Entrepreneurs are individuals who creates a new business by bringing a creative idea into light. These individuals try to initiate a change in whatever they’re venturing into. This change could be in form of a new product which is fresh and not available in the market or rather a product that provides a solution to a certain problem in the society. In other cases, it could be by providing an alternative to already existing solutions and bringing competition which in turn brings efficiency to the market.
Being an entrepreneur however, is not just about coming up with a brilliant idea, though this point is actually a drive to the real goal but it’s only a start. There are certain skills that must be possessed by individuals to make them ready and prepared for what’s to come in the entrepreneurship scene. It takes more than just the ideas but rather some other things that work hand in hand to make the developed idea to work. It’s all a process.
There are different types of entrepreneurs and it is usually based on the personality, background, skills and community. The different types of entrepreneurs always have different ways in which they start their businesses and how they control the operations for the business. Though many things might differ in their manners of approach to their businesses, they do have some things in common which includes marketing and finance. No matter how you start your business, you’ll still need to market it and use some money to start and sustain the business.
In the next sub heads, I’ll be discussing six types of entrepreneurs, how they go about their operations and how they’re unique in their own way.
Six Different Types of Entrepreneurs
1. Social Entrepreneur
This kind of entrepreneur is one that aims at solving problems relating to social goals. All the ideas developed by these kind of entrepreneurs centers on some social problems and how they can play a role in helping to solve it. In most cases, this kind of entrepreneur most likely starts up as a non profit organization as the only thing that concerns them is the well being of the individuals in the society. Sometimes, these individuals are called change makers and they’re there to bring a unique idea that solves a very common social problem. The individual does not necessarily work for money or financial benefits but all for the social benefit of the community and world at large.
2. Innovative Entrepreneur
An innovative entrepreneur is the thinking kind of entrepreneur. They are the ones that develop fresh ideas that have not even been developed before. They come up with brilliant ideas that can be implemented into something business-like. These kind of entrepreneurs are passionate about what they want to do and the main goal for them is to invent something that makes things easier and better for other individuals. They consistently come up with completely new ideas to start, operate and also make their products stand out in the market. Innovative entrepreneur are inventors of new ideas.
Example of innovative entrepreneurs include Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Larry Page. These men are actually popular for their inventions which have in one way or another brought about a change and also helped make things easier and better for people. Bill Gates started Microsoft and brought revolution to the computer era. Steve Jobs started Apple which is till date one of the best gadget companies in the world. And Larry Page brought about Google, which is obviously one of the best innovations of all time.
Because it’s their idea and it’s a completely new one, these entrepreneurs hardly face competition especially during the first years of their business. Competition is also never a problem for them as they always have ideas to make them stand out and stay different.
3. Hustler
For this kind of entrepreneur, hard work is everything. He/she is prepared to put in all the work in this world into making sure their business works out. They hardly give up and are prepared to do whatever it takes for the progress of their business. These entrepreneurs prefer to start their businesses small and put in constant levels of hard work to reach their goals. They are not about looking for capital and huge amounts of money to run their businesses. They believe everything can be achieved with hard work.
To entrepreneurs with the hustler mentality, their businesses and aspirations serves as motivation for them and they see failure and losses as part of the process. They are less likely to leave what they’re doing because of failures. They tend to look at the bigger picture mostly and that’s one of the reasons why they start small with the hope of growing the business. For them, it’s hard work and hard work and even more hard work. And most times, the success of the company depends on how much work they put in.
4. Imitator
They can also be called the copycat entrepreneurs. What they do is pick up an existing business and transform it into something else that would serve either the same or a different purpose. This is one of the common forms of entrepreneurship and it mostly happens when there is just a single provider of a product. The thing that runs in the minds of imitators is how to change an existing business and make it theirs. A typical example can be seen these days. Uber and Taxify are two popular business brands. They are meant to do similar things but they are operated differently.
Imitators can also be considered innovative as they develop fresh and brilliant ideas in the process of introducing or transforming an existing business into their own. One key thing to note about them is that they always believe in themselves and learn from the mistakes made by the owners of the original idea. Though they might get to always play catch up, they take the easy path to developing a business by refining an original idea.
5. Researcher
Just like the name implies, these kind of entrepreneur gathers enough information about the business before moving on to start. For this individual, starting a business is not something to rush into and he/she must have done all research possible about a product, market and the business generally. They don’t like taking risks and they always start if there is a high chance of succeeding. Failure is also not an option for the researcher kind of entrepreneur. They work out their strategies so well that they don’t give room for any mistakes. A plus side for this kind of entrepreneur is the fact that they always have a number of contingency plans and also thinks about the future when planning.
6. Buyer
This entrepreneur simply doesn’t like stress or too much work. The process of coming up with brilliant ideas, putting in hard work and consistent effort and starting from scratch is beyond them. They always look to buy an already existing and promising business. They have the money so buying is not a problem for them. They worry less about coming up with innovation and smart ideas. Buyer Entrepreneurs are mostly defined by their wealth and they always look for promising businesses, make research about the business, review its viability, acquire it and in most cases, put someone in charge to run and operate the business. Also, if a business is on the brink of collapse and it is acquired by this kind of entrepreneur, it’s up to them to change the fortune of the business and try to bring it back up.
Regardless of the type of entrepreneur that an individual is, the main objective of entrepreneurship is starting a business, whether new or existing, that will initiate a change. Money might not always be the end goal, but whatever it is, entrepreneurs are ready to do what it takes to achieve the desired goal or whatever they expect from the business.
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