Entrepreneurship & 21st Century Skills

This assignment examines the importance of entrepreneurial alertness and intention in navigating the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century. It requires students to analyze scholarly articles and real-world examples, demonstrating how essential entrepreneurial skills are for success in today's evolving world. The focus is on understanding the role of entrepreneurship in economic development, the impact of technology on small businesses, and the characteristics that define successful entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurship and Small
Business Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1 ...........................................................................................................................................3
P1 Entrepreneurial ventures and their relation to the entrepreneurship topology ......................3
P2 Similarities and differences between entrepreneurship ventures ..........................................4
P3 Impact of micro and small business on economy..................................................................6
P4 Significance of small business in the growth of social economy..........................................7
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................8
P5 Skills of Thomas Eddison......................................................................................................8
P6 Aspects of entrepreneurial personality reflect his entrepreneurial motivation and mind set
...................................................................................................................................................10
P7 Background and experience can hinder or foster entrepreneurship.....................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Entrepreneurship refers the ownership of a business or organisation within the
marketplace. This report is in context top the Entrepreneurship and small bushiness management
This report will determine the various types of entrepreneurial ventures and their relation to the
topology (Abreu and Grinevich, 2013). The similarities and differences between the
entrepreneurship ventures will be identified in this report. The impact of small business on the
economy will be also determined in the following report in order to understand the nature small
businesses. The report will also focus on the importance of small businesses and business start-
ups to the growth of the social economy. Furthermore, the study will determine the characteristic
traits and skills of successful entrepreneurs Thomas Eddison along with the aspect of
entrepreneurial personality that reflects entrepreneurial mindset and motivation.
TASK 1
P1 Entrepreneurial ventures and their relation to the entrepreneurship topology
An Entrepreneur is a person or individual who develops a thought or idea with respect to
a business activity or operation as well as generates a capacity or ability to manage or handle the
risk in order to earn revenue. The Entrepreneur has a mission and visions regarding the futuristic
strategies and objectives (Drucker, 2014). Considering these objectives and plans he establishes a
business or organization with effective management of liabilities and assets. The Entrepreneur
like Thomas Eddison develops effective strategies with respect to the business functions and the
effective utilization of resources within the business activities. There are different types of
ventures in the entrepreneurship which are as mentioned below -
 Small business – The small business or venture is the most popular and highest adopted
entrepreneurship in the business environment (George and Bock, 2011). These business
are established and operated at a small level or scale and needs a small investment. The
Entrepreneur starting small venture or business with a very small amount of investment
by taking loan or finance from a bank etc. These businesses includes ventures related to
traveling agencies, boutique and small manufacturing units (Schaper, 2016).
 Scalable Entrepreneurship – The sacalable entrepreneur or ventures where an individual
required to develop effective plans or strategies in order to establish a structured
organization or business with the aim of earning high profit out of small investments or
funds. Scalability is one of the most essential factors for entrepreneurs considering

starting a new business or hoping to take a current business to the next level. Successful
business growth depends on a scalable business model that will increase profits over
time, by growing revenue while avoiding cost increases.
 Trading Entrepreneurship venture – The ventures or business based on supply of goods
and services are known as the trading organizations or ventures (Boyett, 2013). These
types of business only focus on supplying the good from the manufacturer to the
customers, they do not perform any production function.
 Social Entrepreneurship – The social entrepreneurship which are established in order to
provide effective services or products to the people in order to develop and improve the
well-being. These organizations such as Generic electricity, Edison illuminating company
etc have a main objective to provide social care services to the people of the society
Social entrepreneurs make significant and diverse contributions to their communities and
societies, adopting business models to offer creative solutions to complex and persistent
social problems. We propose that social entrepreneurship “encompasses the activities and
processes undertaken to discover, define, and exploit opportunities in order to enhance
social wealth by creating new ventures or managing existing organizations in an
innovative manner"
P2 Similarities and differences between entrepreneurship ventures
There are different kinds and types of entrepreneurship ventures or businesses which
have different mission and vision with distinct surviving and managing strategies or plans These
Small, Scalable and Social ventures are somewhat similar to each other as well as share many
differences among them. The similarities such as they all have some aims or objectives for which
they are operating the business or organization, they all perform many similar functions such as
marketing, planning, accounting etc. Along with the similarities they are various difference
among the various types of entrepreneurship ventures. The differences such as size of the
business, investment differences, scope of the business etc are the major differences among the
various types of business or ventures. As Edission is the successful entrepreneur who works for
the development of the firm which was large size.. There are various types of entrepreneurship in
the business environment such as male entrepreneurship and female entrepreneurship, each of
the entrepreneur type also shares many differences among themselves such as the decision
making process is easy in the male entrepreneurship as compared to the female entrepreneurship.

