Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management Report, Semester 1

This report delves into the multifaceted world of entrepreneurship, beginning with an exploration of various entrepreneurial ventures, including small businesses, large enterprises, social enterprises, and scalable enterprises. It then examines the similarities and differences between these venture types, highlighting their unique characteristics and objectives. The report further analyzes the significant impact of micro and small businesses on the economy, using data and statistics to illustrate their contribution to GDP and job creation, particularly within the UK context. It also underscores the importance of SMEs in fostering social economy growth through increased living standards, innovation, and job provision. The report then profiles the characteristics, traits, and skills of successful entrepreneurs, using Richard Branson and JK Rowling as examples. Finally, it discusses how entrepreneurial personality traits, as depicted by the OCEAN model, influence motivation, and how background and experience can either hinder or foster entrepreneurial endeavors.

Entrepreneurship and Small
Business Management
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
P1 Different type of entrepreneurial ventures and their relation to the typology of
entrepreneurship.....................................................................................................................3
P2 Similarities and difference between entrepreneurial ventures..........................................4
P3. Interpretation of relevant data and statistics to define how micro and small businesses
impact on economy.................................................................................................................6
P4 Importance of SME to growth of social economy............................................................8
P5. Characteristics, traits and skills of successful entrepreneurs...........................................9
P6. Aspects of entrepreneurial personality depict motivation..............................................10
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................10
P7: Background and Experience can hinder or foster Entrepreneurship..............................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13
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INTRODUCTION
Entrepreneurship is the concept of undertaking extensive risks with a view to gain the attention
of large number of individuals (Burns, 2016). The owner of an entrepreneurial venture is termed
as an entrepreneur. The present report seeks to explore the different types of entrepreneurial
ventures along with their typologies. Further, it includes the impact of SMEs over national
economy. Further, it includes the aspects of entrepreneurial personality demonstrated with the
assistance of OCEAN model. Lastly, it includes the skills of 2 renowned entrepreneurs along
with the factors that hinder or foster their entrepreneurship.
P1 Different type of entrepreneurial ventures and their relation to the typology of
entrepreneurship
Entrepreneur can be viewed as a person who is not afraid to undergo risks as they have the intent
to come up with innovative and unique offerings that have the potential to resolve the issues
faced by society at large (Kirzner, 2015). In this regard, it is identified that there are various
types of entrepreneurial ventures upon which a discussion is given beneath:-
Small business:
These are the form of entrepreneurial ventures which require lower amount of venture capital. It
is usually started by one person and has the aim of generating satisfactory amount of profitability
and revenues through provision of goods and services of high quality. These businesses function
with the motive of earning huge profits. They consist of less than 50 employees and have an
overall net worth of 2 million Euros. They do not have a wide scope as their only intent is to earn
high income in the form of profits. Small businesses are majorly found within the confines of
construction and production sector. For example: Orion Electrotech Limited
Large Enterprise:
These ventures require large amount of investment. Such extensive financial resources provide
assistance to them in expanding their growth and developing themselves in accordance with the
market. Their main motive is to earn huge revenues as well as profits by undertaking risks. These
organisations consist of over 5000 individuals and have an overall turnover of 1.5 million Euros.
They have a wide scope as they intend to enhance their scale of operations with the passage of
time (Landström, Harirchi and Åström, 2012). For example: Marks and Spencer, TESC and
many more.
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Social Enterprises:
These are the ventures which are setup with the sole intent of ensuring social welfare of
individuals. Social entities are generally managed and run by trustees who intend to work in a
collaborative manner for the welfare of society as a whole. These entities are usually funded by
large scale companies as their aim is to earn goodwill in rapid course of time. For example:
Oxfam, Save the Children and many more.
Scalable Enterprises:
These are the ventures whose entrepreneurs do not intend to run within the confines of small
business area. These entities emphasize over the provision of high quality offerings with a view
to maximise their profitability (Wright and Stigliani, 2013). They have restricted scope owing to
its functioning with the concern of all the partners. The main intent of scalable enterprises is to
enable business development. Example: Partnership and automate solution
Types of entrepreneurship
Below discussed are the various typologies of entrepreneurship:-
Lifestyle enterprises:
These are the entities which are mainly aimed at inflating the standard of living of personnel by
providing them with job opportunities. As a result of this, their lifestyle and living standards get
significantly enhanced.
Growth firm:
These are the entities whose sole motive is to earn extensive profits and sale. The entrepreneurs
hereby come up with new ideas so as to solve the issues faced by society and subsequently fill
the market gap to enhance the venture’s profitability (Bridge and O'Neill, 2012).
P2 Similarities and difference between entrepreneurial ventures
There are different types of entrepreneurial ventures that have already been discussed
above. In this regard, it is also determined that these ventures differ from and are alike each other
on the basis of a number of aspects. It is essential to take into account the similarities and
differences lying between the different entrepreneurial ventures in order to ascertain probable
opportunities and threats associated with the same. In this relation, a discussion over the same is
given beneath:-
Similarities between small, large, scalable and social entrepreneurs
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 All these entrepreneurial ventures run with the motive of attaining development and
growth so as to enhance their scale of operations.
