- Types of entrepreneurs
- Characteristics of an entrepreneur
- They are people motivated to change
- They are inspiring and catalysts for change
- Seek self-actualization or have a high need for achievement
- They are tenacious and persistent
- They adapt quickly to changes
- They are creative and innovative
- They are future-oriented people
- They have initiative and are optimistic
- They are people with greater locus of internal control
- They are people who trust themselves
- They are people willing to accept and take risks
- They are people who seek independence
- They are people capable of tolerating uncertainty and ambiguity
- They are people committed to what they do
- They are flexible, stable and able to solve problems
- They are good at social relationships
- References
The characteristics of the entrepreneur are initiative, proactivity, leadership, open-mindedness, nonconformity, ambition, creativity, and problem-solving ability. Entrepreneurship is a phenomenon that is the order of the day. In today's unstable and crisis world, many people find entrepreneurship an alternative to the lack of job opportunities.
Entrepreneurship is something complex that has been studied for years in different areas. Although he is not a new figure, he does rise as an especially relevant figure in these times, since the entrepreneur can contribute new ideas and show himself as an agent of change in the current situation.
The definition of the entrepreneurial person describes an individual who undertakes difficult or hazardous actions with resolution. In addition, the entrepreneur creates additional value in what he does, creates value for the economy, generates work for himself and sometimes for other people.
In this creative process, the entrepreneur invests money, time and knowledge, participates in starting and operating the business and risks the resources he has and his prestige seeking rewards.
For all these reasons, when we talk about “being an entrepreneur”, we are talking about someone who starts a business. However, the aspects go way beyond that.
Entrepreneurs have psychological and personal attributes that identify and characterize them as specific agents in the job market. And they have some differences with the “common businessman”.
Types of entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurs have been classified through different criteria. On the one hand, some authors classify them according to the degree of innovation. Thus, they distinguish:
- Innovators: would be those who create or improve a product, process or system and who have an education and experience focused on technical aspects.
- Administrators: who are owners of large companies.
Other authors, such as Smith (1967), make use of the formative level of the person and identify two categories:
- Artisans: they are characterized by having a limited education and technical training and experience. In addition, he is an unsociable person, a small business owner, and a hard worker who has little planning.
- Opportunistic: he is more active, schooled, with communication skills, planning, capable of delegating to others and his employees are collaborators. It is oriented to create a great company.
Other authors, such as Knight (1983) distinguish them according to their training and innovative characteristics and distinguish:
- Inventor craftsman: the same characteristics as the innovative entrepreneur.
- Promoter: Find your role in marketing and sales.
- General manager: presents a coordinator role.
Other authors, such as Singer (1990) focus on personality traits and establish four categories:
- Discoverers: they present a product, service or process where there is innovation, creating new ideas.
- Synthesizers: they group several ideas presenting various products, services or processes where there is innovation.
- Generators: those that promote the new use, presenting a product, service or process and there is innovation.
- Players: there is no innovation, they offer what already exists.
Characteristics of an entrepreneur
They are people motivated to change
We can generalize and affirm that all entrepreneurs are motivated. For example, by a high need for achievement or by seeking a refuge to survive.
They are inspiring and catalysts for change
The entrepreneur is a catalyst for change, acts to change an existing balance, generates new opportunities. It is contrary to the manager, whose mission is to maintain the stability of the company, being more reactive than proactive.
The manager does not want to change things, but rather to effectively manage the company to maintain maximum profit.
Seek self-actualization or have a high need for achievement
Being an entrepreneur is a challenge, but entrepreneurship has to do with self-realization, passion for what is done, the meaning of life and of oneself. Entrepreneurship offers us a different point of view, opens the door to action and tells us about the power of oneself.
They are tenacious and persistent
They are insistent and tenacious people, who at a certain moment were able to start and carry out a project that in the future would bring them some kind of benefit.
They adapt quickly to changes
One of the characteristics that defines entrepreneurs is their resolution capacity. Entrepreneurs move in a world that changes rapidly and in which they have to act in the same way.
Entrepreneurs are people who tend to tolerate ambiguity well and who know how to make appropriate decisions in unstructured environments.
They are creative and innovative
A fundamental characteristic of entrepreneurs is that they are creative and innovative.