The Male entrepreneurs are generally focusing on the cost and economy whereas the female
entrepreneurs are concerned with quality and social contribution. The Female entrepreneurs are
more conservative regarding the financial risk whereas the male entrepreneurs are willing and
ready to take the financial risks involved in the business (Boyett, 2013). Female owners are more
responsible ad they spend more time with their employees so that they feel valued and perform
well in organization. But Male entrepreneurs always work for expansion of business unit.
Small and large entrepreneurship ventures – The small business organization have less risk
and investment involves as compared to the large business ventures. Small size organization
consist 5 to 10 employees or workers as whereas the large size organizations or companies
consist a huge number of employees working in various departments (Rainnie, 2016). On other
hand large entrepreneurship ventures conduct operations at large scale. Thomas Eddison is the
successful business owner who ha established such large business unit and has gained success.

P3 Impact of micro and small business on economy
Small and micro firms impact on the economy to great extent. These small firm support
the nation in raising employment opportunities and improving GDP rate (Seethamraju, 2015). By
this way many people get employment opportunity that assist in improving condition of the
economy. GE is the small size firm which contributes well in the economic development of the
nation. This helps in generating more employment opportunities and support in raising income
sources for the population. At that time big firm were unable to perform well and most of the big
entities have closed their business due to declining economy condition. At that time small and
micro firms were there which have supported the nation.
Small entities are the organization those which employed 250 or less employees in the
workplace. There are many micro entities that generate half of employment in the country.
Statically records of 2014 reflect that approx. 5.2 million micro corporation are in the country
those which are contributing in economy development of nation. Micro companies concentrate
on innovation (Williams, 2016). As these firms always try to attract more people for that they
some times give attractive discounts. Apart from this some time they implement new ideas for
example GE has implemented innovative idea to deal with electricity This has given success to
the business. These firm try to conduct their business at minimum cost. This helps them in
generating more revenues and sustaining in the market for longer duration. These are the major
sources of establishing the economy of nation. At the recession time many big organization has
terminated more than half staff members. At that time these SME’s have give these people jobs
opportunities. 46% revenues of economy come from small and medium size entities (Boyett,
2013). UK is the developed nation but it has high dependence on these small and medium sized
organization. Because after Brixit many big firms were unable to conduct their operations well
thus, they have terminated many of its employees. At that time these small firms has supported
the nation and has helped in generating income.
Micro business conducts their business at limited geographical areas. These micros
companies employed less than 10 employees but turnover of these organization is approx. 2
million pound. Small firms are large than micro business and employed 50 employees. These
firms are able to generate revenues of 10 million pound. Furthermore, medium size firms are
large than small business and it employed 250 staff members. Turnover generated by these
medium enterprises are approx. 50 million pound every year.

