Introduction to Entrepreneurship

Course :Commerce
Paper :Entrepreneurship
Lesson :Introduction to Entrepreneurship
Lesson Developer :Ms. Nidhi Bansal
Department/College:Department of Commerce,
ARSD College,
University of Delhi
Reviewer’s Name :Dr. Gurmeet Kaur
Fellow in Commerce, ILLL
Associate Professor,
Daulat Ram College,
University of Delhi

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 Introduction to Entrepreneurship

Table of Contents:
Introduction
1. Learning Outcomes
2. Introduction
2.1 Entrepreneur
2.2 Creative Behaviour
2.3 Entrepreneurship
2.4 Evolution of Concept of Entrepreneurship
3. Elements of Entrepreneurship
4. Determinants of Entrepreneurship
5. Importance of Entrepreneurship
6. Entrepreneurship‟s Response to the Society‟s Problems
7. Dimensions of Entrepreneurship
7.1 Intrapreneurship
7.2 Technopreneurship
7.3 Cultural Entrepreneurship
7.4 International Entrepreneurship
7.5 Netpreneurship
7.6 Ecopreneurship
7.7 Social Entrepreneurship
Summary
Exercises
References
Quiz

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1. Learning Outcomes:
After you have read this chapter, you should be able to:
 explain the term entrepreneur,
 grasp the meaning of entrepreneurship,
 identify various elements of entrepreneurship,
 identify the determinants of entrepreneurship,
 know the importance of entrepreneurship,
 understand the entrepreneur‟s response to problems at work,
 comprehend the various dimensions of entrepreneurship.

2. Introduction:
2.1 Entrepreneur
The term entrepreneur has been derived from French word „entreprendre‟ which means to
undertake. It can further be defined as to undertake risk. The risk of failure involved in
trying a new idea or a new way of doing an existing activity. An entrepreneur is the one who
finds an opportunity and then puts his heart, soul, brain and everything to convert his
dreams into reality. The opportunity is in the form of gap in the market. The gap may be in
the form of:
 demand /market for a new product,
 demand for a better/improved version of an existing product or
 a new market.
Entrepreneurs are those who want to be their own boss. They do not like taking orders
from others or to be bound in 9 to 5 job. They define their own rules; understand no
boundaries and aim for the sky.

2.2 Creative Behaviour

Creative behaviour means carrying out things differently from an existing pattern. It means
applying creative thinking i.e. out of box thinking to carry out even routine activities. When
a routine or normal activity is done creatively, it results in some kind of innovation. Creative
behaviour discards existing ways or techniques of executing the things and rather
experiments with the unexplored techniques or methods/ways for doing even the mundane
tasks.

2.3 Entrepreneurship
It is the process whereby the entrepreneurs create an enterprise. An entrepreneur provides
the input of creativity and innovation to his dreams/idea/opportunity and creates the output
in the form of successful venture.
Entrepreneurship starts with the generation of idea, feasibility studies and putting 5 M‟s –
Men, Machine, Material, Money, Methods together and ends with the creation of final
product or service. It is a process whereby the entrepreneur assembles the various factors
of production to convert the untapped opportunity into a business venture.

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Figure 1: Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneur Entrepreneurship
Process

However, the journey of this conversion is what defines the traits of an entrepreneur. Only
an individual who has strong degree of conviction, passion, and risk aptitude is able to
convert an idea into a venture. To be a successful entrepreneur, an individual must be:
Figure 2: Essential Traits of an Entrepreneur
Relevant Traits of an Entrepreneur
 Highly passionate
 Risk Taker
 Highly motivated
 Possess leadership skills
 Never give up attitude
 Ready to work under uncertainties
 Creative thinker
 Works independently
 Wants to achieve something meaningful.
However, in the traits mentioned above, following traits are not mentioned.
Figure 3: Irrelevant Traits for an Entrepreneur
Irrelevant Traits
 Educational qualification
 Gender
 Age
 Financial background
The above traits are not what make an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs are the people who set
their own rules and find an opportunity even in adversity. There is no relationship between
age, gender or qualification and the entrepreneurship. For example:
KFC was founded by Col. Harland Sanders, who started selling fried chicken from his roadside restaurant
in Kentucky, at the age of 62; Paytm‟s Vishal Shekhar Sharma studied in Hindi medium.
There are many women entrepreneurs in India like Kiran Mujumdar Shaw of Biocon Limited,
Rashmi Sinha founder of Slideshare.

