An entrepreneur is seen as a change agent. There are different paths to entrepreneurship; you may perform this role as an industrialist or by starting your own business. The entrepreneur employs the needed resources or other factors of production to achieve a set goal and solve a problem in the society.
Starting a business as an intending enterpriser, you must obey what I termed first rule to business startups. This rule is coined from the words of the Delphic oracle which reads “man, know thyself”.
This is an assessment on your personality as a business owner; what strategy (defensive, offensive, flanking, and guerrilla) choices are you putting into place to make your products salable?
Now that you know that your personality plays a role in your journey to entrepreneurship, we can now go ahead to discuss the types of entrepreneurship we have.
Types of Entrepreneurship
To begin our discussion, we will look at the work of Clarence Danhof (1949) who identified the four types of entrepreneurship as: Innovative, Imitating, Fabian and Drone entrepreneurs.
Innovative Entrepreneurship
They are also referred as “the research-based entrepreneur” who are preoccupied with the introduction of something new or new products into the market, organization or nation.
They are interested in new innovations and so, invest heavily in research and development to get that new idea into reality. Examples of entrepreneurs in this category are Walt Disney and Elon Musk.
Imitating Entrepreneurship
These are also referred to as ‘the copy cats’. They observe an existing system or innovation and replicate it in a better manner. These set of entrepreneurs are characterized by their ever- ready attitude to adopt any new and successful innovation that is brought about by an innovative enterpriser.
They improve on a prevailing product, production process, technology and through their creative vision, create something similar but better in most cases. You most times find that this set of entrepreneurs are highly welcomed in underdeveloped countries.
Example is Microsoft who introduced their Bing search engine in response to google search engine. Another example is Multichoice introducing their Gotv satellite cable network into the African market in response to StarTimes satellite television.
Fabian or Skeptical Entrepreneurship
They are often called “the skeptical entrepreneurs”. These categories of entrepreneurs are cautious and careful in adopting any changes in technology or production process.
They only adopt new technology or innovation when they realize that failure to adapt will collapse their business. They are lazy and non-risk takers.
Example of an enterprise in this category is an aeroplane manufacturing company such as Boeing and Airbus.
Drone Entrepreneurship
They are regarded as ‘old school’ because they are resistant to change. They refuse to adopt new changes in the market and will prefer to stick to conventional methods of production and system.
Drone entrepreneurs do not respond to moves by competition regardless of the impact on their profit and their market share. As their industry change and as competition stiffens, they are forced to shut down operation.
Examples of drone entrepreneurs are those companies who still prefer the orthodox means of production instead of the use of machines; farmers who have refused to use agricultural machines.
Other Classifications of Entrepreneurship
There are various classifications of entrepreneurs. An article written and shared by D.K Sinha actually categorised entrepreneurs according to:
- Type of business
- Type of technology used
- Forms of ownership
- Based on gender
- Size of the enterprise
Classification Based On Type of Business
Trading Entrepreneur
They are in business for trading purposes, i.e. they buy from manufacturers and sell as wholesalers or retailers to consumers.
Agricultural Entrepreneurs
They are also called “Agric-entrepreneurs”. They are those enterprisers within the agricultural sector who are engaged in the cultivation, production and marketing of agricultural products.
Manufacturing Entrepreneurs
This set of entrepreneurs majorly convert raw materials into finished goods to satisfy human needs. They identify needs in the society, source for basic resources for the needs and satisfy the needs.
Classification Based On Type of Technology Used
Technical Entrepreneurs
This set of entrepreneurs are those who make use of science and technology in running their businesses. They are innovative entrepreneurs who apply new innovations and technologies in running their businesses.
However, it is important to distinguish them from the Technopreneur who is a combination of both the technology innovator and an entrepreneur.
Non-technical Entrepreneurs
These are like the imitative entrepreneurs whose forte in enterprising is not in science and technology. They are majorly concerned with how the adoption of any imitative and alternative marketing strategy can make their businesses thrive in a competitive market.
Classification Based On Ownership
Private Entrepreneurs
This is also called a sole proprietor business in which the establishment, management and decision-making process is solely in private hands.
State Entrepreneurs
This type of business ownership is in the hands of the state. This means that the trading or industrial venture is undertaken by the state or government. It is a centrally planned type of entrepreneurship.
Joint Entrepreneurs
Joint entrepreneurship exist where the state government and private hands own a venture. This is operational in a mixed economy where the capitalists join forces with the government for a trade or industrial venture.
Classification Based On Gender
Men Entrepreneurs
This is a situation in which an enterprise is owned, financed, managed or controlled by men.
Women Entrepreneurs
This is an enterprise that is owned, financed, managed and controlled by a woman or women. In this scenario, the women maintain a 51% stake in the business or enterprise.
Classification Based on the Size of the Business
Small Scale Entrepreneurs
This is an entrepreneur who run an enterprise that employs between 1-35 people and whose sales volume are low. In Nigeria, a small business is defined as small when its turnover is between ₦500 thousand and ₦5 million in a month.
Medium Scale Entrepreneurs
This is a businessman or woman who has invested between ₦5million to ₦500 million excluding plants and machines in a business.
Large Scale Entrepreneurs
This is an entrepreneur who has made over ₦500 million investment into the business excluding plants and machines.
I am sure by now, that you already know where you fall as an entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurship is indeed a challenging journey and when you finally win the race, it is only right that you are compensated for all the hard work.
Reward For Entrepreneurship
Profit is the reward for your risk as an entrepreneur or an enterpriser. There are two categories of reward for the entrepreneur:
Personal rewards
Social rewards
Personal Rewards
As the name implies, personal rewards are the gains you receive as an entrepreneur. Some of these rewards include:
- The accumulation of wealth, fame and recognition from the use of one’s talents and resources in building a successful company. Aliko Dangote is a good example.
- Receiving a disproportionately higher return for investment of energy, time and money.
- The personal fulfillment and satisfied feeling of helping solve social and financial problems in the society.
- A higher control of the business and decision making authority.
Social Rewards
The social rewards are those benefits the society enjoys as a result of your decision to venture into a business. Some of those rewards are:
- Reduction of the rural-urban drift and rural poverty through employment of labour.
- Enhancement of national creativity and innovation.
- The production of relevant goods for customers.
- Development of manpower and talents.
As an entrepreneur, you reward the society with a drastic reduction in the rate of unemployment and crime.
Entrepreneurship is not as glamorous as it is portrayed on social media and entrepreneurship is not meant for all. Entrepreneurship is about identifying a problem and solving that problem in a creative way. The journey sure requires a lot of grit.
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