Approx. 75% market of UK is covered from these small and micro business whereas
25%large organization are conducting their business in the nation. Small and medium sized firms
have contributed 3% in reducing poverty rate from the nation. It has provided employment to
many people of the country. This has improved GDP and per capita income of the nation. Now
UK has become the country where small and micro business are performing well and contributes
in development of the nation (The Role of small business in economic development, 2016).
Job creation is the major aspect of these small and micro business. Small and micro
entities are able to generate more jobs as compare to large organization. That has supported in
raising living standards of the people of UK (The Role of small business in economic
development, 2016). Every year approx. 65% people are being employed by these micro
enterprises. As big firm pay more attention on experiences of the candidates whereas small sized
entities hire the fresher because they have to give less salaries to them (The Role of small
business in economic development, 2016). This supports in providing employment opportunities
to all freshers and inexperienced people (25 Common Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs.
2017). That get development opportunities and skill development opportunities in these micro
enterprises. Market research show that these micro businesses have covered 50% of total
domestic gross values. These enterprises are able to improve approx. 60% people living
standards (Small Business Is Contributing More To Economic Growth And Job Creation, 2015).
Thus, it can be said that contribution of micro and small entities in the economy development is
very high.
P4 Significance of small business in the growth of social economy
Decision taken by government of the nation to exist UK has affected overall condition of
country to great extent. Initially this has affected business of large enterprises because previous
trade regulation and agreement were become ineffective (Obschonka and et.al, 2017). In such
condition it was very difficult for the companies to import material or export any goods. This has
affected economy of UK badly (Business and entrepreneurship skills and experience. 2017).
As UK was highly depended upon the trade with other nation and after Brixit it was very
difficult for the countries to generate revenues. By this way economy of the nation were
continuously declining. At that time start up firms and SME have contributed well and supported
the economy so that it can be established. These SME have provided employment opportunities
in the nation, that has positively affected social condition of population. They were able to get

income sources and able to live their life smoothly. These small businesses have improved living
standards of the population to great extent.
These start up firm require less financial resources to conduct the operations thus, these
were able to generate more revenues at minimum cost. These small sized firms have contributed
well in raising income sources of individuals. By this way people become able to live their life
smoothly (Rainnie, 2016). This has significantly contributed in growth and development of
individuals in the society. Initially big enterprises were not providing low cost products to the
population but these startup entities have started providing cheaper but quality products tot eh
consumers so that they can afford it easily.
Small and medium sized organization has contributed well in improving living standards
of the society members. It has enhanced income sources for them so that they can live a healthy
life. Main significance of these small and start up business are that these enterprises have helped
in reducing poverty by 3% from the country (Small Business Is Contributing More To Economic
Growth And Job Creation. 2015). After that society were able to live their life happily . These
entities hire freshers and inexperienced people and provide them employment opportunities.
After employing these people entity provide training to them so that they can get developed and
contribute well in enhancing performance of startup and small business. Small and startup firms
have generated 35% total tax revenues in UK in the year 2014. These entities have contributed
57% in total gross domestic production. These small sized organization have contributed well in
improving life standards of the people in UK and have given them development opportunities
(The Role of small business in economic development, 2016). At the time when big entities were
unable to conduct operations well at that time SME’s have given support to the economy and
society both.
TASK 2
P5 Skills of Thomas Eddison
Thomas Eddison was the true innovator and business leader. Entrepreneurs needs to have
skills and traits so that individual can start a business and can run it effectively. Many business
persons have proved that entity can be started with good skills and knowledge of person. Richard
Branson is the great example of it (Thomas Edison’s Creative Thinking Habits, 2013). Starting
Virgin firm was initially challenge for the person but skills of individual have supported the
person in establishing the firm successfully. He is successful entrepreneurs who has adopted

innovative ideas to make his business succesfull. It was innovative idea to make connection with
mass audience (Nkiru and Okoye, 2017). Skills of Thomas Eddison are as following:
 Planner: He was the good planner and he was able to plan activities properly (Business
and entrepreneurship skills and experience. 2017). At the time of starting anew business
it is essential to look at the market situation and resources and plan activities in effective
manner so that new firm can be established effectively. Business person is responsible for
managing activities and executing plan properly so that overall objective of the firm can
be accomplished (Sarboland and et.al, 2014).
 Innovator: It is another trait in Thomas Eddison that has provided him huge success.
There are many businesses those which are running by adopting same pattern.
Entrepreneur requires to have some innovation skills. That supports the person in
conducting operations in smooth manner and gaining success (How To Use Your
Strengths To Overcome Your Weaknesses, 2015).
 Critical thinking skill: It is very important for the entrepreneur to think crtically in order
to bring positive changes in the company. Entrepreneur takes risk so that entity can be
developed. Business persons do not take risk, they adopt pre- decided procedure so that
no complication get arisen in the organization and it can run its business smoothly. For
example, Bill gates had innovation skill that has supported the individual in launching
Microsoft. He has implemented innovative ideas and technologies that has helped the Bill
Gates in gaining success (Hafer and Jones, 2015).
 Motivation skill and positive behavior: Entrepreneur needs to have motivation skills and
individual must behave positive in each situation. This supports the person in finding
opportunities inn each condition. Thomas Eddison is the great example of motivation. He
always behaves positive and try to turn threats into opportunities.
 Open minded: Another characteristic of entrepreneur is that individual is open minded
person. They need to be ready to accept challenges and convert risk into opportunities.
Individual ensures that employees get maximum benefit and it offers products to
consumers that can satisfy their needs. Thus, entrepreneur think for both consumers and
employees as well. That make both these essential persons positive towards the firm.
That support business unit in gaining success and sustaining in the market for longer
duration (Kolade, 2018).