 All the ventures intend to maximise the amount of profits so that the growth prospect for
the entities can be significantly enhanced.
 All of the entrepreneurial ventures capitalise upon innovation as the primary aspect to
gain the attention of large number of individuals and significantly attain competitive edge
at market place.
 All the ventures tend to cater to the needs and demands of market place and fulfil the
same to achieve growth.
Difference between small, large, scalable and social entrepreneurs
Basis Small size Large size Social Scalable
Meaning These are the
ventures that
function at a small
scale.
These business
function at large scale
level by emphasizing
over location as the
primary aspect.
These ventures
function for the
society welfare at a
moderate level
(Drucker, 2014).
These are the
ventures which
function at scale
level.
Objects These businesses
intend to attain
maximum profits
and thereby achieve
growth.
The main intent of this
entrepreneurial
venture is to facilitate
expansion of the
business operations.
These entities
intend to work for
the welfare and
development of
society and
meeting their
needs.
These businesses
intend to increase
profit through
expansion of
operating
activities.
Capital These kind of
entrepreneurial
ventures require
relatively lower
amount in the form
of capital investment
These entrepreneurial
ventures need
extensive amount of
investment as capital
to facilitate expansion
into maximum
These types of
ventures procure
funds from society
as they operate for
social welfare.
These venture do
not require large
investment for
initiating the
business
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for carrying out
business practices.
geographies (Kuratko,
2016).
operations.
P3. Interpretation of relevant data and statistics to define how micro and small businesses impact
on economy
Within the confines of any corporate sector, it is the SMEs that capture the largest part of the
total proportion. These entities significantly contribute to the growth and development of a
national economy. With respect to this, it is witnessed that the quantum of small and medium
enterprises has increased over the period of time. This has led to a rapid increase in the revenue
generated as a whole. Such impact of small and medium enterprises is discussed in context of
United Kingdom as follows:-
Figure 1: Comparison of SMEs and large businesses in UK
As per the above graph, it can be said that there are large number of small and medium sized
enterprises within each and every sector in the confines of UK. Across the boundaries of this
nation, there are over 4.5 million small and medium sized businesses, which account for 99% of
the total businesses of United Kingdom. Thus, the revenues generated by these businesses have a
significant contribution towards the Gross Domestic Product of the country. Among the total
number of businesses across the country boundaries, 96 % are acknowledged to be micro
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businesses which have staff of up to 9 individuals. Such businesses are recognised to be
providing 33% of the overall job opportunities along with 22 % of the overall turnover.
Figure 2: Share of businesses in UK
As per the graph shown above, the quantum of small as well as micro business entities is much
more than medium and large scale enterprises within the confines of United Kingdom. In this
regard, it has been further acknowledged that small and micro organisations gain 37 % turnover
while providing 48 % of the jobs to local people in United Kingdom.
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Figure 3: Business Type of Micro and Small Businesses in UK
The small and micro businesses can be duly categorised into segments like innovators (12.2%),
non innovators (23.9%), exporters (13.6%) and non exporters (33.2%). Thus, it can be seen that
the ways can be different, but small and medium enterprises contribute to the growth of British
economy in a significant manner.
P4 Importance of SME to growth of social economy
SMEs place a significant impact over the economic growth as can be seen in the case of
economy of United Kingdom. This nation has been feeding a large number of SMEs by
providing them assistance in terms of infrastructural and technological facilities (Read and et.al.,
2016). The output produced by small and medium enterprises implies a boost to the overall
growth and development of economy of UK. Further, the significance of such enterprises in
relation to the growth of social economy is discussed as under:-
 Standard of living: Small and medium enterprise tend to inflate the standard of living of
individuals by rendering them the opportunity to work with them. As a result of this, the
personnel do not leave UK for the purpose of getting employment in any other region.
This leads to growth of their living standards as well as British economy.
 Innovation: Small and medium enterprises are the source of innovation. These
organisations foster innovation and creativity among the individuals so that entity as a
whole may come up with innovative practices and offerings that possess the capability of
disrupting the market place. When such enterprises incorporate innovation within their
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practices, it gives an overall push to the UK economy as the people of this nation have an
inclination towards innovation, uniqueness and creativity.
 Providing jobs: UK consists of several individuals who are semi skilled and lack the
appropriate skill set to be a part of large scale companies. Small and medium enterprises
provide jobs to such personnel and enrich their knowledge by giving them training. In
this manner, small and medium entities are able to retain such individuals within the
territory of UK.
P5. Characteristics, traits and skills of successful entrepreneurs
Entrepreneur can be referred to as the person who is willing to undergo risk with a view to attain
success (Kassean and et. al., 2015). In this relation, 2 of the very famous entrepreneurs are
Richard Branson and JK Rowling. Their traits, skills and characteristics are briefly described as
follows:- Characteristics Belief: This is regarded as a prominent characteristic of an entrepreneur whereby they
possess confidence in their skill, competence and ability. Richard Branson and JK
Rowling, both were entrepreneurs who possessed high self belief, providing them aid in
achieving rapid success. Traits Creativity: An entrepreneur is a person who intends to pursue their innovation and
creativity in order to come up with unique offerings in market place. Richard Branson in
the past has often linked with projects regarding entertainment and humanitarian service.
