Definition of entrepreneur
As complex as the creation and launch of a startup is, we can distinguish seven stages that are usually repeated in all cases. These phases are:
- Identifying the problem
- Development of a plan to take advantage of the business opportunity
- Gathering the first resources (partners, capital, suppliers, customers)
- Launch and test.
- Search for a viable business model.
- Expansion
- Consolidation or sale of the company to an established competitor.
The logical thing is that difficulties arise in any of the phases. So, When can someone say that they are really an entrepreneur? Are you only an entrepreneur if you successfully complete the entire process? To answer this question, let's try to define exactly what an “entrepreneur” is. Entrepreneurs are people who help balance a market when They are able to predict consumer preferences. They are also contractors who they act as an intermediary between capital and labor.But the closest definition to what we all understand today by entrepreneur is that of Joseph Schumpeter, an economist of Austrian origin, who defined entrepreneurs as innovators who implement business changes in markets. These changes can be of 5 different types:
- the introduction of a new (or better) product
- the introduction of a new production method
- the opening of a new market
- the exploitation of a new supply source
- the re-engineering/organization of business management processes.
We are entrepreneurs when we make the decision to stop receiving a fixed salary and we take a risk to become agents of business change, trying to introduce new or better products, changing production processes, opening new markets and/or exploiting new sources of supply. Therefore, those who need to have all the capital to dedicate themselves 100% to a new project are not a true entrepreneur.