Difference between business manager and entrepreneur are discussed as below:
Entrepreneur Business manager
 Entrepreneur is having risk taking
personality. Individual takes risk and
utilize resources well in order to
establish the business successfully.
 The main objective of entrepreneur is
to successfully establish a new firm
and maximize profit (Obschonka and
et.al, 2017).
 Creativity and innovation are major
skills of business person. They
implement innovative ideas in the
workplace so that entity can grow well
in the market (Drucker, 2014).
Thomas Eddison is the creative person
that has helped the person in
implementing innovative idea
successfully.
 Business managers take
responsibilities of the operations and
do not take any risk. Individual follow
instruction of higher authorities.
 Business manager works to manage
activities. Their main motive is to
monitor working of company properly.
 Monitoring and management are the
skills of business manager that support
them in managing activities of business
well.
P6 Aspects of entrepreneurial personality reflect his entrepreneurial motivation and mind set
Entrepreneur is able to motivate people and influence their mind set. Thomas Eddison is
the successful entrepreneur, individual has skill to encourage its workers so that they feel happy
and put their hard efforts in order to accomplish goal of the business unit. Eddision identifies
needs of individuals and accordingly he provides them benefits so that their needs can be
fulfilled. This supports him in encouraging people in the workplace and make them able to
perform well in the organization (Abreu and Grinevich, 2013). For example Encouraging
personality of Eddisoion motivates others to follow their instruction and grow well in their
career. He has long term experience where he has faced failure and success both. There are many
hard situations arise when Eddison have push himself and overcome from these hard situations.
His personality reflects his experience and motivational skills of Thomas Eddison. That

encourages others as well and other people look at them as role model. His personality inspires
others to take challenges and convert these challenges into opportunities (Drucker, 2014). Apart
from this Richard Branson is another example of successful business owner.
Each individual has capability to be successful but due to fear factor individual fail to
utilize their abilities properly. But there are many personalities those who have taken this
challenge and has gained successes. For example: Richard Branson is the great example of this.
Individual has faced failure many times but in spite of doing give-up he motivations own self to
perform well and to gain success (Boyett, 2013). This reflects mind set of entrepreneur and their
personalities. Business person has mind changing personality, individual can influence others
from their words or from their work. They look at the conditions and make plans (Nkiru and
Okoye, 2017). They time to time make anticipated changes in the planning so that their
objectives can be achieved. Mark Zuckerberg is another example of successful entrepreneur. He
is the icon for young generation. His innovative ideas and motivational skills have make them
able to gain success and develop Face book application (Seethamraju, 2015). This social
networking sites has make the world able to be connected and share their photos, videos
anywhere. Eddisison has innovation skills that has supported in establishing his business
significantly. It is very important that the business person behave positive and have passion
towards work. These characteristic support Eddison in gaining success and becoming role model
for others as well. He always motivates his staff members and create positive environment for
them so that in each critical situation their employee feels encouraged and they put their best
efforts. Discipline is another major aspect that reflect motivational and influencing mind set
characteristic of Eddison (25 Common Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs. 2017). He works in
proper discipline. He set targets and according to these objectives plans are being prepared. It
motivates others to perform work with proper planning. This assist in changing the mind set of
others and accept challenges (Sarboland and et.al, 2014).
Eddison has face many difficulties in the initial phase and later phases as well. Changing
market condition, technological advancement were the major issues for the person but
motivational skill and positive behavior has supported the person in performing well and
sustaining in the market for longer duration. Their work encourages others to take challenge and
perform more effectively by utilizing their skills properly (Business and entrepreneurship skills
and experience. 2017).

