To a casual observer, the title may look like a misnomer. He is right in thinking that entrepreneurship relates to activities that an entrepreneur indulges in, and in a sense he is right. After all it is a lecturer who does lecturer ship and a captain of a sports team who does captainship. But if one delves deeply, he will find that the original word entrepreneur that comes from a French word entrependre has, with passage of time lost much of its meaning and today is commonly referred to any person who undertakes a new venture or is doing a business on his own. However, the meaning of the word entrepreneurship has not diluted with passage of time and refers to all those attributes that an entrepreneur is supposed to possess. This article will attempt to highlight the differences between an entrepreneur in modern times and entrepreneurship.
Thus we find that the word entrepreneur has many meanings along a continuum where on one extreme is the person who does not believe in adapting himself according to the world but rather dares to adapt the world according to his vision, and on the other extreme is any person who attempts or undertakes a business venture on his own but is no different from a common businessman. But the qualities of a true entrepreneur are called entrepreneurship that may or may not apply to all entrepreneurs in modern times. Let us have a closer look at these qualities.
Entrepreneurship is an attribute which makes a person a pioneer, a visionary who has a dream and strives to fulfill that dream despite all obstacles and hurdles. In all times, what an entrepreneur believes in has been ridiculed as impossible but he has proved his critics wrong as he takes mistakes and failures in his stride and learns from his failures as a stepping stone to success. It is his belief in his conviction that despite limited resources, he makes it possible and also makes others follow his design or product.
Entrepreneurship is a rare quality that has been behind all the development and inventions in human civilization. It must have been an entrepreneur who found the presence of wires in communication an obstacle that must be removed at all costs, and finally succeeded in inventing a mobile phone. Otherwise, we would have been relying on wired telephones today. The same can be said about all the modern gadgets that were inconceivable only a few decades ago.
In today’s circumstances, when companies are finding it hard to survive because of cut throat competition, there is more need than ever of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship to keep coming with innovations that help companies devise new products to stay ahead of others.
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In brief: Entrepreneur vs Entrepreneurship • Technically speaking, what an entrepreneur does should be entrepreneurship • But entrepreneur word has got diluted with passage of time and all business owners and those starting a venture on their own are simply called entrepreneurs. • Entrepreneurship is a rare attribute of having the ability to look at the future and grab opportunities when there exist none for common people and implement new ideas and innovations. • In today’s time, all entrepreneurs may not possess entrepreneurship.
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