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Value Addition 1: Video

Traits of A Successful Entrepreneur

Click on the link below to watch the traits of a successful Entrepreneur

as defined by Mr. Narayan Murthy: Founder Infosys Ltd.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALETWTosa4w

2.4 Evolution of the Concept of Entrepreneurship

The concept of Entrepreneurship first was discussed by French economist, Richard
Cantillon. He defined entrepreneur as the person who buys or assembles certain items at
current price and sells in the future at a price which is uncertain and thereby assumes
risk.
Schumpeter defined entrepreneurship as “the gale of creative destruction to replace in
whole or in part inferior offerings across markets and industries, simultaneously creating
new products and new business models. Thus, creative destruction is largely responsible
for long-term economic growth”.1
Peter Drucker has pointed that “An entrepreneur searches for change, responds to it
and exploits opportunities. Innovation is a specific tool of an entrepreneur; hence an
effective entrepreneur converts a source into resource.” 2
Cole defined entrepreneurship as,” Entrepreneurship is the purposeful activity of an
individual or a group of associated individuals undertaken to initiate, maintain and
aggrandize profit by production or distribution of economic goods and services."3
Higgins defined entrepreneurship as “Entrepreneurship is meant the function of
foreseeing investment and production opportunities, organizing an enterprise to
undertake a new production process, raising capital, hiring labour, arranging the supply
of raw materials, finding site, introducing a new technique, discovering new resources or
raw materials and selecting top managers for day to day operations of the enterprise.”4

3. Elements of Entrepreneurship:
From the above definitions we can break down entrepreneurship as comprising of the
following elements.
1. Economic Activity
Entrepreneurship leads to creation of enterprises, involved in production, consumption
and distribution of goods and services at various levels in the society. This in turn leads
to creation of asset and wealth which further enhances the economic development of
the country.

1
Joseph Alois Schumpeter, The Theory of Economic Development: An Inquiry Into Profits,
Capital, Credit, Interest, and the Business Cycle, Transaction Publishers, 1934.
2
Peter Drucker, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Harper & Row, 1985
3
Arthur H. Cole, Business Enterprise in its Social Setting, Harvard University Press,
Cambridge, 1959.
4
Higgins Benjamin, Economic Development, Central Book Depot, Allahabad,1961.

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2. Innovative Activity
Entrepreneurship is a mix of personal traits and creative behaviour. An entrepreneur to
make his mark in the business world needs to try and implement something new. This
can be in the form of:
 New product,
 Adoption of new business model,
 Venturing into a new market.
Figure 4: Elements of Entrepreneurship

Economic Innovative
Activity Activity

Result Dynamic
Oriented Activity

High
Purposeful
Degree of
Activity
Risk

3. Organisation Building
An entrepreneur is the person who assembles all the factors of production, sets up the
structure and gets an organisation going.
4. Dynamic activity
An entrepreneur continuously needs to experiment and innovate. It is not a one-time
activity. Even after the successful launch, an entrepreneur needs to review, update and
innovate to be in business.
5. Purposeful Activity
Every venture starts with a purpose. Purpose or motive may be profit or doing
something consequential for the society in general. For example: for social
entrepreneurs motive is to bring about some social change, for ecopreneurs motive is
to save the environment. Whatever the motive may be entrepreneurs‟ impact large
strata of society.
6. High Degree of Risk
In every entrepreneurial activity high degree of risk is involved. The risk of venturing
into something unexplored. A risk adverse individual cannot become a successful
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entrepreneur. Risk taking and entrepreneurship go hand in hand.

7. Result Oriented
Individuals with high degree of need for achievement; to create a name for themselves
are likely to succeed. These are highly result oriented individuals who believe in
delivering the end product/service.

Value Addition 2: Activity

Collect the information about the following Indian startups and their
founders:
 Ola cabs
 Snapdeal
 Flipkart
 Housing.com
 OYO rooms
 Quickr
Study the kind of innovation they have brought into the Indian Market.

4. Determinants of Entrepreneurship:
The determinants of entrepreneurship can be broadly classified into four categories.
Figure 5: Determinants of Entrepreneurship

