Global Entrepreneurship

Jignaben Patel

Oshadi Mohottiarachchi

Abstract

Entrepreneurship has been a part of human life ever since. From exchanging food using the barter system to the media industry, entrepreneurship has shown its importance even in the smallest tasks. With growing trends and the fast spread of technology, entrepreneurship requires even more attention and knowledge of the outside world. Sometimes, we don’t even know when we use entrepreneurship while it plays a very important role in coming up with new ideas and implementing them. As the world has a fast pace of change, methods of entrepreneurship have also been changing with time which has made it hard for some people to keep up and update themselves regularly. About Five-hundred-eighty-two million people on the earth are working in the entrepreneurship sector and make about four million on average every year. With a world based on economy everywhere around us, one must know how to deal with it daily. With growing businesses, entrepreneurship could be a good opportunity for the future for the idea of business never really comes to an end because people have demands, and demands have business opportunities no matter it be food, good looking, health, sports, entertainment, fashion, travel, grocery, vehicles, and many more.

Introduction

The famous economist, Jean-Baptiste Say coined the term ‘entrepreneur’ in the early 19th century. Until then, entrepreneurs existed simply not with the title of entrepreneur. Now the question arises, why do we need to know anything about entrepreneurship? Even when applying for a job, or an internship or while giving a speech, people require the skills to come up with new ideas, interact with people and win their interest. Finding convenient solutions to complex problems also includes the skills of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship has evolved over the ages and during the 21st century, one must update oneself to keep up with the latest trends and attract the attention of populations at the same time. Entrepreneurship affects everyone and every aspect of life because all the objects we use have come from a shop which somehow is run by an entrepreneur. Being an entrepreneur could be risk-taking, but also comes with a huge fortune of making lots of money with the right planning to sell products or services. Many economists used the same meaning of entrepreneurship but in different contexts and described different characteristics of an entrepreneur, however, none of them is wrong, and all the characteristics go hand in hand. For instance, Jean-Baptiste Say considered an entrepreneur as a ‘planner’ while Richard Cantillon describes an entrepreneur as a ‘risk-taker’, both of which go hand in hand and are both a characteristic an entrepreneur should possess.

The role of innovations in entrepreneurship

Innovation is implementing a new idea successfully inorder to introduce new goods or services or a new way to provide goods or services. Innovation and Entrepreneurship might not sound any relatable but they do overlap at some point. When a new business idea is discovered, different people help in implementing it. As Schumpeter mentions, the inventor invents the new idea, the entrepreneur commercializes the new idea, the capitalist provides the financial resources to the entrepreneur, and the manager takes care of the routine day-to-day corporate management (Nooteboom & Stam, 2008). As said by Schumpeter, every process of establishing a new business needs someone to play these four roles and carry out the necessary processes on a daily basis to keep everything on track. Innovation can decide how impactful the business can be, with highly creative innovation, a business could stand out of the crowd and make itself a brand, while some ideas which are not the best turn out to be dismissed sooner or later by the customers. Every business or organization starts with a solution to a problem, a conventional solution. If the solution fails to be conventional, the business has a high chance of not lasting for long. The idea of entrepreneurship revolved around the idea of innovations and coming up with creative solutions which could hold a place in the public’s attention. As every business has a motive, the whole journey of entrepreneurship starts with innovating, innovating from the already existing innovations. With innovations, an entrepreneur must make sure that the timing of the introduction of the new idea is perfect. With wrong timings, things might not work out. For example, many platforms such as YouTube were introduced before YouTube itself. But the only problem with them was that not everyone had the internet to access them. The ideas were brilliant no doubt, but the timing had changed it all. The cycle of innovation never stops and ways are always made easier for keeping up with the changing world. 

Entrepreneurship and Economic Development

As innovations give sustainability and convenience, the economy of a particular country or region takes a stand up towards its development. Both innovation and entrepreneurship undoubtedly contribute to Economic Development affecting the lifestyle of the population, increasing income, and providing employment opportunities. There are many other indirect ways how entrepreneurs build up the economy of a region. There could be various possible effects on economic development such as:

i) Raising the living standards

Entrepreneurship plays a major role in increasing the way of living of the citizens of a place. With job opportunities, many people can engage themselves in the business sector earning a higher income, with regular promotions and new positions. Entrepreneurs make it possible for the public to use high-quality products or services easily, efficiently and at an affordable price which add value to their life. Businesses establish new ideas and innovations in the people who get inspired by them.

ii) Creation of Jobs

To make a business successful, different people with different roles are required to manage a particular part of the business regularly. Many people are involved in making a business work after it starts on a large scale. Entrepreneurship provides people with places to find work and engage in business activities. Businesses often have competitions and require the best human resources to overrule the sector they are a part of.

iii) Optimal Use of Resources

Innovations usually lead to sustainable and efficient ideas which require the right usage of the resources available. By establishing various business opportunities and ideas, they also introduce a structured plan of resource utilization. Keeping in mind sustainability, and negative externalities, the use of resources often reduces waste and increases productivity.

iv) Provides Economic Independence

With a large density of business sectors, a place represents itself as an independent economy that can produce goods and services and provide them to its population without having to be dependent on some other country or place for production. The produced goods and services can also be provided to foreign nations making them dependent on the business’ origin. This often gets foreign income to the country. Economic Independence gives the advantage of being able to use financial resources without any concerns related to the world and affects other countries.

v) Increases Gross National Product and Per Capita Income

Gross national product shows the economic output and Per capita income measures the average income per citizen. Both GNP and PCI are proportional to each other, for instance when GNP increases, PCI also increases. Businesses bring investments and foreign money into the country which contributes to an increase in GNP. With the increase in production, the goods bring a huge fortune to the country and the entrepreneur. 

