The role of business enterprise and entrepreneurship - Cambridge OCRCharacteristics of an entrepreneur

The role of entrepreneurs

To produce goods or provide services, businesses need to organise resources and make decisions about how much risk they are willing to take. An entrepreneur will do this by making decisions about what to produce or provide using the resources available to them. Those resources will include land, labour and capital.

For example, an entrepreneur who has identified a need for a new gym will require:

• Land - naturally occurring resources, such as land and water. A gym will need land for a physical building.
• Labour - human effort, skills and knowledge. A gym will need staff who can offer advice on health and fitness.
• Capital - equipment and money used to provide goods and services. A gym will need fitness equipment and money to pay staff.
• Enterprise - the willingness to take risks, make decisions and organise resources. All of these will be needed to open the gym.

The entrepreneurs who are able to combine these resources successfully often share a number of personal characteristics. These include:

Creativity

Creativity is the ability to create something, often using imagination and knowledge and turning them into reality. This does not necessarily mean inventing something new, it could involve finding a different solution to a problem using information that is known.

Risk taking

Entrepreneurs have to be willing to take risks if they are to be successful. There is no guarantee of success if business, which means that anyone willing to set up their own business is running the risk of failure, often involving financial loss.

Determination

Entrepreneurs will need the determination to work hard and keep going even when things are not going well. Running your own business is not easy, so anyone who gives up at the first sign of a problem is unlikely to succeed.

Confidence

Entrepreneurs are usually positive people who believe in their ideas and their businesses. This gives them the confidence they will need to take the risks, and will encourage others to believe in their ideas.