Entrepreneurship

Economists and business people differ in their definitions of entrepreneurship. Most, however, agree that entrepreneurship is vital for stimulating economic growth and employment opportunities in all societies. This is particularly true in the developing world, where successful small businesses are the primary engines of job creation and poverty reduction.

What is meant by entrepreneurship? The concept of entrepreneurship was first established in the 1700s, and the meaning has evolved ever since. Many simply equate it with starting one's own business. Most economists believe it is more than that. 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. In the 20th century, economist Joseph Schumpeter (1883-1950) focused on how the entrepreneur's drive for innovation and improvement creates upheaval and change. 

Schumpeter viewed entrepreneurship as a force of "creative destruction." The entrepreneur carries out "new combinations," thereby helping render old industries obsolete. Established ways of doing business are destroyed by the creation of new and better ways to do them. Business expert Peter Drucker (1909-2005) took this idea further, describing the entrepreneur as someone who actually searches for change, responds to it, and exploits change as an opportunity. A quick look at changes in communications – from typewriters to personal computers to the Internet – illustrates these ideas. 

Most economists today agree that entrepreneurship is a necessary ingredient for stimulating economic growth and employment opportunities in all societies. In the developing world, successful small businesses are the primary engines of job creation, income growth, and poverty reduction.

Therefore, government support for entrepreneurship is a crucial strategy for economic development. As the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said in 2003, "Policies to foster entrepreneurship are essential to job creation and economic growth." Government officials can provide incentives that encourage entrepreneurs to risk attempting new ventures. Among these are laws to enforce property rights and to encourage a competitive market system. The culture of a community also may influence how much entrepreneurship there is within it. Different levels of entrepreneurship may stem from cultural differences that make entrepreneurship more or less rewarding personally. A community that accords the highest status to those at the top of hierarchical organizations or those with professional expertise may discourage entrepreneurship. A culture or policy that accords high status to the "self-made" individual is more likely to encourage entrepreneurship. 

 Build a Better “Baby” and They Will Come                                    

One balmy San Diego evening in 1993, Mary and Rick Jurmain were watching a TV program about teenage pregnancy.1 To simulate the challenge of caring for an infant, teens on the program were assigned to tend baby-size sacks of flour. Rick, a father of two young children, remarked that trundling around a sack of flour wasn’t exactly a true- to-life experience. In particular, he argued, sacks of flour simulated only abnormally happy babies— babies who didn’t cry, especially in the middle of the night. Half-seriously, Mary suggested that her husband—a between-jobs aerospace engineer— build a better baby, and within a couple of weeks, a prototype was born. Rick’s brainchild was a bouncing 6.5-pound bundle of vinylcovered joy with an internal computer to simulate infant crying at realistic, random intervals. 

He also designed a drug-affected model to simulate tremors from withdrawal, and each model monitored itself for neglect or ill treatment. 

The Jurmains patented Baby Think It Over and started production in 1994 as Baby Think It Over Inc. Their first “factory” was their garage, and the “office” was the kitchen table— “a little business in a house,” as Mary put it. With a boost from articles in USA Today, Newsweek, Forbes, and People—plus a “Product of the Year” nod from Fortune—news of the Jurmains’ “infant simulator” eventually spread to the new company’s targeted education market, and by 1998, some forty thousand simulators had been babysat by more than a million teenagers in nine countries. By that time, the company had moved to Wisconsin, where it had been rechristened BTIO Educational Products Inc. to reflect an expanded product line that now includes not only dolls and equipment, like the Shaken Baby Syndrome Simulator, but also simulator-based programs like START Addiction Education and Realityworks Pregnancy Profile. BTIO was retired and replaced by the new and improved RealCare Baby and, ultimately, by RealCare Baby II–Plus, which requires the participant to determine what the “baby” needs when it cries and downloads data to record misconduct. In 2003, the name of the Jurmains’ company was changed once again, this time to Realityworks Inc. 