They are flexible people who are capable of changing with experience, seeking new experiences, taking advantage of mistakes and creatively managing the pressures of the environment.
They are future-oriented people
The entrepreneur orients his idea towards the future because he is able to imagine if a certain opportunity or idea can become a successful business.
They are people who perceive the future as a new goal to be achieved and who are guided by it to develop, who demand themselves and actively seek means to achieve the goals they have set for themselves.
They have initiative and are optimistic
Some authors consider that their optimistic nature helps them to solve and cope with the obstacles they encounter along the way.
Initiative is necessary to develop ideas, to find the best way to solve problems, to be receptive to social relationships, to orient yourself towards specific goals…
They are people with greater locus of internal control
Entrepreneurs tend to have a greater internal locus of control, which allows them to attribute what they achieve to capabilities that depend on themselves, such as their effort.
Entrepreneurs are people who feel capable of handling things that happen to them, they believe that they can solve difficulties and that they are the ones who direct their destiny, not luck or chance.
They are people who trust themselves
People with greater self-confidence are more likely to end up being entrepreneurs, since they trust their own ability to carry out the project and that they will be able to solve difficulties.
Thus, different researchers argue that people who trust themselves and their abilities tend to be more successful in business.
They are people willing to accept and take risks
Entrepreneurs trust themselves, their abilities and have a greater internal locus of control, which also leads them not to be afraid of making mistakes and therefore to take risks.
Entrepreneurs are people who calibrate and calculate well the risks they are willing to accept.
They are people who seek independence
Entrepreneurs are usually characterized by being autonomous and independent people. They are often leading people who like to be "their own boss."
This desire for independence and freedom often pushes them to develop their own idea and business and is perhaps one of the most relevant factors for them to start their projects.
They are people capable of tolerating uncertainty and ambiguity
To be an entrepreneur one has to be able to tolerate the uncertainty of life and decisions, and everything that involves starting a new challenge or adventure.
Most of the decisions of an entrepreneur are made based on partial data or even intuition, but they will not have anything clear. And this will lead you to make decisions with doubt and taking risks.
The information is often ambiguous and unstructured, and the situations that the entrepreneur faces are often new.
They are people committed to what they do
The entrepreneur is tenacious and persistent in the idea he is pursuing and that leads him to overcome any obstacle and to continue insisting despite anything.
As they are people who also tend to self-realization, they are responsible people, they formulate their goals well and commitment leads them to strive continuously.
They are flexible, stable and able to solve problems
Furthermore, entrepreneurs are emotionally stable and have self-control. If this were not so, they could hardly be successful.
To take risks and act under ambiguous and uncertain conditions, the person needs to be emotionally stable and have self-control, otherwise they could not successfully overcome the anxiety that all this entails.
They are good at social relationships
Another important characteristic of entrepreneurs is their social facet. When you create a business and run it, you have to make it known.
Marketing and advertising your own idea or business is essential for it to be successful. Good social relationships, contact with people and good interpersonal skills are necessary for this.
References
- Cano, CJ, García, J., and Gea, AB (2004). Entrepreneurial attitudes in university students. In Roig, S., Ribeiro, D., Torcal, VR, de la Torre, A. and Cerver, E. The innovative entrepreneur and the creation of I + D + I companies (p. 143-160). University of Valencia. Department of Business Management.
- Circle of entrepreneurs (2009). The entrepreneurial spirit: an essential element to face the Spanish crisis. Madrid Spain.
- Spirit, R., and Sastre, MA (2009). Explanatory factors on the entrepreneurial attitude of university students in the Community of Madrid. Santiago from cali.
- Moriano, JA (2005). The psychosocial profile of the entrepreneur: a study carried out in Castilla y León. Madrid: Economic and Social Council.
- Moriano, JA, Trejo, E., and Palací, F. (2001). The psychosocial profile of the entrepreneur: a study from the perspective of values. UNED: Journal of Social Psychology, 16 (2), 229-242.
- Muñoz, LA (2012). The new socially responsible entrepreneur. Pamplona: Eunsa.
- Real academy of the Spanish language. Dictionary of the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language.
- Sánchez Almagro, ML (2003). Psychological profile of the self-employed. Doctoral Thesis. Complutense University of Madrid.