Difference between Business and Entrepreneurship: Businessman versus Entrepreneur

June 9, 2009 by Admin Filed under Business, Entrepreneurship 16 Comments

What is the difference between a business and an entrepreneurship? How about a business owner from an entrepreneur? These terms are commonly used interchangeably. However, these terms have different meaning and those differences are what we will try to find out. To illustrate and understand simply and clearly the difference between business and entrepreneurship, we will have a face-off between a businessman and an entrepreneur. So the showdown begins. Businessman / Business Own an enterprise or venture Usually a profit oriented Usually plays safe May be purchased, donated or inherited Generally traditional Works for the Company Usually dont have time for their families and love ones Usually distressed and experiences sleepless nights Generally hire people to contribute profit Commonly commit tax evasion to save taxes and increase profit Entrepreneur / Entrepreneurship Own an enterprise or venture Costumer oriented Bold and ambitious Creates his own idea and realize it as a business An innovator The Company works for him Shares enough time with their families and love ones Always a happy and enthusiastic businessman Hire people to make their lives better Practice tax avoidance to save taxes and increase profit

As a conclusion, a businessman is similar to an entrepreneur because an entrepreneur is a businessman. Entrepreneur is a businessman which is not traditional but is an innovative and creative type of a businessman. An entrepreneur differs a lot from a usual businessman. His entrepreneurship is created out of his own innovative idea and creation which is realized to be placed in business or to be transformed as a good business. Entrepreneurs are also more concerned on the quality of their products and on the satisfaction of their customers rather than being too much concerned to their profits.

The Difference Between A Businessman And An Entrepreneur

Which One Are You?

At first glance, there is really no obvious difference between a businessman and an entrepreneur; both are owners of an enterprise or venture. A businessman therefore, is an entrepreneur; and an entrepreneur is a businessman, but what sets them apart from each other is something totally more meaningful. Yes, at first glance they look similar; both heads of a specific company, but the moment you try to understand what they truly are, you will realize that in essence, they are so different from each other. They may be playing the same game; they may be dealt with the same cards; but an entrepreneur will play his cards differently and that is where the big difference between them lies. Everyone can be a businessman. Everyone who aspires to head or own a venture can do so, as long as he is willed to do it. However, not everyone can be an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur is a whole different species of business owners; the product of a long evolution process that comes only to a select few. Are you a businessman or are you an entrepreneur? By the end of this article, you will have to choose. The Businessman A businessman is any person who owns an enterprise or venture. His motivation is to make money and most of the time, they are products of an inheritance, a donation or a franchise purchase. In other words, the businessman takes on something that was already set up in the market. He sees an opportunity, therefore he plunges into it to take advantage of the pool of customers that may come his way. Usually a newbie, he is more comfortable to play it safe. His ideals are traditional and he could be cutthroat; so he is usually lost in the maze and so fails to establish solid relationships outside of his life. He is greedy and power hungry; geared only to the thought of money, so he may have the tendency to neglect the welfare of other people especially his family and friends. Are you a businessman? They are cunning and wise they succeed; is this what you want to be? The Entrepreneur An entrepreneur is a person, who like the businessman, owns an enterprise or venture. Usually motivated by the willingness to serve people; he is not transfixed by power and wealth. An entrepreneur is an innovator. He gives birth to his own ideas and he starts something new, something that is a product of much deliberation and study. He is a person who is not only focused on one goal, but the bigger picture. He takes a holistic approach on everything because he has aims to transform the business world. He is bold and ambitious, but never ridden with the greediness to achieve. Despite the presence of cutthroat competitors in the market, he remains to be happy and enthusiastic and more importantly, he chooses to stay honest and sincere. His triumphs are also the triumphs of a long string of people. He is not selfish. He is not envious. He is a dreamer. He is a leader. Would you like to be an entrepreneur? Is this how you would like to run your business; with honesty, integrity and compassion? Which One Are You? There many businessmen in this world but not all of them are entrepreneurs. However, just because you are not one, does not mean it is your destiny. A businessman can easily be an entrepreneur, especially if he sets his heart to it. As a matter of fact, an entrepreneur is a businessman who has been transformed and molded through time. You can easily be an entrepreneur if you want to be one it is really all up to you.

Entreprenure who starts the business from scratch. for example, initiating the plan , materializing and implementing . and aslo creating brand for his produts and services. in simple words entreprenuer who run the business in a unique form. businessman who follow up the market trying to capture the existing customers by doing some additional or value added services in the existing products and services catedory. Thank you Santhosh srisan.jsb@gmail.com

Well As far as my knowledge goes I think an Entrepreneur is a person who has an Idea that they implement for the betterment of anybody in general i.e. either clients or employees or organizations or the society at large and hence creates value for them by means of products/services which were not really existent until now in the very form in which the entrepreneur is offering.The product or service that the entrepreneur comes up with has distinguishable features and thus the entrepreneur can be fairly stated as the founder or creator. On the other hand a Businessman is a person who is engaged in a process of bridging the gap between products/services(not created by him/her) and consumers and thus acts as a provider of something which is already existent.