In developing BTIO and Realityworks Inc., the Jurmains were doing what entrepreneurs do (and doing it very well). In fact, Mary was nominated three times for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and named 2001 Wisconsin Entrepreneurial Woman of the Year by the National Association of Women Business Owners. So what, exactly, is an entrepreneur and what does one do? According to one definition, an entrepreneur is an “individual who starts a new business” - and that’s true. Another definition identifies an entrepreneur as someone who “uses resources to implement innovative ideas for new, thoughtfully planned ventures.” 2 But an important component of a satisfactory definition is still missing. To appreciate fully what it is, let’s go back to the story of the Jurmains. In 1993, the Jurmains were both unemployed—Rick had been laid off by General Dynamics Corp., and Mary by the San Diego Gas and Electric Company. While they were watching the show about teenagers and flour sacks, they were living off a loan from her father and the returns from a timely investment in coffee futures. Rick recalls that the idea for a method of creating BTIO came to him while “I was awake in bed, worrying about being unemployed.” He was struggling to find a way to feed his family. He had to make the first forty simulators himself, and at the end of the first summer, BTIO had received about four hundred orders—a promising start, perhaps, but, at $250 per baby (less expenses), not exactly a windfall. “We were always about one month away from bankruptcy,” recalls Mary. 

At the same time, it’s not as if the Jurmains started up BTIO simply because they had no “conventional” options for improving their financial prospects. Rick, as we’ve seen, was an aerospace engineer, and his résumé includes work on space-shuttle missions at NASA. Mary, who has not only a head for business but also a degree in industrial engineering, has worked at the Johnson Space Center. Therefore, the idea of replacing a sack of flour with a computercontrolled simulator wasn’t necessarily rocket science for the couple. But taking advantage of that idea—choosing to start a new business and to commit themselves to running it—was a risk. Risk taking is the missing component that we’re looking for in a definition of entrepreneurship, and so we’ll define an entrepreneur as someone who identifies a business opportunity and assumes the risk of creating and running a business to take advantage of it. To be successful, entrepreneurs must be comfortable with risk, positive and confident, well organized, and very hard working people

What Makes Someone an Entrepreneur?                                         

Who can become an entrepreneur? There is no one definitive profile. Successful entrepreneurs come in various ages, income levels, gender, and race. They differ in education and experience. But research indicates that most successful entrepreneurs share certain personal attributes, including: creativity, dedication, determination, flexibility, leadership, passion, self-confidence, and "smarts."

● Creativity is the spark that drives the development of new products or services, or ways to do business. It is the push for innovation and improvement. It is continuous learning, questioning, and thinking outside of prescribed formulas. 

● Dedication is what motivates the entrepreneur to work hard, 12 hours a day or more, even seven days a week, especially in the beginning, to get the endeavor off the ground. Planning and ideas must be joined by hard work to succeed. Dedication makes it happen. 

● Determination is the extremely strong desire to achieve success. It includes persistence and the ability to bounce back after rough times. It persuades the entrepreneur to make the 10th phone call, after nine have yielded nothing. For the true entrepreneur, money is not the motivation. Success is the motivator; money is the reward. 

● Flexibility is the ability to move quickly in response to changing market needs. It is being true to a dream while also being mindful of market realities. A story is told about an entrepreneur who started a fancy shop selling only French pastries. But customers wanted to buy muffins as well. Rather than risking the loss of these customers, the entrepreneur modified her vision to accommodate these needs. 

● Leadership is the ability to create rules and to set goals. It is the capacity to follow through to see that rules are followed and goals are accomplished. 

● Passion is what gets entrepreneurs started and keeps them there. It gives entrepreneurs the ability to convince others to believe in their vision. It can't substitute for planning, but it will help them to stay focused and to get others to look at their plans. 

● Self-confidence comes from thorough planning, which reduces uncertainty and the level of risk. It also comes from expertise. Self-confidence gives the entrepreneur the ability to listen without being easily swayed or intimidated. 

● "Smarts" is an American term that describes common sense joined with knowledge or experience in a related business or endeavor. The former gives a person good instincts, the latter, expertise. Many people have smarts they don't recognize. A person who successfully keeps a household on a budget has organizational and financial skills. Employment, education, and life experiences all contribute to smarts.

Why Become an Entrepreneur?                                                        

What leads a person to strike out on his own and start a business? Perhaps a person has been laid off once or more. Sometimes a person is frustrated with his or her current job and doesn't see any better career prospects on the horizon. Sometimes a person realizes that his or her job is in jeopardy. A firm may be contemplating cutbacks that could end a job or limit career or salary prospects. Perhaps a person already has been passed over for promotion. Perhaps a person sees no opportunities in existing businesses for someone with his or her interests and skills. Some people are actually repulsed by the idea of working for someone else. They object to a system where reward is often based on seniority rather than accomplishment, or where they have to conform to a corporate culture. Other people decide to become entrepreneurs because they are disillusioned by the bureaucracy or politics involved in getting ahead in an established business or profession. Some are tired of trying to promote a product, service, or way of doing business that is outside the mainstream operations of a large company. In contrast, some people are attracted to entrepreneurship by the advantages of starting a business. These include: 

● Entrepreneurs are their own bosses. They make the decisions. They choose whom to do business with and what work they will do. They decide what hours to work, as well as what to pay and whether to take vacations. 