Also, “Harry Potter” series of JK Rowling is still globally recognised by people of all age
groups. Skills
 Learning Skills: Entrepreneurs are usually known to be eager to learn new things by
setting networking with individuals having more experience than them. Their learning
largely owes to their childhood experiences, family experience, nearby scenario,
acquaintances. The same can even be witnessed in the case of both the concerned
entrepreneurs as they considered their past mistakes as the learning and paved way to
future so that they do not repeat same mistakes again in life.
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P6. Aspects of entrepreneurial personality depict motivation
An entrepreneurial personality encompasses several traits and skills such as values, belief,
cognition and motivation (Santos, 2012). With respect to this, OCEAN model is put to use for
exhibiting the way through which aspects of entrepreneurial personality imply their mindset and
motivation. The model is presented beneath in light of Richard Branson and JK Rowling:-
Openness: This depicts that entrepreneurs possess the zeal and energy to attain new
knowledge. They are willing to undergo new projects that can inflate their learning and
knowledge base. Richard Branson and JK Rowling, both were open to take up new opportunities
to gain success.
Conscientiousness: It exhibits that entrepreneurs possess the ambition as well as
discipline to achieve the goal prior set by them in due course of time. In the same manner, both
the entrepreneurs were eager to undergo entrepreneurship so that they can provide offerings
which can gain the attention of large number of individuals (Fayolle, Verzat and Wapshott,
2016).
Extraversion: This aspect depicts that entrepreneurs are emotionally reactive and
energetic to the environment. They study the surroundings in order to identify the opportunity to
build up a venture. Richard Branson as well as JK Rowling were quite assertive and with their
innovative mindset, came up with innovative offerings such as Virgin Airlines and Harry Potter
book series.
Agreeableness: This aspect illustrates the magnitude of cooperation exhibited by
entrepreneurs during work. This means it is a measure of their agreeableness to other individuals.
In this relation, both the entrepreneurs were quite cooperative in their entrepreneurial lives and
possessed empathy towards others.
Neuroticism: This aspect of entrepreneurial personality demonstrates the control that
entrepreneurs possess on their emotional state. Richard Branson and JK Rowling were stable and
did not let any of the hurdles of life hamper their motivation and mindset (Hoogendoorn, 2016).
P7: Background and Experience can hinder or foster Entrepreneurship
The lives and personal backgrounds of individuals place a significant influence over the
manner in which they pursue their professional life. In this regard, it can be seen that
entrepreneurs are largely affected by the background of their parents, education and their
personal experiences of life time. The report is dealing with 2 main entrepreneurs named Richard
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Branson and JK Rowling whose life have been full of ups and downs yet they both of them were
adamant to pave the way for entrepreneurship and as a result of their strong will, are today
recognised as globally renowned entrepreneurs. Thus, it can be seen that there are a number of
factors which have hindered or fostered the course of entrepreneurship for the respective 2
entrepreneurs. A detailed discussion over the same is presented as underneath:-
Level of Education: The education which a person has received places a significant
influence over their way of undergoing entrepreneurship. In relation to JK Rowling, it has been
determined that her education has strongly shaped the way for pursuing entrepreneurship as a
whole. It has been witnessed she underwent an entrance examination to seek access to a
renowned college. However, it was seen that she failed in the exam and thus could not get the
admission. In the latter course of her life, JK Rowling took BA course in French (Galloway, L.,
Kapasi and Sang, 2015). Later than that, she underwent work as a researcher that largely
provided assistance in moulding her personality as an entrepreneur. After this, she came up with
a series of novels which helped her in gaining massive growth and recognition across the global
periphery. On the contrary, it was seen that the education background of Richard Branson was
very poor. This can be said on the basis of the fact that his teachers assumed him to either land in
jail in some years or as an entrepreneur with a prosperous venture. However, it was later that he
became the owner of Virgin Atlantic Group and became a renowned entrepreneur and inspiration
for people worldwide.
Family backgrounds as well as experience: It is acknowledged that family background
as well as personal experience of individuals also has a significant impact over entrepreneurship.
With reference to Richard Branson, it has been identified that his family background facilitated
him to become a successful entrepreneur. His parents supported his journey as an entrepreneur as
her mother was herself an entrepreneur (Petkovska, 2015). In case of JK Rowling, it is seen that
she used to recite fantasy stories written by her to her sister. Her life was tough as her mother
was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Also, she did not have good relation with her father which
further affected her life negatively. But her will and passion towards writing made her the author
of a renowned series named Harry Potter.
CONCLUSION
On the basis of above discussion, it can be said that entrepreneurial ventures and
typologies are of several types. Further, it has been determined that small and medium
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enterprises provide employment to local people, raise their standard of living and come up with
innovative offerings. This reflects their contribution towards the growth of an economy. In
addition to this, it has been analysed that entrepreneurs possess entrepreneurial aspects such as
Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism. Also, it has been
acknowledged that there are several factors which hinder or foster entrepreneurship such as
family background, education and experience.
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