Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management

This document discusses the key aspects of entrepreneurial mindset and the different environments that foster or hinder entrepreneurship. It explores the skills and competencies of successful entrepreneurs, the role of motivation, and the impact of family background and past experience. The document also provides examples of famous entrepreneurs and their success stories.

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Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management
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Table of Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................3
Analyzing the key aspects of entrepreneurial mindset:...................................................................3
Evaluating the different environments that foster or hinder entrepreneurship:...............................7
Conclusion:......................................................................................................................................9
References:....................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction:
According to Kirzner (2015) in the extreme competitive business scenario, initiating and
running own business is considered as the latest trend in the market as it is the competition in the
market. Entrepreneurship is the mode of designing, beginning and operating own business and
the business unit operated by the entrepreneurs is defined as the entrepreneurial venture. In such
business unit, both the risk and reward are enjoyed by the entrepreneurs himself. It has been
reported that both the personality and competency level of the entrepreneurs are the important
factors to accomplish the objectives of entrepreneurial ventures (Venkataraman 2019). Thus, it is
the prime role of the entrepreneurs to take proactive steps in terms of strengthening their skills
and competencies in terms of attaining immense success from the business. It is imperative to
note here that that the background is also an imperative factor of shaping the attitude of the
entrepreneurs. With the support of robust skills and competencies, the entrepreneurs would be
able to sustain in the intense competitive market. Present paper would incorporate the discussion
of the essential aspects of the mindset of the entrepreneurs. The way, through which different
environment canboth foster and hinder entrepreneurship will also be discussed in the paper.
Analyzing the key aspects of entrepreneurial mindset:
Running own business venture is one of the major trends in the contemporary times as
this is the way of enjoying the economic benefit appropriate. However, running business
independently requires effective skills and competencies. As opined by Parker (2018) strong
knowledge among the entrepreneurs plays a major role in improving the ability among the
entrepreneurs to deal with impending challenges of entrepreneurship. Self-concept is one of

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themost important skills of successful entrepreneurs. This enables them to gain in-depth
knowledge regarding the various processes of business and thus operate own business venture in
a systematic manner. As discussed by Lipset (2018) creativity and innovation are also the key
factor of triumphant entrepreneurs. Creativity paves the way for the entrepreneurs to think out of
the context and thus enjoy much better result. It is worthy to mention in this context that both the
innovation and creativity can enrich the entrepreneurs by gaining new experience in a consistent
manner. Eckhardt et al. (2018) opined that strong vision and commitment are another vital skill
of entrepreneurs which lead them to show positive attitude in the way of accomplishing
predetermined business objectives.
Communication is considered as one of the most significant skills of successful
entrepreneurs which enable them to foster healthy relationship with that of the market. Concise
communication is the paramount factor as it leads the entrepreneurs’ to interact properly with
that of the clients, partners, peers and the employees.Frederick et al. (2018) commented that
running business independently is highly challenging as the risk of financial loss is extremely
high in this context. Thus, in order to control the power of creativity, it is imperative for the
entrepreneurs to encourage the great ideas and plans which is very much needed in terms of
running own business in a consistent manner. Stuetzer et al. (2018) showed that as
entrepreneurship is one of the most dynamic processes, it is imperative for the entrepreneurs to
have flexibility which can help them to cope up with different situation easily.
There are several factors such asentrepreneurial characteristics, situational factors, family
upbringing, culture and lifestyle which are the key of assessing the entrepreneurial mindset. It is
worth to mention here that the inclusion of motivation generates strong desire among the
entrepreneurs to attain immense success from business. There are five different personality

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variables which also play a critical role in shaping the mindset among the entrepreneurs. Julien
(2018) put stress on the fact that neuroticism is one of the major personality traits among the
entrepreneurs which deals with the emotional stability among them in any kind of
negativesituation such as financial loss, technological breakdown and unproductive workforce.
Extraversion is another major type of personality trait of the entrepreneurs which shows the
extent to which the entrepreneurs can be talkative, assertive and dominant. This trait enables the
people to be cheerful in the big groups. Openness to experience is another major trait of the
successful entrepreneurs which leads them to be creative and innovative and see new experience
by exploring new ideas. Donckels and Miettinen (2019) observed that agreeableness is also an
important personality trait of the entrepreneurs which plays a critical role in generating
interpersonal orientation which is the key of developing strong relationship with the coworkers.
Consciousness is the last among the big five personality trait of the entrepreneurs which
generates high need of achievement among the entrepreneurs by generating diligence and
motivation.
Motivation is one of the most significant factors of driving all the actions and behavior of
the people. The entrepreneurs are always intended towards attaining specific experience as it is
the key factor of attaining long term success from business. Laukkanen and Tornikoski (2018)
showed that achievement motivation, power motivation and affiliation motivation are three of
the major types of motives among the entrepreneurs. Achievement motivation leads the people to
reach the success and accomplish all the aspirations in life. Eckhardt et al. (2018) stated that this
is one of the most significant ladders of success which leads the people to accomplish the
predetermined business objectives. Power motivation is another major type of motivation which
leads the people to take the risk positively and thereby control and change the situation as

