Entrepreneurs Are Born Not Made - Literature review Example

Entrepreneurs are born not made AFFILIATION: Introduction to the nature of entrepreneurs In today’s business environment, the concept of entrepreneurship has gained immense importance as the entrepreneurs have revolutionised the way in which businesses carry on their operations to compete effectively in the tough and ever changing dynamic market. There are both small and big entrepreneurs found in the business market and each one runs the business according to their own expertise and credentials. The ideas of entrepreneurs differ from each other and also depends upon the nature of the business. The entrepreneurs are defined as individuals who are willing to create an innovative product or service offering that will fulfil the unmet needs of the people. They need to look for areas that require innovation or to find out if there is a new business opportunity in the market so that accordingly they can start a new business. Most of the researchers such as Baron, Tang and Hmieleski (2011) and Schjoedt (2009) believe that entrepreneurs are different from other ordinary people as they possess certain set of distinctive capabilities that help them in gaining a competitive edge within their working boundaries. They also need to On the other hand, the studies of Amit, Glosten and Muller (2007), Dyer, Gregersen, and Christensen (2008) and Shepherd (2009) revealed that entrepreneurship skills can be developed by learning the key features that are required for running successful ventures. For many years, the researchers have been debating that entrepreneurs are either born or made or can be even a combination of both these factors. However, majority of the theorists are of the opinion that the entrepreneurs are born with special gifts from God which with the passage of time get polished to assist them in running well-thought and innovative enterprises. Importance of entrepreneurship According to Deakins and Freel (2006), entrepreneurship is a complex process that is an outcome of adequate balancing of the opportunistic initiatives along with rewards and risks. It is a technique used by people who want to pursue the opportunities that they believe will make some valuable contribution in the industry and accomplish the unfulfilled wants or needs by undertaking innovative steps by paying less attention to their controlled resources. For entrepreneurs, the resources are the key ingredients for smooth running of the venture; risk taking is one of the crucial elements that are found in the triumphant entrepreneurs. A successful entrepreneur need to have the ability to take risks and at times they need to take calculated risks as well so that desired results can be achieved. As the entrepreneurs are planning to go ahead with a specific opportunity, they want to be assured that they will have access to the resources required for flourishing the new idea. Having resources to fulfil business goals is a very important attribute as just with ideas businesses cannot become successful completely. Resources are a vital element and entrepreneurs need to know how to handle the various resources according to need and requirements of the business. In addition to the personality traits that are possessed by the entrepreneurs, they have to acquire the mandatory skills to handle the challenges that will be encountered in their path of success (Bregust et al., 2011). It has been said by Cassen, cited by White, Thornhill and Hampson (2007) that an entrepreneur has the speciality in taking risk who ensure that the people of the venture will employ every effort for its success and the person bears the risk of price fluctuations in the market as well. Factors for successful entrepreneurship There are many factors that set these entrepreneurs apart from the average people and the best examples of successful entrepreneurs are Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Benjaman Franklin and William Penny (Baron, Tang & Hmielesk, 2011). From the observations of the success level of these business enterprises, it is evident that they possessed certain skills that were evident in their personalities and some of these traits were acquired with years of work experience in the relevant fields of the entrepreneurs (Kuratko, 2005). The main reasons for the robust growth of new ventures in their respective industries are that they had entrepreneurial features within themselves and they even modified their personality to meet the changing requirements of the businesses; developed effective business culture for using influential leadership power so that this can be used for achieving the objectives of the firm. This was the foundation for growth and success of the companies in the long-run; management teams comprised of expert and professionally competent folks of the field that had good control on business financial and operational systems; and they had well-developed strategies for leading the corporations towards accomplishing breakthrough positions on the international level (Lumburg et al., 2008). Qualities of entrepreneurs In order to make sure that the entrepreneurs can run the organisations smoothly, they have to ensure that they have strong will power and inspiration to do something new and aspiring in the business environment. The proponents of the argument that entrepreneurs are born not made strongly emphasise that such people have extraordinary powers such as ability of inspiring people, getting the work done effectively, strength of initiating challenging tasks, willingness to face huge amount of risk, controlling the resources efficiently and desire of achieving something worthwhile in their lives (Amit, Glosten & Muller, 2007). According to Baron, Tang and Hmieleski (2011), it is important for the entrepreneurs to think about their new ventures strategically so that they have adequate understanding about the factors that can impact their survival in the market. In order to make every move a strategic move, it is vital for the entrepreneurs to have access to vulnerable information about the market which will be beneficial for them in the following two aspects i.e. decisions can be made proactively and risk of failure can be mitigated to a great extent. It has been stated by Lamburg et al. (2008) that the main reasons of entrepreneurship failure are the lack of vision, following unrealistic dreams and insufficient resources for implementing the new ideas. However, the entrepreneurs can successfully endeavour in their newly created venture by developing mandatory skills that will allow them to prosper with zeal and zest in the entrepreneurial field. The vital skills that are required to be acquired by the entrepreneurs are technical (oral and written communication, organising and technical management skills), business management (decision making, accounting, marketing, sales, leading and planning skills), personal entrepreneurial (innovation, risk taking, inner control and self-motivational skills) and other important skills such as persistence, visionary, locus of control and change orientation (White, Thornhill & Hampson, 2007). Decision making is a very important attribute that needs to be possessed by all small and big entrepreneurs as delay in decision making may cause the business to face heavy consequences. Some entrepreneurs have to constantly polish their skills with time as new technologies are emerging at a constant pace. The entrepreneurs