Why Become An Entrepreneur?
The Fordax Entrepreneurs’ Network, enables new or established entrepreneurs and businessmen to build valuable connections to other entrepreneurs in the forum with the aim to promote growth and learning.
But one might wonder, for clarification purposes, who really is an Entrepreneur? And why bother being one?
The word “entrepreneur” comes from the French verb “entreprendre”, meaning “to undertake”.
An entrepreneur then is a person who initiates or creates a business or project based on an idea they have or a product.
An entrepreneur assumes most of the risks in starting up a business. This means he reaps most of the profits if it becomes successful and bears the loss if it doesn’t.
Sometimes, an entrepreneur is confused for a businessman, but the differences between the two is like the differences between a cellphone and a smartphone; a cell phone is a technological marvel, it can do many things; make calls, text, set alarms, etc.
A smartphone can do all these and so much more.
A businessman is an owner of a business or an unoriginal idea, like a shop owner or a sole proprietor. They don’t create the business or idea, but rather replicate it. An example of a businessman is the owner of a fast food joint or a supermarket. These ideas existed before, there are so many fast food joints or supermarkets in any given town. The businessman didn’t create the idea, he is just copying it.
By contrast, an entrepreneur creates a new thing or they improvise and improve on something already created, either a business or a product or a service.
In summary, a businessman does his business the way it has always been done, the traditional way, while an entrepreneur is an innovator, improving and solving problems within a current system, or creating something else entirely.
Despite these though, A businessman can be quite successful in their work so one might wonder, why not settle there? Why bother becoming an entrepreneur?
The reason, put simply, is survival.
Let’s use Google as an example. When Google search engine was launched, it wasn’t the first search engine or even the best at the time but through a series of innovations and entrepreneurship, it has grown to be the giant it is today, outliving almost all the other search engines that came before.
The current marketplace is rife with competition, and the businesses which survive are those that innovate and evolve.
Entrepreneurs are champions of this innovation.
Without them, no nation’s economy can grow and develop. They are the problem solvers and adventurers, always exploring new opportunities and driving the free market, So much so that many modern companies and corporations now hire people whose only job is to be the champion of innovations in their businesses, to solve problems and to keep them ahead of the competition (these are called intrapreneurs).
So in short, if you would have your business grow and develop, or to survive in the business world, you must have the mind of an entrepreneur, you must be an Entrepreneur.