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required. Power motivation also generates capacity among the entrepreneurs to create a positive
impact on the organisation. Affiliation motivation is the last and most important type of
motivation which also leads the people to perform in much better manner.Boone et al. (2019)
shaded light on the fat that affiliation motivation also shapes the mindset among the people to
work collaboratively with others. Explicit Motives is also a major type of motivation which
shapes the mindset among the entrepreneurs that they are the most competitive person and can
take the ownership of own work. Espina et al. (2018) commented that explicit Motives also
shape a strong leadership attitude among the people which is the key of leading the team
members toward proper direction.There are certain common characteristics of Entrepreneurs
such as Commitment, determination, and perseverance, opportunity orientation, Persistent
problem solving, locus of control, Initiative and responsibility and drive to achieve which enable
them attain long term success from business.
On the basis of mind-set,entrepreneurs can be divided into two different types which
include opportunity driven entrepreneurs and necessity driven entrepreneurs. The opportunity
driven entrepreneurs are highly intended towards exploding existing business opportunity and
strive for independence and recognition for the sake of maximising the profit. On the other
hand,Audretsch et al. (2019) argued by saying thatnecessity driven entrepreneurs pursue
entrepreneurship with the intension of securing their existence. It is imperative to note here that
these types of entrepreneurs are away from the orientation. There are both push and pull factors
which can also lead the people to launch own entrepreneurial venture. Guerrero and Urbano
(2019) observed that the push factors such as unemployment, dissatisfaction with existing
business opportunity and getting out from the critical situation and the pull factors such as taking

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initiative, gaining independence, taking the ownership and having financial stably lead the
people to be entrepreneur and run own business unit independently.
Evaluating the different environments that foster or hinder entrepreneurship:
The selection of entrepreneurship as the career is entirely dependent on the background
of the person and the nature of the family from which he or she is belonging. It has been reported
that people grown in the nuclear family are relatively less hardworking than that of the people
who have grown in the join family.Ferdinand et al. (2018) highlighted by saying that the micro
organizations are mostly family oriented which paves the way for the entrepreneurs to access
skilled and competent human capital which is the fundamental factor of running the business by
keeping a productive workforce. Improper bond within the family can negatively affect the
attitude of the entrepreneurs. Weaker bond among the family members can affect the
communication skill among the entrepreneurs and prevents them to share the goals and
objectives with the team members. Past experience is an imperative factor which can foster
entrepreneurship. Past experience shapes the attitude and behavior among the people and enables
them to analyze any given situation critically. At the same time, past experience also plays a
critical role in shaping the attitude among the people regarding the whole world. However,
Laukkanen and Tornikoski (2018) counter argued on the basis that negative experience in the
past can also hamper the ability of the entrepreneurs to perceive any kind of positivity in a given
situation. Now, it is imperative to refer some of the eminent entrepreneurs in order to illustrate
the discussion.
Thomas Alva Edison:

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He is one of the famous entrepreneurs whose inventions have changed the world
drastically. The inclusion of strong motivation and persistence has made Thomas Alva Edison
the famous entrepreneur even after multiple failures. He belonged from a very unprivileged and
poor family and experience extreme toil and hardship in his early days. Initially, he was the
telegraph operator after becoming the minor celebrity. Creativity and innovation are the major
skills of Thomas Alva Edison which have enabled him to develop the tin foil phonograph. Strong
passion and motivation have also played a pivotal role for Thomas Alva Edison to be the
successful entrepreneur (Venkataraman 2019). Motivation is one of the major aspects ofThomas
Alva Edison through he has become able try and fail for several times. Most of the inventions of
Thomas Alva Edison are historical which have transformed the entire world.
Oprah Gail Winfrey:
Oprah Gail Winfrey is another vital female entrepreneur who is operating in the Media
and Entertainment. Empowering the people, mostly female is the most significant influence of
Oprah Gail Winfrey. She is one of the major instances of that type of entrepreneur whose past
experience has played a major role in shaping the attitude and behavior. After experiencing the
sexual attack at the early age, she got pregnant and lost the child at the age of 14. In the year
1983, she has joined as the talk-show host in which her love for people came out. The
negativeexperience in the past has played a critical role to lead her to take the failures positively
(Laukkanen and Tornikoski 2018). Strong desire and motivation had played a critical role in
terms of promoting her television career. Now she is the cofounder of oxygen media who has
attracted more than 40 millions of viewers.
William “Bill” Gates:

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William “Bill” Gates is the most famous name in the field of global information and
communication technology whose net worth is $53 billion. He is considered as the second richest
man around the world with extremely high public profile. Creativity is the most important
characteristics features of Bill Gates at the very early age. Strong decision making capability is
also a vital feature of Bill Gates. He was also intended to explore the existing business
opportunity with the assistance of which he has launched new business namely Micro-Soft in the
year 1975 which is currently the largest computer information and technology business around
the world.
Larry Page:
Larry Page is the famous IT entrepreneur at the age of 37 who has entirely changed the
online searching and media. He belongs from a very wealthy family whose parents were the
computer science professor at the University of Michigan. Strong analytical ability is the major
aspect of Larry with the assistance of which he has become the co-founder one of the most
recognized search engines around the world-Google, the net worth of which is
$172,399,800,300.
Conclusion:
Based on the discussion, it can be concluded by saying that successful entrepreneurs have
some effective skills and competencies which pave the way for them to take full ownership of
their business. Family background and the past experience are the major factors in shaping the
values, beliefs and attitudes among the entrepreneurs.

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References:
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Entrepreneurship and Innovation.Edward Elgar Publishing.
Boone, C., Lokshin, B., Guenter, H. and Belderbos, R., 2019. Top management team nationality
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Donckels, R. and Miettinen, A., 2019. Entrepreneurship and SME research: on its way to the
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Guerrero, M. and Urbano, D., 2019. A research agenda for entrepreneurship and innovation: the
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