Whereas
an entrepreneur is a person who creates a venture or starts up a business and
nurtures it, takes risks of bringing together the factors of production to meet
the society’s need at a profit, an intrapreneur works within an existing
organization to pursue the exploitation of business opportunities.
Characteristics of Entrepreneur
An
entrepreneur must have certain traits in order to reach its full potentials.
Some of the characteristics are:
Motivation:
Entrepreneurs are
usually passionate, buoyant and highly self-motivated. They have very high
energy levels and are always willing to take initiatives. They are usually
concerned about their business and how to increase the market share, how to
improve their existing processes.
Risk
Tolerance: The
establishment of any entrepreneurial venture is risky and the entrepreneur has
to assume risk. As risk and rewards are inseparable, in order to grow, the
entrepreneur should have large appetite for assuming risk. Entrepreneurship is
a very risky venture; entrepreneurial decisions can have far-reaching impact on
the organization, people in the organization and even the economy. These
decisions are critical, enormous and cannot be easily reverted.
Vision: The entrepreneur is a visionary. One of the
major responsibilities of an entrepreneur decides the direction the business
should go. It requires a strong vision on the part of an entrepreneur to ensure
his/her business reach maturity.
Mental
ability and Creativity: The entrepreneur should anticipate
changes and must be able to study the various situations under which decisions
have to be made. Successful entrepreneurs have the creative ability to
recognize and pursue opportunities. They are always on a look out for new ways
of doing things such as launching new products, rebranding existing products,
providing new services etc.
Clear
Objectives: An entrepreneur has clarity about the
objectives to be achieved in the business, the nature of goods to be produced
and subsidiary activities to be undertaken. This clarity in objectives helps
them to translate their business idea into reality and gives the business a
sense of direction.
Good
Communication Skills: This basically pertains to communicate
effectively. An entrepreneur who can effectively communicate with customers,
employees, suppliers and creditors will be more likely to succeed than the
entrepreneur who does not. An entrepreneur must have a good feedback system.
Human
Skills: An entrepreneur must have good human
relations. The most important personality factors contributing to the success
of any entrepreneur include emotional stability, good inter- personal
relations, consideration and tactfulness. An entrepreneur has to maintain good
relations with his customers so as to encourage them to continue to patronize
his business. He must also maintain good relations with his employees so as to
motivate them to perform their jobs with a high level of efficiency.
Technical
skills: An entrepreneur must have the competence and
proficiency in the knowledge of the business. It is the possession of
specialized knowledge and understanding in methods, processes, procedures and
techniques in carrying out day-to-day activities. Examples are; coaching,
organizing, monitoring environment amongst others.
Self
Confidence and Multi-Skilled: The entrepreneur must have
self-confidence and believe in him/herself. Selfconfidence is an important
characteristic that enables individuals to handle any situation without having
inferiority or any other type of complex. The entrepreneur also has to be a
jack of all trade and master of all. He/she must possess different skills
unlike other individuals. For instance, assuming an entrepreneur is a marketer,
the entrepreneur should not only possess marketing skills and interpersonal
skills but also language skills i.e. ability to speak more than one language.
This definitely will be an added advantage! Confidence in the Face of
Difficulties and Discouraging Circumstances: The entrepreneur must be steadfast
and resolute and be ready to move on even in the face of adversity. He/she
should be a ‘never say never’ kind of person; everything is possible for the
entrepreneur.
Innovative
skills: The entrepreneur may not necessarily be an
'inventor' but the one that can make a difference; he/she should be able to see
what others cannot see and be able to carve out a new niche in the market
place.
Results-Orientated:
The entrepreneur is one who knows how to get results under any circumstances
either with others or through others. The entrepreneur does this by setting
goals and ensuring that such goals are doggedly pursued by all concerned
willingly and with joy.
Risk-Taker:
The business environment is dynamic and filled with uncertainties and risk. In
order to succeed the entrepreneur has to take risk. Successful entrepreneurs
take calculated risks and in some cases shift the risks to others.
Total
Commitment: Starting
/creating a new business is a serious exercise that requires a lot of
commitment and hard work. It is like bringing a child into the world and nurturing
the child to adulthood. This requires commitment, dedication, hard work, energy
and single-mindedness otherwise the ‘child’ (i.e. business) may die prematurely
(Di-Masi, 2010).
Calm:
Entrepreneurs need to be cool, calm and collected. They have to remain calm
even when exposed to stress, emergency or crisis situations.
Focused: In
getting things done and starting and maintaining a business attention has to be
paid to a lot of details. Small things when not handled properly or noticed on
time may lead to disastrous outcomes.
Tolerance:
The entrepreneur has to relate with people. People vary in terms of their
perceptions, personality, motivations and attitudes amongst other things. The
entrepreneur needs to be tolerant while not being weak, in order to get things
done.
Balance:
Though, the entrepreneur is a human being, he/she has to be like a super human
being in order for him to succeed. To this effect, he/she has to be able to
balance all.
Rockstar
(2008) recognized the characteristics of entrepreneurship to include:
Creativity:
Entrepreneurship entails innovations. It deals with product innovation,
production techniques innovation while bearing in mind the market.
Dynamism:
Entrepreneurship is a dynamic process that has to bear in mind the dynamic
business environment.
Purposefulness:
Entrepreneurship is an activity embarked upon for a specific purpose. This
could be for profit making purposes, for humanitarian purposes or to bring a
difference to the market.
DiMasi
(2010), on the other hand, regards the major characteristics of entrepreneurs
as:
•
Self-confidence and being multi-skill,
•
Confidence in the face of difficulties and discouraging circumstances, •
Results-orientation and total commitment.
•
Stephenson (2010) believes that entrepreneurial characteristics are:
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