Socio-Cultural
Factors

Personal Politico-
Traits
Entrepreneurship Economic
Factors

Network of
Funding
Agencies

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1. Socio-Cultural Factors
Socio-Culture factors refer to beliefs, value systems, customs practiced by a certain
group of people or a society. Socio-Cultural factors in any country or region definitely
affects the entrepreneurial ventures in the following ways:
a) Risk Bearing: In every society there in unwritten norm of acceptable behavior.
People are mentally tuned in right from childhood to follow this behavior. For
example in a society where job is considered as a better and safe employment,
then parents may discourage their children from starting something on their own
and taking risk as result of which there are not many entrepreneurs in such
society.
b) Culture of Thrift: In a society where people have purchasing power but don‟t
spend i.e. saving is promoted, then there is less demand for products/services, so
less encouragement for people to start something new.
c) Mindset: In a certain societies there is a culture that one should work
independently. For example: In state of Gujarat people are more inclined to have
business of their own. So many entrepreneurs like Dhirubhai Ambani of Reliance,
Karsanbhai Patel of Nirma group, Azim Premji of Wipro and many others have
originated from Gujarat.
d) Respect for Entrepreneurs: In a society where social status of entrepreneur is
considered higher, there is greater potential for people opting and trying for
entrepreneurial activity.
2. Politico-Economic Factors
A country which has a stable and free government is more likely to have better
environment for private enterprises. The government‟s attitude and encouragement
towards any economic activity is reflected in its policy guidelines. In a country where
government provides:
a) tax holidays,
b) infrastructure support in the form of roads, uninterrupted power supply, raw
material availability;
c) favorable legislation i.e. less complex labour laws and less documentation,
d) less bottlenecks in entry and exit,
e) less procedural requirements in obtaining export/import licenses, is more like to
see greater entrepreneurial activity.
3. Network of Funding Agencies
The economy which has a well-developed stock markets and capital markets,
ensures less documentation and easy availability of funds, and has a proper network
of venture capitalist firms and angel investors is more likely to promote the culture
of entrepreneurship.
4. Personal Factors
All the above factors provide a conducive environment for entrepreneurial activity.
But the actual action depends upon the personal traits of an individual.
Traits like:
a) degree of motivation;

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b) desire to create something new;

c) leadership quality and
d) risk taking aptitude
define an entrepreneur.

5. Importance of Entrepreneurship:
A successful venture not only brings sense of achievement and purpose for the
entrepreneur, it is also essential for an economy. It contributes to the growth and
development of the country in the following ways:
Figure 6: Importance of Entrepreneurship

Capital
Formation

Lower Costs Employment

Oppurtunities

Importance of
Entrepreneurship
Balanced
Self-Reliance
Regional Growth

Utilisation of
Greater Exports Local Resources

1. Capital Formation
Whenever an entrepreneur comes with an idea, the initial funding is done by angel
investors and venture capitalist firms, but once it becomes operational it leads to
value addition and thus capital formation which further leads to growth of the
economy.
2. Employment Opportunities
In a developing country like India there is a dearth of employment opportunities.
Government by itself cannot create employment opportunities. With the setting up of
new enterprises, more employment opportunities are created especially for the
skilled and educated youth. The government of India is also focussing on skill
development programmes for the youth so that they can become self-employed and
become entrepreneurs and create jobs for others. Also since enterprises are set up
by highly driven and passionate people, they have a high growth rate which further
enhances the job opportunities.

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3. Balanced Regional Growth

Entrepreneurial talent is not limited to urban or metropolitan cities. An entrepreneur
may come from a small town or a big city. Since an entrepreneur starts a venture
with minimum resources and maximum passion, he may prefer semi-urban or rural
area to minimise cost. If an entrepreneur sets up a unit in rural or semi urban area,
it not only leads to employment opportunity which in turn reduces migration from
rural to urban area but also leads to development of infrastructure and other
facilities like roads, transport, health education in that area. It also helps in
achievement of objective of inclusive growth.
4. Utilisation of Local Resources
Since an entrepreneur is more inclined to set up its unit in semi urban area, this
leads to utilisation of local resources be it manpower or raw materials. This also
creates purchasing power in the hands of local people thus creating greater demand
which in turn leads to higher industrial development.
5. Greater Exports
Entrepreneurs are generally highly technology driven people and maintain high
standards so the products/services produced by them meet international standards.
These entrepreneurs export the product and services and earn foreign exchange for
the country. For example: Infosys started by Narayan Murthy, Wipro by Azim Premji
provides software solutions to countries outside India.
6. Self-Reliance
Since entrepreneurs find out indigenous way of producing things, they may provide a
substitute for imported products. Entrepreneurs help introduce forward and
backward linkages into the system thus making a country self-reliant.
7. Lower Costs of Products
The entrepreneurs use highly advanced technology and latest techniques which
results in lower cost of production, thus greater benefits for the customers who get
better quality products at lower price thereby raising their standard of living.

Value Addition 3: Activity

Case Study

Study the profile of Azim Premji and Narayan Murthy. Find out the
contribution their companies have made in the area of exports and
employment generation in India.

