ENTREPRENEURSHIP The process of starting a business, a start-up company or other organisation.

1. ENTREPRENEURSHIP • The process of starting a business, a start-up company or other organisation. • The entrepreneur develops a business plan, acquire the human and other required resources, and is fully responsible for its success or failure. The process through which the entrepreneur manages to start-up firm is called entrepreneurship.

2. Concept of an Entrepreneur • A person who organises and manages any enterprise, especially a business usually with considerable initiative & risk. • A person who sets up a business, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit. • Someone who exercises initiative by organizing a venture a venture to take benefits of an opportunity and, how much of a good or service will be produced.

3. Definitions: ‘’An entrepreneur supplies risk capital as a risk taker, and monitor and controls the business activities. The entrepreneur is usually a sole proprietor, a partner or the one who owns the majority of shares in an incorporated venture.’’ According to economist Joseph Alosis Schumpeter ‘’ Entrepreneurs are not necessarily motivated by profit but regard it as a standard for measuring achievement or success.”

4. Qualities of an Entrepreneur Willingness to assume risk: An entrepreneur, at first place should capable of handling risk. There is a common saying “ No Risk, No Gain”. A successful entrepreneur must have the ability to take risk as well as to manage its consequences. The more risk taker is an entrepreneur, the more success he is likely to get. Leadership: An entrepreneur must possess the quality of a good leader. A good leader does not necessarily be an autocratic person. Without being harsh also, an entrepreneur can also persuade his employees to thrive collectively to achieve the organisational objectives. Decisiveness A good entrepreneur should be a good decision maker. Decision making involves rigorous thinking and the future course of business is directly dependent on the decision taken by the owner. Therefore, an entrepreneur must have confidence in his competencies in order to back his decisions. He should take decisions without any unnecessary delay so as to ensure efficiently of the business.

5. Creative thinking Creative thinking is thinking out of the box. It involves innovation and has as approach of continuous development. For being a successful entrepreneur, a person has to be creative to differentiate himself from other bunch of Entrepreneurs. Confidence in project An entrepreneur must have the confidence over his project, upon which he is working. If an entrepreneur is not confident about the project at first place, he cannot be a source of motivation to other employees. An enthusiastic entrepreneur, having confidence in his venture can pump in new energy into his employees.

6. Flexibility An entrepreneur should be adaptable to any adverse situation. He should enable himself and his firm any last moment change in order to avoid future difficulties. A pro active entrepreneur always leaves some room for any further changes and improvements in order to accommodate them. Lack of flexibility may limits the option for an entrepreneur thus leaving him in a highly inflexible and frustration situation, which even has the potential to lock down the business. Technical knowledge Having sound knowledge of the phenomenon is one of the most important aspects of entrepreneurship. An entrepreneur must possess sound technical knowledge about his business. This knowledge includes of raw materials & its quantity, knowledge about suppliers, manufacturing process, logistics, marketing channels, etc. If he doesn't have such competencies than he can easily misguided by his employees or any rival firm.

7. Ability to Marshal Resources The success of an entrepreneur depends on his ability to manage the resources and how he puts them into use in what composition. Marshalling resources is an art which aims at utilizing the resources at its optimum level. Being an entrepreneur, it is his job to ensure that the resources are being put to the best of their uses by eliminating unnecessary wastage and the value which is being put to the best of their uses by eliminating unnecessary wastage and the value which is being derived is maximum. Market Orientation Understanding the dynamics of the market and knowing its trends are two important traits of an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur must know the market trends and should be in a position to analyse the future/probable impact on the business in order to take necessary steps at the right time. Market forces like Demand, Supply, Elasticity of a product, availability of substitutes, etc has a direct and huge impact on business. An entrepreneur, who understand market dynamics better is more likely to reap out the benefits as compared to others.

8. Determination & Courage An entrepreneur should be determined and courageous to take his own initiatives and should be in a positon to back/ defend his decisions. This enables an entrepreneur to assume risk and drives him for growth and success. Honesty There is a common saying “ Honesty is the Best Policy.” this is also applicable in the business and conducts his business activities in a just and fair manner. An honest entrepreneur can retain the various take holders ( Customers, Suppliers, Patronage of Govt. Etc.) and in the process, can generate value for the firm. Drive to achieve and grow There should be a consistent approach for growth. This drive to achieve growth can act as a motivator on the part of an entrepreneur for consistent growth and development of a firm. This will create a culture of continuous improvement and will keep the organisation efficient. Without the drive to achieve or grow, an entrepreneur may lose his focus, thus may deviate from its original course of action.

9. Low need for status and power Though status and power are the driving forces, yet too much inclination to these may spoil the business. An entrepreneur must try to maintain in a simple profile so as to accommodate his employee or any other stake holders. There is a common saying “ Power corrupts and absolute power corrupt absolutely.’’ if the only intension would be to acquire status and power, then an entrepreneur may lose some valuable relationship in this course and retention of quality employees becomes difficult. Therefore, the entrepreneur should have a low need for status & power to ensure smooth running of his business.

10. Skill Required for a successful Entrepreneur • Conceptual • Technical • Human Relation • Communication • Diagnostic • Decision making • Managerial • Project Development • Marketing Skills

11. Function of an Entrepreneur • Innovation • Planning the project • Organizing • Risk – taking and uncertainty bearing • Procurement and mobilization of resources • Taking business decision • Perception of market opportunities