A noticeable difference between the both is that a businessman works for profit where as an entrepreneur works towards creating value for the society at large(though he's not a philanthropist).

Dhawal Kharbanda kharbandaz@rediffmail.com

First to provide you with the appropriate sources for the Classical and Contemporary exploration: Schumpeter offered a conceptual basis for entrepreneur that extended beyond the simple small business owner (SBO). He identified entrepreneurs as those who leverage available resources to create, launch, or expand products or services to create value beyond the normal profit associated with economic profit. Peter Drucker later refines this definition.

Small business owners are generally not seeking to leverage resources to create additional value beyond normal profit; they are more concerned with engaging in consistent operations as opposed to innovating operations. Contemporary evaluation of the differences can be found in the works of Drs. James and JoAnn Carland.

The Difference between an entrepreneur and a businessman

There are several definitions to describe entrepreneurs, but in general the term is used by almost every Tom, Dick, and Harry. The Oxford Dictionary simply states that an entrepreneur is a person who sets up a business and businesses. That is basically why most people call Richard Branson the proto-entrepreneur; the man personifies the risk-taking and hard-working entrepreneur. But thats just what meets the eye.

In my bio is mentioned that Neal is a pragmatic businessman, cut from entrepreneurial cloth. Just like Richard Branson, I started out as an entrepreneur. But Branson did not remain an entrepreneur once he entered the Major League of Business. Neither did I when I entered the Big League. Of course, it is a nice marketing gimmick for the company to have Branson as the face of Virgin, and of course it is cool to have Branson portrayed as the proto-entrepreneur, but that all has to do with personal branding by Branson in order to push his company branding. The distinction between entrepreneurs and businessmen is the league they play in. Entrepreneurs can per definition set up businesses, but they are not necessarily capable to run them. Branson is a businessman, his executives and investors know that he has an amazing talent for business and execution.

In an article about entrepreneurship by The Economist (March 12th, 2009) I did not recognize myself as an entrepreneur, and that is no surprise. The descriptions set out by The Economist, however, are very correct. The Economist observed that entrepreneurs are:

1) driven by an inner force to start a business and unwilling to take no for an answer. 2) convinced that, against all the odds, they will be able to turn their dream into reality. 3) strongly attached to their companies. They habitually talk about their babies. 4) consistently bolder when making hot or risky decisions (compared to regular managers).

Oh, and they also 5) hate giving up control of their companies, even if they are no good at management.

Those statements are true; I was like that too. I did not and still do not take no for an answer, but an used-car salesman doesnt either. I was and am also convinced that I will turn my dream into reality, but so are the athlete and the student (well, most of them). The real difference can be seen when analyzing the last three issues:

1. I used to talk about my baby, but I dont anymore. Of course, I am fiercely passionate about my companies, especially iUHBA, but I dont see it as my baby anymore since I realized that we sometimes have to amputate some parts of the body, and sometimes we have to entirely kill something off. In publishing there is a term, kill your darlings (derived from murder your darlings ), which is as much oxymoronic wisdom as dont believe in your own bullshit, but it is a truth. In business you will get hurt when you let your emotions play up. It can be fatal when you let your emotions take over. 2. I used to take risky decisions too. Honestly, I used to think that I made the greatest decisions possible because I was the wisest and brightest of all. But I have learned to listen to my board of advisors, board of directors, management team members and employees. Heck, I even listen to strangers. It doesnt mean I cant be decisive when I listen. It just makes for better informed and consensus decision-making.

3. Yes, no surprise I hated giving up control, too. I thought nobody could run the company I founded as well and with as much dedication as I did, but the truth is different. When you reward your team with good equity stakes and a nice salary, they will be loyal and hard-working. Yes, I believe I am very capable of being the CEO, but I also known and understand that someone else, with greater years of experience, could get the same warmth for the company as I have. He (or she) doesnt need to have that fire in the belly; one of us having it is enough.

At the end of the day the result is that I went broke several times and bankrupt twice as an entrepreneur. I was this guy who gave himself huge self-importance and I saw my arrogance as self-confidence. As a businessman I will never go bankrupt again, and I see my self-

confidence as an non-abstract tool to measure my behavior; it is no longer a given, it is that I first do something and then build the confidence around it, while an entrepreneur does it in the reverse way.

Is Neal Lachman an entrepreneur? It would be cute if Id call myself an entrepreneur or even a Serial Entrepreneur, but no. The days of being cute and adventurous are over. No more talking about gut feeling decision, no longer do I shoot-from-the-hip. Nowadays I am a cold, pragmatic, number-crunching, statistics-munching corner-office bastard. I will analyze you to death, because only by deeper inspection and wider views will you create something lasting and meaningful. Good entrepreneurs will always be good, but great entrepreneurs metamorphose into amazingly visionary businessmen.