6. Entrepreneurship’s Response to the Society’ Problems:

An entrepreneur when starting something new is taking an untraveled path. It‟s entirely
an explored area for him. As travels through this path he will encounter various obstacles
and problems. He needs to address them creatively to achieve his goals. An entrepreneur
can address these problems in the following ways:

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Figure 7: Ways to Encounter Challenges

Continuous Market Research

Perserervance

Positive Attitude

Ways to encounter Plan Ahead

Challenegs
Hiring Talented People

Right Information systems

Proper Financial Maangement

Acquiring New Skills

Embrace Change

1. Continuous Market Research

To keep problems at length entrepreneurs should continuously do market research.
It is not a one-time activity to be done at the time of launch. Business environment
both internal and external is very dynamic. What may be feasible and attractive at
the time of start may not remain feasible or may have lot of competitors by the time
of its launch. So an entrepreneur may have to change or add more dimensions to his
product or service. This updation and innovation is required and necessary even after
the successful launch. For example: Reliance Industries which initially started as a
textile industry has diversified into petrochemicals, refinery, retail,
telecommunications and natural resources. So the entrepreneurs must focus on
market research on continuous basis to avoid failure as well as downfall.
2. Perseverance
An entrepreneur is the only individual who runs for all the permissions, do feasibility
studies and assembles all the things; he may face obstacles at every step. He should
be ready to face lots of delays and rejection. So an entrepreneur should be
perseverant. He should not be bothered by criticism and never give up. He should
not lose patience and keep on trying. For example: Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba
Group Holding Limited applied for 30 different jobs and got rejected. He went for a
job with the police; and was rejected. Ma went for interview at KFC where twenty-
four people went for the job, twenty-three were accepted and he was the only one
who got rejected. This shows one of the biggest traits for entrepreneur‟s survival is
„never-say-die‟ spirit.

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3. Positive Attitude
An entrepreneur must always have positive attitude. Positive attitude enables an
entrepreneur to look at the things in right perspective. He should not be scared of
the roadblocks. It is his optimistic attitude and conviction that keeps him going.
4. Plan Ahead
An entrepreneur must plan for the future. Plans helps an entrepreneur track his own
progress, to judge how far he is from the actual launch. Plans make the actions time
bound. Without a plan an entrepreneur may find it difficult to launch the
product/service on time. Plans should be made not only at the start or till the launch
but it is a continuous process. Even after successful launch an entrepreneur should
plan out future course of action. Plans keep the companies on track. But a common
mistake an entrepreneur does is not to revise the plan. Since entrepreneurship is
very dynamic activity and also the future is uncertain and unpredictable, the plans
need to be revised continuously else the business may lag behind.
5. Hiring Talented People
One of the biggest problems that entrepreneurs face is hiring the right kind of people
for the job. Most of the talented people want to work for well-known company and
also want a higher package. An Entrepreneur can tackle this problem by hiring
interns. Interns are the fresher‟s who want to work for experience and are
enthusiastic to learn.
6. Right Information Systems
As the business grows lot of information is generated. The information may relate to
employees, operating data, financial data, or regulatory framework. An entrepreneur
must invest in efficient information to segregate and disseminate important
information to various departments. Unless the information is properly analysed and
used for decision making, it is of no use. Generally investing in an information
system is considered a waste of resources by an entrepreneur but it goes a long way
in ensuring the success of any organization.
7. Proper Financial Management
Success of any entrepreneurial venture depends a great deal on funding. Since
majority of entrepreneurs have an idea but no funds to finance that idea. They
depend on raising funds from outside sources like angel investors and venture
capitalists. So the funds raised have to be used wisely and logically across the
activities. Any misjudgment may lead the failure of the entire venture. Not only this,
an entrepreneur must keep a constant vigil on cash flow management. There should
be adequate liquidity to ensure smooth functioning. So an entrepreneur should invest
his maximum time on cash and all other fund management activities to succeed.
8. Acquiring New Skills
The skill set required to run the business is not same as required to launch the
business. In the initial launch phase it is the entrepreneur who is doing the entire
thing: from taking permissions, strategizing, running for funding. But after the
launch, scale of operations expands, all of which cannot be handled by him alone.
More men and machinery has to be hired and work has to be distributed. Many
entrepreneurs are in habit of doing everything themselves, they do not delegate and
give adequate freedom to their employees. This stifles creativity among the
employees. Employees see this as interference by the entrepreneur. As the business
grows entrepreneurs need to delegate and trust more for day to day activities and
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focus on strategic issues.

9. Embrace Change
Entrepreneurs should not be afraid of change, rather they should look forward to
change as a new opportunity. To be successful an entrepreneur must be able to
anticipate the change in advance, so as to explore and face it. The entrepreneurs
must continuously do SWOT (Strength Weakness Opportunities Threats) analysis to
be able to overcome failures and exploit the opportunities. The entrepreneurs who
are not able to keep pace with the change may find it hard to survive.

Value Addition 4: Activity

Case Study
Study the profile of any two entrepreneurs in e-commerce sector in
India. Analyze and understand the challenges they faced and how they
overcame those challenges.