● Entrepreneurship offers a greater possibility of achieving significant financial rewards than working for someone else. 

● It provides the ability to be involved in the total operation of the business, from concept to design and creation, from sales to business operations and customer response. 

● It offers the prestige of being the person in charge. 

● It gives an individual the opportunity to build equity, which can be kept, sold, or passed on to the next generation.  

● Entrepreneurship creates an opportunity for a person to make a contribution. Most new entrepreneurs help the local economy. A few – through their innovations – contribute to society as a whole. One example is entrepreneur Steve Jobs, who co-founded Apple in 1976, and ignited the subsequent revolution in desktop computers.

 Decisions and Downfalls                                                                    

Entrepreneurship is an attractive career choice. But many decisions have to be made before launching and managing a new business, no matter its size. Among the questions that need to be answered are: 

● Does the individual truly want to be responsible for a business? 

● What product or service should be the basis of the business? 

● What is the market, and where should it be located? 

● Is the potential of the business enough to provide a living wage for its employees and the owner? 

● How can a person raise the capital to get started? 

● Should an individual work full or part time to start a new business? Should the person start alone or with partners? Answers to these questions are not empirically right or wrong. Rather, the answers will be based on each entrepreneur's judgment. An entrepreneur gathers as much information and advice as possible before making these and other crucial decisions. The entrepreneur's challenge is to balance decisiveness with caution – to be a person of action who does not procrastinate before seizing an opportunity – and at the same time, to be ready for an opportunity by having done all the preparatory work possible to reduce the risks of the new endeavor. Preparatory work includes evaluating the market opportunity, developing the product or service, preparing a good business plan, figuring out how much capital is needed, and making arrangements to obtain that capital. Through careful analysis of entrepreneurs' successes and failures, economists have identified key factors for up-and-coming business owners to consider closely. Taking them into account can reduce risk. In contrast, paying them no attention can precipitate the downfall of a new enterprise.  

● Motivation: What is the incentive for starting a business? Is it money alone? True, many entrepreneurs achieve great wealth. However, money is almost always tight in the startup and early phases of a new business. Many entrepreneurs do not even take a salary until they can do so and still leave the firm with a positive cash flow. 

● Strategy: What is the strategy for distinguishing the product or service? Is the plan to compete solely on the basis of selling price? Price is important, but most economists agree that it is extremely risky to compete on price alone. Large firms that produce huge quantities have the advantage in lowering costs. 

● Realistic Vision: Is there a realistic vision of the enterprise's potential? Insufficient operating funds are the cause of many failed businesses. Entrepreneurs often underestimate start-up costs and overestimate sales revenues in their business plans. Some analysts advise adding 50 percent to final cost estimates and reducing sales projections. Only then can the entrepreneur examine cash flow projections and decide if he or she is ready to launch a new business. 

Go It Alone or Team Up?                                                                    

One important choice that new entrepreneurs have to make is whether to start a business alone or with other entrepreneurs. They need to consider many factors, including each entrepreneur's personal qualities and skills and the nature of the planned business. In the United States, for instance, studies show that almost half of all new businesses are created by teams of two or more people. Often the people know each other well; in fact, it is common for teams to be spouses. 

There are many advantages to starting a firm with other entrepreneurs. Team members share decision-making and management responsibilities. They can also give each other emotional support, which can help reduce individual stress. Companies formed by teams have somewhat lower risks. If one of the founders is unavailable to handle his or her duties, another can step in. Team interactions often generate creativity. Members of a team can bounce ideas off each other and "brainstorm" solutions to problems. Studies show that investors and banks seem to prefer financing new businesses started by more than one entrepreneur. This alone may justify forming a team. 

Other important benefits of teaming come from combining monetary resources and expertise. In the best situations, team members have complementary skills. One may be experienced in engineering, for example, and the other may be an expert in promotion. 

In general, strong teams have a better chance at success. In Entrepreneurs in High Technology, Professor Edward Roberts of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) reported that technology companies formed by entrepreneurial teams have a lower rate of failure than those started by individuals. This is particularly true when the team includes a marketing expert. Entrepreneurs of different ages can create complementary teams also. Optimism and a "cando" spirit characterize youth, while age brings experience and realism. In 1994, for example, Marc Andreessen was a talented young computer scientist with an innovative idea. James Clark, the founder and chairman of Silicon Graphics, saw his vision. 

