What makes an entrepreneur?

Occasionally, because the ridiculously long word is in my title, I get asked what the definition of "entrepreneur" is.

Most people probably think its anyone who has started a business, but I'm basically uncomfortable with that because it just doesn't seem right. Alas, today I was looking through an old book in my office and I found a pretty interesting perspective on what exactly makes up an entrepreneur.

Basically they share the Seven Perspectives on the Nature of Entrepreneurship. The title of the book is "Corporate Entrepreneurship" and is written by Michael H. Morris and Donald F. Kuratko.

Here are the seven perspectives. Good food for thought...

1. Creation of Wealth - Entrepreneurship involves assuming the risks associated with the facilitation of production in exchange for profit.

2. Creation of Enterprise - Entrepreneurship entails the founding of a new business venture where none existed before.

3. Creation of Innovation - Entrepreneurship is concerned with the unique combinations of resources that make existing methods or products obsolete.

4. Creation of Change - Entrepreneurship involves creating change by adjusting, adapting, and modifying one's personal repertoire, approaches and skills to meet different opportunities available in the environment.

5. Creation of Employment - Entrepreneurship is concerned with employing, managing, and developing the factors of production, including the labor force.

6. Creation of Value - Entrepreneurship is a process of creating value for customers by exploiting untapped opportunities.

7. Creation of Growth - Entrepreneurship is defined as a strong and positive orientation towards growth in sales, income, assets, and employment.

(by Brandon Marshall, Business & Entrepreneurial Dvlpmt program manager, WBC)

Stimulating - well, at the very least, helpful

First off, go Pokes!

Now, on to business...

The federal stimulus package contains loan fee reductions, higher guarantees, new Small Business Administration (SBA) programs, secondary market incentives, and enhancements to current SBA programs to help unlock credit markets for the nation's small business sector.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides $730 million to SBA and makes changes to the agency's lending and investment programs so they can reach more small businesses that need help.

More inforamtion is available here.

The original SBA press release is on top with tons of other information on the page too.

(by Brandon Marshall, Business & Entrepreneurial Dvlpmt program manager, WBC)