7. Dimensions of Entrepreneurship:
Figure 8: Dimensions of Entrepreneurship

Intrapreneurship

Technopreneurship
Dimensions of Entrepreneurship

Cultural
Entrepreneurship

International
Entrepreneurship

Netpreneurship

Ecopreneurship

Social
Entrepreneurship

7.1 Intrapreneurship
Intrapreneurs are not entrepreneurs in strict sense. They are employees working in a
large organisation. They act as entrepreneurs in their existing roles without assuming the
risks associated. They find innovative solutions to a specific problem at hand within an
organisation. Like entrepreneurs they are not connected with the company from its
inception stage rather use their entrepreneurial skills to a particular area of a company.

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Many big companies actively foster intrapreneurship within their organizations, allowing
their employees to spend 10 to 20 percent of their time on innovative ideas that are not
connected to their job description. Companies such as Google and Intel are well known for
their efforts in this regard. Big companies looking for innovation should create a culture of
intrapreneurship. At the same time employees who get to test their entrepreneurial talent
while at work are more likely to start their own venture but still promoting
intrapreneurship is necessary to maintain continuity of the large companies. Examples of
intrapreneurial activities are:
 Gmail, Google News, Google maps are entrepreneurial efforts inside Google,
 PlayStation is an innovation inside Sony.

Difference between Entrepreneur and Intrapreneur

Entrepreneur Intrapreneur

Entrepreneur is the owner of Intrapreneur is an employee in

Status
the business. an organization.

Entrepreneurship is based on
Intrapreneur innovates but it is
innovation. The idea which is
limited only to a specific
Innovation the basis of an organization is
project or specific area of the
the brainchild of an
company.
entrepreneur.

Intrapreneur has to consult

Entrepreneur himself takes all
Decision Maker higher authorities before
the decisions
taking a decision.

In Intrapreneurship no risk is
Entrepreneur assumes all the involved. Intrapreneur still
Risk Taker
risk. gets his salary even if the
project fails.

7.2 Technopreneurship
Technopreneurs are those entrepreneurs who bring innovation and change in the
technology based products. An entrepreneur who merges technology with entrepreneurial
talent, skill, is known as technopreneur. Technopreneurs are technocrats who are driven
by technology to develop a new product or drastically reduce the cost of an existing
product. These entrepreneurs are usually highly skilled and knowledgeable just out of
college graduates driven by a passion to create something new.
For example: Paytm and Infosys Ltd.
Paytm was started by Vishal Shekhar Sharma in 2010 as prepaid mobile recharge and
utility bill Payments Company. Paytm stands for pay through your mobile. In 2014, it
launched mobile wallet. Now it has big names; like Ratan Tata, Alibaba group as its
investors. It has grown phenomenally with over 100 million registered users. In a short span
of time Paytm has scaled to more than 60 Million orders per month.
Infosys Limited is an Indian multinational corporation that provides business consulting,
information technology and outsourcing services. It‟s headquarter is in Bangalore,

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Karnataka. Infosys was co-founded in 1981 by 7 Engineers Narayan Murthy, Nandan

Nilekani, N. S. Raghavan, S. Gopalakrishnan, S. D. Shibulal, K. Dinesh and Ashok Arora
after they resigned from Patni Computer Systems. Infosys is listed on NYSE stock
exchange. It has more than more than 194,000 employees. From a capital of US$ 250, it
has grown to become a US$ 9.50 billion (FY16 revenues) company with a market
capitalization of approximately US$ 43.7 billion.5

Value Addition 5: Video

Click on the link below to watch the success story of Vishal

Shekhar Sharma of Paytm. Get inspiration from how he defied all
the odds to set up a successful company.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_xNskloX70

7.3 Cultural Entrepreneurs

Cultural entrepreneurs are those who come out with a new product or service that
enhances and preserves the culture, cuisine, art form, tradition or anything related to the
soul of a region or a country. A cultural entrepreneur takes high degree of pride in his
culture and very much connected to the roots of his country. They are not driven by profit
rather by the passion for promoting art and culture and ancient practices. Their goal is to
achieve long term sustainable growth. They basically work with local people, artisans, and
indigenous infrastructure. They aim at satisfying the needs of customers of cultural
products and services. For example: children in any country are the biggest consumers of
many products/ services; same is the case with cultural products/services. To educate
children about the culture and tradition of a country, the content has to be creative.
Stories and plays are richer and better source than texts; but when these stories were
created in the form of animation like Chotta Bhim, Jai Ganesha, they had a greater
impact.
A cultural entrepreneur assumes a higher degree of risk as compared to other
entrepreneurs as the risk of failure is high. It is difficult to judge what may or may not
click with the general public. Also for cultural entrepreneurs venture capitalists are not
very enthusiastic to fund them.

