Introduction to Entrepreneurship:

Entrepreneurship is the name given to the factor of production which

performs the functions of Enterprise. In economics, Land, Labour,
Capital, Organisation and Enterprise are the five factors which are
thought to be the basis of all the production activities.

Entrepreneurship in a broader sense can be considered as a process of

action undertaken by an entrepreneur (Person) to establish his
enterprise. It is a creative and innovative response to the environment.

Entrepreneurship can be described as a creative and innovative

response to the environment. Such responses may take place in any
field of social endeavour may be business, agriculture, social work and
education etc.

For the entrepreneur it is important to have knowledge about the

economic and political environment, more particularly about the
economic policies of the government and the financial as well as
commercial institutions.

Thus a simple definition of entrepreneurship is doing new things or

doing things which are already being done in a new way.

According to Dr. J.E. Stepenek, “Entrepreneurship” is the capacity to

take risk; ability to organise and desire to diversify and make
innovations in the enterprise.

According to Higgins, Entrepreneurship is meant for the function of

seeing investment and production opportunity, organising in
enterprise to undertake a new production process, raising capital,
hiring labour, arranging the supply of raw materials, finding site,
introducing new techniques and commodities, discovering new
sources of raw materials and selecting top managers for day to day
operation of the enterprise.

It may be concluded that entrepreneurship is a composite skill, the

resultant of many qualities and traits. These include, imagination
ready to take risk, ability to bring together and utilize other factors of
production such as capital, land and labour along with intangible
factors such as capability to mobilise scientific and technological
developments.

Entrepreneurship thus involves taking risk and making essential

investments under conditions of uncertainty. At the same time it is
connected with innovation, planning and taking decisions so as to
increase productivity in industry, business and agriculture etc. It thus
plays a key role in the process of economic development.