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It is common now to hear the words “entrepreneur” and “businessman” being used interchangeably. A Businessman and an entrepreneur have many similarities, but the fact is that their meanings are quite different from each other. Ignorance makes many businessmen label themselves as entrepreneurs.
Let’s first look at the two definitions respectively…
A BUSINESSMAN is any person that engages in a series of economic activities to earn a profit.
An ENTREPRENEUR, on the other hand, is someone who conceives an idea or a solution to a current problem in society, sets up an enterprise to offer his expertise to the public or targeted market in that area.
THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENCES IN THE WAY BOTH THINK AND OPERATE. HERE ARE 15 POINTS:
1. A businessman starts an existing business with only a profit-making motive in a well-exploited area whereas an entrepreneur conceives a fresh concept/idea/solution to start his enterprise.
2. A businessman is afraid to take risks and apprehensive of trying new things whereas an entrepreneur is always ready to plunge deep in and is almost habitual of taking risks.
3. A businessman is concerned with structured hiring of people to increase his business productivity whereas an entrepreneur brings productivity in his employees and gives others opportunities.
4. A businessman shies away from changes, and often finds self at the receiving end of turbulent business environment whereas an entrepreneur is always eager to face challenging business conditions.
5. A businessman, more often than not, sticks with his older products and is afraid to innovate. An entrepreneur is renowned for his knack of innovating and creating a better product/service for society.
6. A businessman is skeptical of changes and stays with the more traditional way of doing business whereas an entrepreneur is obsessed with unconventional way of doing things and embraces changes.
7. A businessman is known for making revenue whereas entrepreneurs are focused on creating value.
8. A businessman is mostly concerned about protecting his personal investment and profits while to an entrepreneur, adding value to the society is the reason he exists and wants to bring in a revolutionary change in the way society thinks and works.
9. A businessman adopts an idea, starts a business and brings it to life whereas an entrepreneur plants the seed, nourishes it over the years and creates a value-generating asset for the world.
10. A businessman focuses on short-term business investment while an entrepreneur focuses on long-term investment opportunities that may out-live him.
11. A businessman throws in the towel when faced with any business challenge and dives into another assumed lucrative business but an entrepreneur knows that failure is an integral part of the process, perseveres and creates something out of nothing.
12. Businessmen are market players while Entrepreneurs work to be market leaders.
13. A businessman focuses on competition and has many rivals but an Entrepreneur focuses on cooperation and his rival is himself.
14. Businessmen are busy with the same things and are usually worried while Entrepreneurs are always busy on something new and are usually excited.
15. Businessmen dream big, start big and then dissolve. entrepreneurs dream big start small and then keep on growing.
(You can add to the listed points or deduct from them)
Opportunity, change, freedom, autonomy, impact, resposibility to society, control, legacy, accomplishment, etc are some primary factors that drive Entrepreneurs. Money is secondary and a byproduct. Entrepreneurs are never a slave to money.
So being a Businessman or an Entrepreneur largely depends on what you want to be known for.
– by Olutayo Faloye