Value Addition 6: Exploratory

Sahapedia is a free online open resource for getting information
on India‟s rich heritage and culture. Explore the web link given
below.
Source: http://www.sahapedia.org/

A very prominent example of cultural entrepreneur in India is Baba Ramdev. Baba

Ramdev is yoga guru. He popularised yoga through mass yoga camps. Besides making

5
https://www.infosys.com/about/Pages/history.aspx

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yoga a household name, he promoted Ayurveda, an ancient medical science of India. He

started a company called Patanjali Ayurveda limited on 13 January 2006 as a private ltd
company which was later converted to public limited company on 25 June 2007. Patanjali
Ayurveda Ltd manufactures various products based on ayurveda and herbal formulations.
The various products of Patanjali Ayurveda ranging from medicines to soaps, biscuits,
pulses, rice, shampoos are highly popular among the people. Not only this Patanjali
entered into marketing strategy with Future group as a result of which Patanjali products
are now available at various big Bazaars outlets . The turnover of Patanjali Ayurveda Ltd
has grown exponentially from 163 crores in FY 2009-10 to 5000 crores in 2015-16. It is
one of the fastest growing Indian company providing tough compettition to MNCs in the
FMCG sector.

7.4 International Entrepreneurship

An international entrepreneur is combination of two terms: International and
Entrepreneur, i.e., an entrepreneur who has international presence. International
entrepreneurs are those who bring our some innovation in product or service which is
highly successful not only in domestic market but also able to their mark in international
market. International entrepreneurs may export, provide a licence or open a sales office in
foreign country. International entrepreneurs earn profit not only in domestic country but
also generate and reap higher profits by utilising the local resources, cheap labour, lower
manufacturing costs, sales potential of domestic markets. Such entrepreneurs are usually
driven by urge to reap windfall gains.
Example: Apple Incorporation
Steve Jobs one of the greatest entrepreneurs of this century was a college dropout. He
discontinued his education because of financial constraints of his family. He started with
odd jobs and had free meals from local Hare Krishna temple. Jobs then went to have a
successful career, eventually forming the Apple Computer Company with his childhood
friend and electronics expert Steve Wozniak. Jobs referred to as "The Grandfather of the
Digital Revolution," made Apple a big brand name. Apple not only ventured into iPhone
but also into iPad and notebooks. Apple products command a huge market worldwide. At
the time of his death, his net worth was over $8.3 billion, and he continues to be an
inspiration for many budding entrepreneurs.

Value Addition 7: Video

Click on the link below to watch the video on how Steve Jobs, a
college dropout, became the CEO of APPLE computers and
revolutionized the electronics industry.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y4G3vDipfk

7.5 Netpreneurship
The term Netpreneurship comprises of two words: Net and Entrepreneurship. Netpreneurs
are those entrepreneurs who start a small venture which is usually only online with no
physical office. It is a virtual entrepreneurship. Employees are located at different places
and they connect with each other and with the entrepreneur via information technology.
Though the entrepreneur and the employees are at located at different locations; still the
role and traits of an entrepreneur remain the same as in case of any other type of
entrepreneurship. Such entrepreneurs usually provide services like:

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 online coaching,
 online music classes,
 online courses are also offered where a candidate needs to register online for a
course, gets online course material and appears in online exam or
 provide a platform for exchange of news, information or ideas like Slideshare.
Everyone who provides online coaching or online music classes is not a netpreneur, but
only one who first came out the idea and started with the things is a net entrepreneur.
Facebook, a social networking site, which majority of us are aware of and use was
launched by Mark Zuckerberg on February 4, 2004 with his Harvard College roommates. It
was initially launched for the students of Harvard University only. Later its membership
was opened to other higher education institutions in Boston area and Stanford University.
It further allowed students of other universities and later even high school students to be
part of it. Since 2006, anyone above the age of 13 years across all countries is allowed to
register and create an account with Facebook. Facebook, Inc. launched its initial public
offer in 2012 and reached an original peak market capitalization of $104 billion. Facebook
as medium to exchange pictures, life events or videos has grown exponentially with over
142 million users in India, of which about 133 million access the social media platform
through their mobile phones. India is the largest market for Facebook outside of the US.
At the end of December 2015, the US-based firm had 1.59 billion monthly active users6.

