Are Entrepreneurs Born or Made
Are entrepreneurs born or made? Critically discuss.
Introduction
An entrepreneur is a person who sets up a business by taking on financial risks in hope to make a profit. The word entrepreneur stems from the French word entreprendré which means 'to undertake '.
A couple of examples are Lord Alan Sugar and Bill Gates. Lord Sugar is an entrepreneur worth £800 million. He started by selling car aerials out of a van, he then set up his company, Amstrad which sold affordable hi-fi turntable covers. In 1993 he founded Amsair Executive Aviation with his son Daniel who provide executive and business jet charters. Bill Gates was the world 's first centibillionaire. He began programming aged 13 and continued to gain experience with computing before studying law at Harvard. He spent most of time there programming and created Microsoft. This became the most used computer software in the world. He was CEO up until 2008 and is still a chair in the company.
This essay will look at the traits that many entrepreneurs have and see which ones you are born with and which are attainable through education or training allowing anyone to become an entrepreneur. It will conclude arguing that entrepreneurs are made though not all the traits can be improved through training.
Traits of Entrepreneurs
One trait of entrepreneurs is the need for independence (Brooks 2011). Many entrepreneurs do not want to work for other people and it is this independence that attracts them as they can control their own work and life, it is often a more flexible lifestyle as an entrepreneur can take time off when he wants to.
Another trait is the need for fulfilment (Delgado-García et al. 2012). This is believed to be the main drive in entrepreneurs and it isn 't always making money that is the aim. Often their targets are very personal such as becoming international or to employ 100 employees (Brooks 2011).
There is also the trait of having an internal locus of control. Being an internal means
Introduction
An entrepreneur is a person who sets up a business by taking on financial risks in hope to make a profit. The word entrepreneur stems from the French word entreprendré which means 'to undertake '.
A couple of examples are Lord Alan Sugar and Bill Gates. Lord Sugar is an entrepreneur worth £800 million. He started by selling car aerials out of a van, he then set up his company, Amstrad which sold affordable hi-fi turntable covers. In 1993 he founded Amsair Executive Aviation with his son Daniel who provide executive and business jet charters. Bill Gates was the world 's first centibillionaire. He began programming aged 13 and continued to gain experience with computing before studying law at Harvard. He spent most of time there programming and created Microsoft. This became the most used computer software in the world. He was CEO up until 2008 and is still a chair in the company.
This essay will look at the traits that many entrepreneurs have and see which ones you are born with and which are attainable through education or training allowing anyone to become an entrepreneur. It will conclude arguing that entrepreneurs are made though not all the traits can be improved through training.
Traits of Entrepreneurs
One trait of entrepreneurs is the need for independence (Brooks 2011). Many entrepreneurs do not want to work for other people and it is this independence that attracts them as they can control their own work and life, it is often a more flexible lifestyle as an entrepreneur can take time off when he wants to.
Another trait is the need for fulfilment (Delgado-García et al. 2012). This is believed to be the main drive in entrepreneurs and it isn 't always making money that is the aim. Often their targets are very personal such as becoming international or to employ 100 employees (Brooks 2011).
There is also the trait of having an internal locus of control. Being an internal means
References: Billett, M.T. & Qian, Y., 2008. Are Overconfident CEOs Born or Made? Evidence of Self-Attribution Bias from Frequent Acquirers. Management Science, 54(6), pp.1037-1051. Burns, P., 2008. Corporate Entrepreneurship 2nd Edition. Hampshire. Palgrave Macmillan Delgado-García, J.B., Rodríguez-Escudero, A.I. & Martín-Cruz, N., 2012. Influence of Affective Traits on Entrepreneur’s Goals and Satisfaction. Journal of Small Business Management. 50(3), pp.408-428. Judge, T.A. & Bono, J.E., 2001. Relationship of Core Self-Evaluations Traits - Self-Esteem, Generalized Self-Efficacy, Locus of Control, and Emotional Stability - With Job Satisfaction and Job Performance: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology. 86(1), pp.80-92 Piperopoulos, P.G., 2011. Business Emergence and Growth. Hampshire. Palgrave Macmillan.