The Entrepreneur An entrepreneur, can be defined as "one who undertakes innovations, finance and business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods. An entrepreneur is someone (person) who in pursuit of profits and at a risk makes the most of the opportunities in the environment by combining the expertise and resources of the community in different ways to produce products and services for the market. So based on the above definitions an entrepreneur must: «Be arisk taker. « Beinnovative. « Possess business acumen. * See potential opportunities in the community. A person who sees an opportunity in the market gathers his/her resources and creates and grows a business venture to meet those needs. This person will bear the risk and will be rewarded with profit if the venture is successful. Generally, new organisations started by entrepreneurs are small businesses. However, individuals that plan and implement large business ventures are also considered entrepreneurs. We can conclude that entrepreneurship the business process and the entrepreneur is the person involved in implementing the entrepreneurial process.4. SELF DISCOVERY Learning what you are doing; examining your strengths and ‘weaknesses, Examining work experience and relating it to potential oppoctunitias. 2. IDENTIFYING OPPORTUNITIES Looking for needs, wants, problems and challenges tht are not Yet being met or desit ith effectively 43, GENERATING AND EVALUATING IDEAS Using creatiy and past experience to dese new and Imovative ways to sole a problem, or meet a need ard then narrowing the feld to one best idea, 4. PLANNING Researching and identifying resources needed to turn the idea Into @ viable venture. Preparing the research nthe form of a ‘written business plan. Preparing marketing strategies. 5. RAISING START-UP CAPITAL Using the businats plan to attract investors, venture capitalists partner. This stage can Involve producing prototypes or test- matheting services START-UP Launching the venture, developing 9 customer base and ‘adjusting marketing and operational plans as required crown “Growing the business: developing and following strategic plans, adapting tonew circumstances aRVEST: ‘Selling the business and harvesting the rewards. For many ‘entrepreneurs, this also means moving on to new ventures ‘and new challenges.4 p e Determine e Start and the resources manage the business. e required Develop a 1 business plan 2 Identify and evaluate the opportunity ‘The Entrepreneurial Process Entrepreneurship is a business process and the entrepreneur is a person involved in the entrepreneurial process. Important aspects of entrepreneurshi an opportunity, and creativity, gathering resources, creating and growing a business, taking risks, being innovation rewarded end managing the business. The four steps in the entrepreneurial process are: identifying and evaluating an ‘opportunity; developing 2 business plan; determining the resources required and then lastly starting and managing a business.THE ROLE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN SOCIETY * Employment opportunities Entrepreneurship not only offers self-employment opportunities, but also creates employment for others, often better jobs. Self-employment offers more job satisfaction and flexibility of the work force. Such job creation initiatives utilise the human resources of the particular country and helps the natural talent materialise. Many people with disabilities, particularly those in rural areas where jobs are often scarce, have already created opportunities for themselves through entrepreneurship. We can thus say that entrepreneurship provides self-sufficiency. + Income generation and fewer social problems Successful entrepreneurship activities increase the income level of the average person, and also the standard of living in the community. Individuals who search for business opportunities usually create wealth through entrepreneurship. This wealth plays a considerable role in the development of a nation. IF more people are employed more people pay taxes, which means more income for the government. It also means that the crime rate will go down and the country can become a safer location with more tourists willing to visit the country. If tourism Increases, more job opportunities will become available end more people will be employed. Entrepreneurship can also attract more foreign investment, which in return can also create more job opportunities. * Personal Challenge Entrepreneurship is 2 challenging task, but if successful the rewards are worth the effort. Rewards for an entrepreneur can be both financial and personal. The entrepreneur gains self-satisfaction and confidence as he or she succeeds.Improvements in Industry Entrepreneurship leads to the development of more industries, especially in rural areas or regions where there are very few economic activities. This does not only mean more goods and services, but also higher quality products, because of healthy ‘competition between the different businesses. Higher productivity and economic growth More industries can create higher production at lower prices. Entrepreneurship ‘encourages the use of local materials to produce finished goods for domestic consumption, as well as for export. Entrepreneurship enables the country to produce more and more goods locally and thereby bt If we change our raw materials into consumable goods we add value to our products, means that we can now receive a much higher price and at the same time create more jobs. With the new inventions and development in technology, a nation id its capacity and resources. wi can use its resources more effectively. Increases in experts and less dependence on imports Entrepreneurship leads to the development of new markets. if we produce more, we ‘can export products that are not sold locally. This means that a country’s products 1e to time a country's government officials, can also enter foreign markets. From sign agreements with other countries to promote trade. These are opportunities that should be taken into account when we are planning and growing our new business. Currently many developing countries (including small states) rely heavily ‘on imports, especially from the developed nations. This means that money flows out of the country. Exports must exceed imports in order to create an economic advantage. Earnings from exports inevitably stimulate the economy.CHARACTERISTICS OF AN ENTREPRENEUR A successful entrepreneur needs to possess certain abilities and qualities. These qualities include: = Adlear vision of goals. = Motivated to achieve goals, coupled with having a high degree of self-confidence. = Prepared to take moderate risks. able to take “no” for an answer without giving up. initiative and independence. = Possessing leadership and organisational skills. nce: = Seeking creative solutions to problems. = A positive outlook. lity For decisis = A positive attitude to all tasks. = Being enterprising (recognising business opportuni = Taking responsi