P7 Background and experience can hinder or foster entrepreneurship
Background and experience of individual impact on their entrepreneurship to great
extent. Positive background and good experience help the person in identifying the situations
well and taking appropriate decision. That helps them in becoming a successful entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurship is the difficult task. Some times background is supportive that creates difficulty
for the person in fulfilling their ideas in reality in effective manner.
One of the great example of background and experience is Richard Branson. He is the
person who became very famous become of his innovative ideas and risk taking capabilities. He
was suffering from Dyslexia. This is the disease in which individual fail to read and write things
properly. But as he was having capabilities and he has experienced critical situations in his life.
That experience have supported in converting issues into opportunities. On other hand poor
financial background difficulty for the person in implementing their ideas effectively. In such
condition they have to compromise from their dreams.
If the person who want to start their new businesses, if the person belong from poor
family ten individual will face difficulty to get financial supports initially from their families
(Kolade, 2018). For example Mark Zuckherberg is the same example , he was not having
adequate money to run his application. Apart from this, people were having no knowledge about
Facebook and such type of techniques thus, it was difficult to attract investors for this application
(Rainnie, 2016).
In addition, different cultural aspect was another issue that faced by the person. All these
issues are related with background. But innovative skills and good communication have
supported him in making his dreams successful. He has experienced huge issues in his childhood
thus, he was self motivated and after so many failures he was feeling confident. This has
supported the person in gaining success and becoming a successful entrepreneur.
Background or experience plays an important role in entrepreneurial practices, an individual's
experience and background help him or her to develop certain skills and knowledge which helps
in future career and growth. The skills and knowledge developed through old experience helps in
achieving development and future goals easily.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that entrepreneur have motivational, risk
taking and innovation skills. That make them able to accept challenges and convert issues into

opportunities. Small business contributes well in the economy development of nation. These
small size entities provide employment opportunities to many people and give them chance to be
developed. That helps in generating revenues that is used for the development of nation. Small
firms help in improving social condition of the people and improve their living standards as well.
Creativity and motivational aspects make the person a successful entrepreneur. There are many
examples of successful business persons those who have taken risk and convert it into
opportunities. They are able to influence mind set of others as well.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Abreu, M. and Grinevich, V., 2013. The nature of academic entrepreneurship in the UK:
Widening the focus on entrepreneurial activities. Research Policy. 42(2). pp.408-422.
Boyett, I., 2013. The public sector entrepreneur‐a definition. International Journal of
Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research.
Drucker, P., 2014. Innovation and entrepreneurship. Routledge.
George, G. and Bock, A.J., 2011. The business model in practice and its implications for
entrepreneurship research. Entrepreneurship theory and practice. 35(1). pp.83-111.
Hafer, R. W. and Jones, G., 2015. Are entrepreneurship and cognitive skills related? Some
international evidence. Small Business Economics. 44(2). pp.283-298.
Nkiru, U. A. and Okoye, E. I., 2017. Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Economic Development
in Nigeria: The Place of Accounting Skills.
Obschonka, M. and et.al., 2017. Entrepreneurship as a twenty-first century skill: entrepreneurial
alertness and intention in the transition to adulthood. Small Business Economics. 48(3).
pp.487-501.
Rainnie, A., 2016. Industrial relations in small firms: Small isn't beautiful. Routledge.
Sarboland, K. and et.al., 2014. A study on the role of skill training in entrepreneurship of
entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs of vocational rraining centers in Ardebil,
Iran. European Online Journal of Natural and Social Sciences: Proceedings. 2(3 (s)).pp-
2920.
Schaper, M. ed., 2016. Making ecopreneurs: developing sustainable entrepreneurship. CRC
Press.
Schaper. And et.al., 2014. Entrepreneurship and small business.
Seethamraju, R., 2015. Adoption of software as a service (SaaS) enterprise resource planning
(ERP) systems in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Information systems
frontiers. 17(3. pp.475-492.
Williams, C. C., 2016. Tackling enterprise in the informal economy: an introductory overview.
International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business. 28(2-3). pp.139-153.
Kolade, O., 2018. Venturing under fire: Entrepreneurship education, venture creation, and
poverty reduction in conflict-ridden Maiduguri, Nigeria. Education+ Training.
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