AGRICULTURAL VALUE CHAIN AS AN APPROACH TO AGRIBUSINESS 10
Entrepreneurship
Introduction
Entrepreneur is derived from the French - entreprendre - , meaning - to undertake. - The entrepreneur is one who undertakes to organize, manage, and assume the risks of a business. An entrepreneur is a businessperson who not only conceives and organizes ventures but also frequently takes risks in doing so. Not all independent business people are true entrepreneurs, and not all entrepreneurs are created equal. Different degrees or levels of entrepreneurial intensity and drive depend upon how much independence one exhibits, the level of leadership and innovation they demonstrate, how much responsibility they shoulder, and how creative they become in envisioning and executing their business plans.
Therefore, entrepreneurs
- Recognize opportunities where others see chaos or confusion
- Are aggressive catalysts for change within the marketplace
- Challenge the unknown and continuously create the future
Entrepreneurship is more than the mere creation of business:
- Seeking opportunities
- Taking risks beyond security
- Having the tenacity to push an idea through to reality
Entrepreneurship is an integrated concept that permeates an individual - s business in an innovative manner.
Entrepreneurship
- A dynamic process of vision, change, and creation.
- Requires an application of energy and passion towards the creation and implementation of new ideas and creative solutions.
Essential ingredients include:
- The willingness to take calculated risks - in terms of time, equity, or career.
- The ability to formulate an effective venture team; the creative skill to marshal needed resources.
- The fundamental skills of building a solid business plan.
- The vision to recognize opportunity where others see chaos, contradiction, and confusion.
Common Characteristics of Entrepreneurs
- Commitment, determination, and perseverance
- Drive to achieve
- Opportunity orientation
- Initiative and responsibility
- Persistent problem solving
- Seeking feedback
- Internal locus of control
- Tolerance for ambiguity
- Calculated risk taking
- Tolerance for failure
- High energy level
- Creativity and Innovativeness
- Vision
- Self-confidence and optimism
- Independence
- Team building