupation; the specific personal entrepreneur is an unrealistic abstraction.

1961: David McClleland – An entrepreneur is a person with a high need for achievement. He is energetic and a moderate risk taker.

1964: Peter Drucker – An entrepreneur searches for change, responds to it and exploits opportunities. Innovation is a specific tool of an entrepreneur hence an effective entrepreneur converts a source into a resource.

1971: Kilby – Emphasizes the role of an imitator entrepreneur who does not innovate but imitates technologies innovated by others. They are very important in developing economies.

1975: Albert Shapero – Entrepreneurs take initiative, accept risk of failure and have an internal locus of control.

1975: Howard Stevenson – Entrepreneurship is “the pursuit of opportunity without regard to resources currently controlled.”

1983: G. Pinchot – Intrapreneur is an entrepreneur within an already established organization.

1985: W.B. Gartner – Entrepreneur is a person who started a new business where there was none before.

The concept of entrepreneurship was first established in the 1700s, and the meaning has evolved since. The word “entrepreneur” originates from a thirteenth-century French verb, ‘entreprendre’, meaning “to do something” or “to undertake”. By the sixteenth century, the noun form, entrepreneur, was being used to refer to someone who undertakes a business venture. Many simply equate it with starting one’s own business. Traditionally, an entrepreneur has been defined as “a person who starts, organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk.” The Merriam-Webster Dictionary presents the definition of an entrepreneur as one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise. To some economists, the entrepreneur is one who is willing to bear the risk of a new venture if there is a significant chance for profit. Others emphasize the entrepreneur’s role as an innovator who markets his innovation. Still, other economists say that entrepreneurs develop new goods or processes that the market demands and are not currently being supplied.

Entrepreneurship is the act of being an entrepreneur, which can be defined as “one who undertakes innovations, finance and business acumen (entrepreneurial skill set), or any form of entrepreneurial activity requiring economic intelligence (macro-entrepreneurship), in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods.” In the 2000s, the term entrepreneurship has been extended to include a specific mindset (entrepreneurial mindset) resulting in entrepreneurial initiatives, e.g. social entrepreneurship, political entrepreneurship, knowledge entrepreneurship and other forms of entrepreneurial creativity requiring social intelligence (micro-entrepreneurship). From the above, we see that an entrepreneur is a person while entrepreneurship is the process of its actual working. However, entrepreneurship goes beyond starting a business or undertaking innovations; there exists a broad spectrum of activities and opportunities in the field of entrepreneurship. Through strategic and coordinated activities, an entrepreneur is one who is able to see and seize those activities and opportunities respectively, which can be explored and exploited respectively resulting in impact and profit accordingly!

Basically, entrepreneurship is about problem solving and opportunity finding. Its rewards are impact and profit respectively. A social entrepreneur solves social problems and makes impact while a business entrepreneur looks for opportunities, seizes them and makes profit. Entrepreneurial calling is not the same thing as entrepreneurial creativity; the former has to do with vision while the latter has to do with innovation. Innovation is an important factor for entrepreneurship to thrive but not sufficient for its sustainability. Successful entrepreneurs have learnt to combine insight with foresight and the benefit of hindsight to achieve monumental breakthroughs in their undertakings. Entrepreneurial calling compels an individual to start out an enterprise with the mentality of vision while entrepreneurial creativity compels an entrepreneur to shatter the status quo with the instrumentality of innovation, in order to birth new products, businesses, processes and services.

Ray Kroc gained a clear and precise vision for taking McDonald brothers’ tiny restaurant and putting it on street corners all over America. John D. Rockefeller gained a vision for a company that would dominate the oil refining and distribution business. Thomas Edison gained a vision for creating an electric light bulb and lighting every home, office, and factory in America. Three men, three visions; and three out of three saw their visions transformed into reality.

As an entrepreneur, your vision can only find expression in your mission while your mission finds expression in the real world. The dictionary defines mission as an important assignment given to a person or group of people. Now that you have a picture of the future, the world is not a vacuum so you have to pick up your assignment(s) and fulfill your calling in the real world. The Seven Mountains of Societal Influence by Bill Bright is a good model for an entrepreneur to understand the way the society is framed. In the same vein, The Seventeen Sustainable Development Goals of The United Nations is a perfect opportunity for an entrepreneur to make specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time bound (smart) contributions to the advancement and enhancement of the cause of humanity.

There is what is known today as the Seven (7) Mountains of Influence, and the nations of the earth are changed and transformed through these Seven (7) Mountains. These are: Family, Religion – (Spirituality), Business – (Economy, Finance), Politics – (Government), Education, Media – (Communication) and Arts – (Entertainment, Celebration, Sports).

These Seven (7) Mountains of Influence are considered to be cultures that mold the way we think, influencing our lives on a daily basis.

The Sustainable Development Goals are a collection of 17 global goals designed to be a “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all”. The SDGs, set in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and intended to be achieved by the year 2030, are part of UN Resolution 70/1, the 2030 Agenda. The 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) are: No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Good Health and Well-being, Quality Education, Gender Equality, Clean Water and Sanitation, Affordable and Clean Energy, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, Reduced Inequalities, Sustainable Cities and Communities, Responsible Consumption and Production, Climate Action, Life Below Water, Life on Land, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions and Partnerships for the Goals.

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