Together they created Netscape Navigator, the Internet-browsing computer software that transformed personal computing. But entrepreneurial teams have potential disadvantages as well. First, teams share ownership. In general, entrepreneurs should not offer to share ownership unless the potential partner can make a significant contribution to the venture.  

Choosing a Product and a Market                                                     

A prospective entrepreneur needs to come up with a good idea. This will serve as the foundation of the new venture. Sometimes an entrepreneur sees a market need and – Eureka! – has an idea for a product or service to fill it. Other times an entrepreneur gets an idea for a product or service and tries to find a market for it. A Scottish engineer working at General Electric created putty that bounces but had no use for it. 

In the hands of a creative entrepreneur, it became a toy, "Silly Putty," with an enthusiastic market: children. The idea doesn't have to be revolutionary. Research, timing, and a little luck transform commonplace ideas into successful businesses. In 1971, Chuck Burkett launched a firm to make an ordinary product, novelty key chains. But when he got a contract with a new venture in Florida – Disney World – he started making Mickey Mouse key chains, and achieved tremendous success. There are many ways to look for ideas. Read a lot, talk to people, and consider questions such as: What limitations exist in current products and services? What would you like that is not available? Are there other uses for new technology? What are innovative ways to use or to provide existing products? In Australia in 1996, two entrepreneurs founded Aussie Pet Mobile Inc. to bring pet bathing and grooming to busy people's homes. It is now a top U.S. franchise business. Is society changing? What groups have unfulfilled needs? What about people's perceptions? Growing demand for healthy snacks created many business opportunities in the United States, for example. Business ideas usually fit into one of four categories that were described by H. Igor Ansoff in the Harvard Business Review in 1957: 

● An existing good or service for an existing market. This is a difficult approach for a start-up operation. It means winning over consumers through merchandising appeal, advertising, etc. Entry costs are high, and profit is uncertain. 

● A new good or service for a new market. This is the riskiest strategy for a new firm because both the product and the market are unknown. 

● A new good or service for an existing market. (Often this is expanded to include modified goods/services.) For example, entrepreneurial greetingcard makers use edgy humor and types of messages not produced by Hallmark or American Greetings – the major greeting-card makers – to compete in an existing market. 

● An existing good or service for a new market. The new market could be a different country, region, or market niche. Entrepreneurs who provide goods/services at customers' homes or offices, or who sell them on the Internet, are also targeting a new market – people who don't like shopping or are too busy to do so.

 Entry Strategies for New Ventures                                                   

It is easy to be captivated by the promise of entrepreneurship and the lure of becoming one's own boss. It can be difficult, however, for a prospective entrepreneur to determine what product or service to provide. Many factors need to be considered, including: an idea's market potential, the competition, financial resources, and one's skills and interests. Then it is important to ask: Why would a consumer choose to buy goods or services from this new firm? One important factor is the uniqueness of the idea. By making a venture stand out from its competitors, uniqueness can help facilitate the entry of a new product or service into the market. It is best to avoid an entry strategy based on low cost alone. New ventures tend to be small. Large firms usually have the advantage of lowering costs by producing large quantities. Successful entrepreneurs often distinguish their ventures through differentiation, niche specification, and innovation. 

● Differentiation is an attempt to separate the new company's product or service from that of its competitors. When differentiation is successful, the new product or service is relatively less sensitive to price fluctuations because customers value the quality that makes the product unique. A product can be functionally similar to its competitors' product but have features that improve its operation, for example. It may be smaller, lighter, easier to use or install, etc. In 1982, Compaq Computer began competing with Apple and IBM. Its first product was a single-unit personal computer with a handle. The concept of a portable computer was new and extremely successful. 

● Niche specification is an attempt to provide a product or service that fulfills the needs of a specific subset of consumers. By focusing on a fairly narrow market sector, a new venture may satisfy customer needs better than larger competitors can. Changes in population characteristics may create opportunities to serve niche markets. One growing market segment in developed countries comprises people over 65 years old. Other niches include groups defined by interests or lifestyle, such as fitness enthusiasts, adventure-travel buffs, and working parents. In fact, some entrepreneurs specialize in making "homemade" dinners for working parents to heat and serve.  

● Innovation is perhaps the defining characteristic of entrepreneurship. Visionary business expert Peter F. Drucker explained innovation as "change that creates a new dimension of performance." There are two main types of product innovation. Pioneering or radical innovation embodies a technological breakthrough or new-to-the-world product. Incremental innovations are modifications of existing products.