Women in Entrepreneurship

The Women’s Business Ownership Act was passed in 1988 supporting women’s rights in aiding women business entrepreneurs. However, in Finland, the Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Finland was established in 1947 aiming to promote women entrepreneurs socially and economically. Finnish women were the first in the world to get full political rights. They were also among the first to set up their own companies and engage in independent businesses (Suomen Yrittäjänaiset, 2023). The rest of the world also has many women entrepreneurs such as Oprah Winfrey with a net worth of 2.5 billion dollars is the most famous woman entrepreneur in the media and entertainment industry. Winfrey is the head of the multinational cable network OWN and has co-founded Oxygen-Media. Oprah Winfrey is followed by Ariana Huffington and Rihanna along with Katy Perry and Beyoncé (Zucchi, 2023). With having more benefits intellectually, women are considered to be more effective than men as a leader. Very less women decide to become entrepreneurs, however, they still show a higher success rate than men through research conducted by the Centre of Entrepreneurship’s research. With their ambitious nature, women can take a long-term view when it comes to taking risks. Women are often less prone to become overconfident which helps them in making decisions with the right state of mind without any emotion taking control.

Entrepreneurial Finance

Entrepreneurship is based on funds, finance and investment. Businesses make massive turnovers which require them to have enough capital or resources to pay their employees, bills, loans, lawyers, etc. Even raw materials required for production need to be bought. Having excellent sources of finance could be an advantageous card for an entrepreneur. Financial Planning and Management needs to be taken into consideration, and a manager who is expertise in that area could be hired. Setting a budget, using a pen and paper to list down the plan, saving money for emergencies, understanding the tax system, and tracking the company’s income and expenses can help in setting up a financial strategy for a company.

Corporate Entrepreneurship (Intrapreneurship)

Unlike Entrepreneurship, Intrapreneurship is guiding a company which is founded by someone else. This makes you a direct leader of the company without taking the effort to start one yourself. Intrapreneurship is also known as Corporate Entrepreneurship and it comes with both benefits and disadvantages. Many people prefer to have young entrepreneurs due to their ability to update themselves easily and take risks. However, setting up a business and bringing it to a higher level itself takes years and the entrepreneur’s lifetime could also be used. With intrapreneurship, young entrepreneurs with new ideas and latest studies could take over the company and have more information about the latest world. In contrast, intrapreneurs often lack in experience that took the establishment of the company which does not give them the entire idea of how a particular company should be run. New intrapreneurs bring in risks because there is no guarantee of the right decisions. Even though it could be risky, it is an excellent alternative for doing business without losing any time and working until you can. 

Characteristics Required for Entrepreneurship

There are a wide range of characteristics one needs to become a successful entrepreneur. Some of these are unique while others are found commonly in successful entrepreneurs and play a major role in making the business successful. The following characteristics can help one achieve a favourable outcome for their business:

i) Social Connections

Social connections bring many benefits to an entrepreneur. Having social connections helps in getting information about what is happening with other businesses, how new technologies are impacting, and with social or economic needs. Connections often safeguard a company publicly and any social work is done smoothly.

ii) Team

Nobody is born with all the knowledge and abilities required to start and grow a successful business. The combined complementary talents of a diversified workforce, including technical, marketing, financial, and operational knowledge, can enhance the overall capabilities of the company.

iii) Risk-Taking

Risk-Taking is one of the most essential characteristics of an entrepreneur. Having the ability to find opportunities in Risk can be a very handy characteristic.  entrepreneurship is all about taking risks and finding new ways to produce goods or provide services. Risk-taking also includes fast decision making which gives them the upper hand in competition with other businesses. Taking risks can be both a fortune and a boon however, when taken the risk rightfully, it could be advantageous.

iv) Learner

Many new things are introduced in the world daily.  and recognizing Trends and adapting to them can help you update your business and keep it up to date. New technology often attracts more customers and makes your business a ‘trend’. Keeping up with developing technologies and industry trends can provide business owners with a competitive advantage. They are better able to spot fresh chances and innovate by remaining one step ahead of the competition.

Conclusion

In the current world, global entrepreneurship is a vital and dynamic force. It enables business owners to work across boundaries, engage in cross-cultural collaboration, and spur innovation in order to address global issues. Global entrepreneurship will continue to be a major force behind economic expansion and a force for good as the world economy changes. We deal with companies everyday no matter it be using transport, drinking coffee, posting pictures on social media or even as least as using a pen. Entrepreneurs have the ability to increase a country’s development and citizen facilities. Entrepreneurs face a thrilling journey that promises not only financial success but also a lasting legacy of invention and influence around the world.

References

Stam, E. (2008). ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION. In B. Nooteboom & E. Stam (Eds.), Micro-foundations for Innovation Policy (pp. 135–172). Amsterdam University Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46mwvr.10

Zucchi, K. (2023b, August 22). 10 most successful women entrepreneurs. Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/040515/10-most-successful-women-entrepreneurs-decade.asp#toc-fashion-and-beauty

Suomen Yrittäjänaiset. (2023b, May 24). The Women Entrepreneurs of Finland – Yrittajanaiset.fi. Yrittajanaiset.fi. https://www.yrittajanaiset.fi/en/

Emeritus. (2023, August 10). Top 9 Effects of entrepreneurship on Economic Development. Emeritus Online Courses. https://emeritus.org/blog/entrepreneurship-role-of-entrepreneurship-in-economic-development/

Prosser, D. (2015, April 20). Five reasons why women make better entrepreneurs than men. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidprosser/2015/04/20/five-reasons-why-women-make-better-entrepreneurs-than-men/?sh=5bc43bbee121