Value Addition 8: Video

Click on the link below to watch the video on how Facebook to

which we all are addicted was created. Learn how its founder
Mark Zuckerberg launched the social networking site in his
college days.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l1uTAVEnvU

7.6 Ecopreneurship
Ecopreneurs are those entrepreneurs who come with a new product or service to protect
environment or to minimise the adverse impact on environment. Their focus is on finding
innovative solutions to achieve sustainable future growth. Ecopreneurs also referred to as
green entrepreneurs focus on tackling ecological issues like climate change, pollution,
resource depletion, global warming, e-waste management. They are usually established in
the form of non-profit organisations driven by the concern for environment. Such
entrepreneurs come out with innovative eco-friendly, products based on use of natural
resources as raw materials.
There is greater awareness for ecopreneurship because of number of factors like:
1. Increasing awareness to protect the environment. The Kyoto protocol 7 to which India

6
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/Facebook-userbase-crosses-142-million-in-
India/articleshow/51330777.cms
7
. The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change, which commits its member countries by setting internationally binding emission reduction targets.
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is a signatory has opened lot of opportunities for ecopreneurs in India. Kyoto

protocol allows developed countries to buy carbon credits from other countries to
reach their quota for carbon emission reduction. Also they can invest carbon
emission reduction projects in developing country like India to meet their
requirement.
2. Increasing awareness created by various environmental agencies like Centre for
Science and Environment (CSE). CSE has played a very important role in creating
awareness about the pesticides contained in soft drinks. CSE also educates people
about the environmental concerns.
3. Today‟s generation is more aware and health conscious, so a greater demand for
environmentally safe and organic products.
All these factors have made the funding for ecopreneurs comparatively less cumbersome
and easier. However, Indian consumer is still is not a green consumer. There are certain
factors which an entrepreneur must keep in mind in Indian context to be successful.
Indian customer is still influenced by convenience and cost. Customer will go for the eco-
friendly product only if it is easily available and costs less or at least equal to other non-
eco-friendly products. For example: LED lights started gaining popularity only when their
costs were brought down.
Mitti cool an ecopreneurship venture by Mansukhbhai Prajapati, a clay craftsman, has
developed an entire range of earthen products like water filters, refrigerators, hot plates,
cooker and other such items of daily use. These products are available at a very cheaper
price as compared to other commercial products. Being the only son and the eldest child,
he helped his father in their traditional profession of clay pottery. In the fateful
earthquake of January 2001 in Kutch, Mansukhbhai suffered huge loss. He distributed
whatever stock was left to the quake affected people of Kutch. In February 2001, Sandesh
Gujarati Daily carried a feature on the earthquake where at one place it showed a
damaged water filter of Mansukhbhai with the caption: The Broken Fridge of Poor.
This caption made him think on the idea of developing a refrigerator that would work
without electricity and can be used by masses. He experimented for three years with
different sorts of soil and designs and he finally came out fridge in 2005. It became a
huge success. After that he has come out with various products like Tava, Cooker all made
of clay.

Value Addition 9: Video

Click on the link below to watch the video on how a clay

potter turned to be an entrepreneur. His journey from the
potter to an entrepreneur is worth watching.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHxcD7Zio-w

Elrhino is a non-profit organization led by entrepreneur Nisha Bora, a young Assamese.

The objective of the company is to create livelihood as well as utilize the naturally
available raw material to create paper and paper products instead of cutting trees. It
manufactures and sells stationery items, packaging provisions and handcrafted luxury
paper made from recycled rhinoceros and elephant dung. The company looks after the
entire chain starting from collection, processing, production and sale of recycled paper
products. Elrhino has the capacity to produce 15 tons of paper per year, which converts
into 100 full time jobs in paper creation and 500 part-time jobs in collection and
processing of raw material.

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Value Addition 10: Video

Click on the link below to watch the video on how Elrhino is

contributing to the environment.

Source: www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1dKWRWFdEM

7.7 Social Entrepreneurship

Social entrepreneurs are those who take initiative to eradicate some of the problems a
society may be facing like issues relating to children, women, or any other underprivileged
section of the society. A social entrepreneur is one who is deeply connected and affected by
the various societal issues. He organises the resources and take steps to tackle certain
social issues. Here the main motive is not to make profit or set up a large enterprise rather
community development.
Goonj, a non-profit organisation started by Anshu Gupta known as clothing man, initially
started with collection of unused and old clothes from the urban areas and used it for
fulfilling the basic needs of women in rural areas. Initially it started with clothes but now
Goonj also collects school materials, old doors and computers from urban areas and
distribute it among the needy people in urban or rural area. It intends to bridge the gap
between prosperity and poverty. Goonj uses the urban waste to bring out inclusive growth.
With this initiative Goonj has been able to positively impact the lives of millions across
India.
IKEA a social enterprise works for women artisans. It enables the women to earn income
by helping them produce and sell products using their traditional handicrafts skills. Many
women from states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Karnataka are associated with IKEA.

Value Addition 11: Video

Click on the link below to watch the video on IKEA is

changing the lives of thousands of women and empowering
them through the use of their own traditional handicrafts
skills.