need to ensure that they are well aware of the latest business practices so that accordingly they can implement such practices in their flourishing business. Entrepreneurs are born not made The researchers have been striving hard to answer the question ‘is entrepreneur born or made’; there are many people who believe that the entrepreneurs are either born or made and others believe that the entrepreneurs possess both hereditary characteristics (born entrepreneurs) and acquired skills (made entrepreneurs). It has been found that majority of the successful entrepreneurs i.e. 80% have genetic entrepreneurial characteristics and they obtain necessary skills by acquiring the education that will help them in making a successful headway for their newly created endeavour (Schjoedt, 2009). This reflects upon the importance of education and the role it plays in grooming entrepreneurs for the future business market. In order to help the entrepreneurs in attaining a reputable position in the market, the universities and educational institutions have designed entrepreneurial programs that help the individuals in making themselves competitive for the business environment. There are many educational institutions that have ensured that they offer specialised degrees for future entrepreneurs so that they can ensure that their innovative ideas are compatible with the unmet demands of the huge population. Such entrepreneurial programs create a good amount of awareness for the new students and future entrepreneurs as well. They learn the latest strategies and techniques and accordingly use their creativity to work on their business. It has been stated by Kuratko (2005) that entrepreneurship is both an art and science; the science component comprises of the skills required for the business management and work can be taught and the art element is related to the innovative and inherent attributes of entrepreneurship that can be easily taught to the entrepreneurs. The notion that entrepreneurs cannot be made is somewhat untrue as the people have to learn the skills and competencies that will help them in developing the realistic and genuine projects. It is important for the entrepreneurs to ensure that they manage to attain victory in their business enterprise by thinking ahead about their inspirations, developing a vision for running the enterprise, working out the important attributes of the business, ensure that the resources are effectively employed and evaluating the new initiative from every aspect so that there are less risks of failure. Almost all the entrepreneurs who have ensured that they are capable of developing new ventures with perfection have moved ahead with their visions and they have been booming in their ventures. Entrepreneurial thinking is important for entrepreneurs as this gives them an insight in seeing into future opportunities of the business world. The business plans needs to be carefully drafted by the entrepreneurs so that the business moves in the required direction. It is vital for the entrepreneurs to ensure that they develop the new and innovative projects after conducting careful market analysis so that they can meet the demands of the customers effectively and ensure that the best enterprises are developed with accuracy. Likewise, it is important for the entrepreneurs to ensure that they extend their skills base required for lucratively running the business so that there are unlimited triumphs in the targeted industry. Conclusion The concept of entrepreneurship is new in the market and the educational institutions are offering the latest programs in accordance to the wants of the upcoming entrepreneurs so that they can acquire the aptitude and competencies required for launching successful ventures in the market. The future graduates of business programmes understand the latest ways of conducting business successfully via these courses. If students develop interest while studying the courses then they stand a good chance of becoming successful. In order to develop flourishing enterprises, the entrepreneurs have to ensure that they obtain necessary qualifications from well-known institutions and avail opportunities that are present and will provide them the platforms for making productive contribution in the industry. Although most of the entrepreneurs are born with characteristics required for starting well-thought and conceptually conceived ideas but they can successfully prosper only by polishing their contemporary skills by undertaking necessary training programs and obtaining mandatory qualifications. The researchers have been studying the topic extensively so that they can ensure that they can provide genuine guidance and assistance to the upcoming entrepreneurs who want to be assured that they have the expertise and professionalism required for moving ahead in the industry. Hence, it can be said that the entrepreneurs have to exhibit their entrepreneurial talent by availing obligatory credentials that will ensure that they have all the skilfulness required for running the entrepreneurial businesses. They even need to widen their abilities and expertise so that they have a strong determination and will power to proficiently implement their innovative ideas and concepts. Hence, the entrepreneurs have to upgrade their existing capabilities and the latest aptitude which will ensure that their ventures are thriving and they are victorious in their industries. Some entrepreneurs may be born and some are made with time but both of these entrepreneurs need to updates their skills and capabilities with the changing times as all business practices are advancing at a gradual pace. References Amit, R., Glosten, L. and Muller, E., 2007. Challenges to theory development in entrepreneurship research. Journal of Management Studies, 30(5), pp. 815-834. Baron, R.A., Tang, J. and Hmieleski, M., 2011. The downside of being ‘up’: entrepreneurs’ dispositional affect and firm performance. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 5(2), 101-119. Breugst, N., Domurath, N., Patzelt, H. and Klaukien, A., 2011. Perceptions of entrepreneurial passion and employees’ commitment to entrepreneurial ventures. Entrepreneurship theory and practice, 36(1), pp. 171-192. Deakins, D. and Freel, M., 2006. Entrepreneurship and small firms. 4th ed. Berkshire: McGraw-Hill Publications. Dyer, J.F., Gregersen, H.B. and Christensen, C., 2008. Entrepreneur behaviors, opportunity recognition and the origins of innovative ventures. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 2(4), pp. 317-338. Kuratko, D.F., 2005. The emergence of entrepreneurial education: development, trends and challenges. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 29(5), pp. 577-598. Lamburg, J.A., Tikkanen, H., Nokelainen, T. and Suur-Inkeroinen, H., 2008. Competitive dynamics, strategic consistency and organizational survival. Strategic Management Journal, 30(1), pp. 45-60. Schjoedt, L., 2009. Entrepreneurial job characteristics: An examination of their effect on entrepreneurial satisfaction. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 33(3), pp. 619-644. Shepherd. D.A., 2009. Moving forward: Balancing the financial and emotional costs of business failure. Journal of Business Venturing, 24, pp. 134-148. White, R.E., Thornhill, S. and Hampson, E., 2007. A biosocial model of entrepreneurship: the combined effects of nature and nurture. Journal of Organisational Behaviour, 28(4), 451-466. Read More