Source: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUNh9R5TPbo

Summary:
1. The term entrepreneur has been derived from French word „entreprendre‟ which
means to undertake. It can further be defined as to undertake risk.
2. Creative behaviour means carrying out things differently from the existing pattern.
3. Entrepreneurship is the process whereby the entrepreneurs create an enterprise.
4. Entrepreneurial activity depends on social–cultural factors, politico-economic factors,
funding agencies‟ network and personal traits of an entrepreneur.
5. Entrepreneurship leads to capital formation, employment opportunities, balanced
regional growth, utilisation of local resources, greater exports and lower costs of the
products.

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6. An entrepreneur can overcome the challenges by undertaking continuous market

research, perseverance, positive attitude, planning ahead, hiring interns, employing
right information systems, acquiring new skills and embracing change.
7. Intrapreneurs are not entrepreneurs in strict sense. They act as entrepreneurs in
their existing roles without assuming the risks associated.
8. Technopreneurs are those entrepreneurs who bring innovation and change in the
technology based products. A technopreneur merges technology with entrepreneurial
talent and skill.
9. Cultural entrepreneurs are those who come out with a new product or service that
enhances and preserves the culture, cuisine, art form, tradition or anything related
to the soul of a region or a country.
10. International entrepreneur is combination of two terms: International and
entrepreneur .i.e. entrepreneurs who have international presence.
11. The term Netpreneurship comprises of two words: Net and Entrepreneurship.
Netpreneurs are those entrepreneurs who start a small venture which is usually only
online with no physical office.
12. Ecopreneurs are those entrepreneurs who come with a new product or service to
protect environment or to minimise the adverse impact on environment.
13. Social entrepreneurs are those who take initiative to eradicate some of the problems
a society may be facing like issues relating to children, women, or any other
underprivileged section of the society.

Exercises:
Short Questions
1. Define the term entrepreneur.
2. Explain creative behaviour.
3. Define cultural entrepreneurship.
4. Define social entrepreneurship.
5. Define ecopreneurship.
6. Differentiate between Intrapreneurs and entrepreneur.
Long Questions
1. Discuss the importance of entrepreneurship for society.
2. Discuss the ways in which an entrepreneur can overcome the challenges faced by
him.
3. Discuss various dimensions of entrepreneurship.

References:
Suggested Readings
1. Desai, Vasant, Dynamics of Entrepreneurial Development and Management, Mumbai,
Himalaya Publishing House.
2. Dollinger, Mare J., Entrepreneurship: Strategies and Resources, Illinois, Irwin.
3. Plsek, Paul E., Creativity, Innovation and Quality, Eastern Economic Edition, New
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Delhi, Prentice Hall of India.

4. Holt, David H., Entrepreneurship: New Venture Creation, New Delhi, Prentice Hall of
India.
Web Links:
1. Visit the URL https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Indian_entrepreneurs to know
more about Indian Entrepreneurs.
2. Visit the URL https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_entrepreneurs to
understand the characteristics of a social entrepreneur.

Quiz:
Question 1

Entrepreneur and entrepreneurship are same.

a. True
b. False

Correct Option False

Justification/ Feedback for the answer

They are not same. Entrepreneurship is the process by which an entrepreneur creates an
enterprise.

Question 2

Entrepreneurship requires both creative behavior and innovation.

a. True
b. False

Correct Option True

Justification/ Feedback for the answer True

An entrepreneur to succeed has to bring about an innovation and also think creatively.

Question 3

Intrapreneurship and entrepreneurship are same.

a. True
b. False

Correct Option False

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Justification/ Feedback for the answer

Intrapreneurship is not entrepreneurship in strict sense. It is innovation undertaken by the
employees on a specific area within the boundaries of the organization. Intrapreneur does
not undertake risk as an entrepreneur.
Question 4

Social entrepreneurship is undertaken with profit motive.

a. True
b. False

Correct Option False

Justification/ Feedback for the answer

Social entrepreneurs intend to bring a change in the lives of underprivileged sections of the
society. Their objective is not to earn profit but to make the lives of people better.

Question 5

Entrepreneurship leads to generation of employment opportunities.

a. True
b. False

Correct Option True

Justification/ Feedback for the answer

Entrepreneurship leads to employment generation, balanced regional growth, higher
national income, utilization of local resources and many other benefits for the economy.

Question 6

Entrepreneurship requires high degree of professional qualification.

a. True
b. False

Correct Option False

Justification/ Feedback for the answer

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Entrepreneur needs to have vision and courage to convert dreams into reality. He may or
may not have high degree of professional qualification. It‟s not a prerequisite.

Question 7
Entrepreneur is a___________ taker.

Correct Option Risk

Question 8
Entrepreneurship requires__________________ market research.

Correct Option Continuous

Question 9
International entrepreneurs also operate in _____________ market.

Correct Option International

Question 10

Ecopreneurs are also referred as ______________ entrepreneurs.

Correct Option Green

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