Entrepreneurs and the Entrepreneurship Process

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Discussion
Shai Agassi (Better Place)
Donald J. Trump (Trump International Hotel & Tower)
Oprah Winfrey (Oprah Winfrey Network)
Achievement of Shai Agassi
References

Introduction

This assignment is a discussion about entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurship process. The discussion is based on background research on three business people namely Shai Agassi (Better Place), Donald J. Trump (Trump International Hotel & Tower) and Oprah Winfrey (Oprah Winfrey Network).

The discussion begins with a brief explanation of entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurship process followed by a discussion of the three named individuals and whether they are entrepreneurs or not. Lastly is a brief discussion of the achievements of one of the three named individuals, that is, Shai Agassi and how they qualify him as an entrepreneur.

Discussion

Who Is An Entrepreneur?

An entrepreneur is a person who comes up with a business initiative, owns and manages it. An entrepreneur is a risk taker who is ready to be accountable for the outcomes of any business initiative or venture. Entrepreneurs are perceived to have an innate ability to identify a business opportunity and the charisma to influence others to appreciate it.

They are also aggressive people who are ever committed and determined to overcome the challenges or obstacles which stand on their way to achieving or actualizing their dream business. Due to this aggressiveness, entrepreneurs are able to push forward with any business initiative in a flexible manner. They are also able to recreate, modify or reproduce an already existing business idea and come up with a new product, good or service.

An entrepreneur also possesses leadership attributes which enable him or her to manage his or her business in a manner which is sustainable so as to enable the business to grow and expand. Most entrepreneurs are not limited to a single field of business but rather venture in as many business fields as possible so long as there are opportunities (Kuratko & Hodgetts, 2008).

Types of Entrepreneurs

There are basically three types of entrepreneurs namely the social, lifestyle and serial entrepreneurs. A social entrepreneur is one who is mainly concerned with global issues like poverty, deprivation, illiteracy and unemployment.

He or she is motivated by the passion to come up with services which help in the alleviation of suffering by people. Most social entrepreneurs operate as nongovernmental entities, whereby they solicit for funds from donors to fund various programs and projects customized to various communities (Kuratko & Hodgetts, 2008).

A serial entrepreneur is one who specializes in personal business. He or she is able to establish a series of businesses of various kinds, scope and sizes in different locations at the same time. He or she is motivated by the desire to make profit and therefore relies on innovation and creativity to manipulate the available resources and opportunities for his or her financial benefits. He or she also takes a lot of risks and is able to recover from business failure (Kuratko & Hodgetts, 2008).

A lifestyle entrepreneur is one who strives to pursue a business which enables him or her maintain a good balance between work and social life. He or she is motivated more by passion than profit. Most lifestyle entrepreneurs establish businesses which are of interest to them due their possession of particular expertise, talent or knowledge.

They therefore strive to utilize their talent, knowledge or expertise to earn a living in a manner which they enjoy. Most of them resign from their employment and establish such businesses so as to have good time with their families as they use their talent to generate income for themselves and their families (Kuratko & Hodgetts, 2008).

What Is The Entrepreneurship Process?

This is the process of starting a new business venture. It involves four distinct stages namely the identification of the opportunity and its evaluation, coming up with a business plan, identification and determination of the resources which are required to start the venture and the management of the business after establishment.

The four stages partly proceed in a progressive manner and are partly intertwined. This enables the entrepreneur to adjust his plan, idea or initiative at any stage depending on the prevailing business environment (Kuratko & Hodgetts, 2008).

Shai Agassi (Better Place)

This is an Israeli national who resides in San Francisco in the United States. He is the chief executive officer of an organization known as Better Place, which makes cars which use electric power instead of fuel, especially due to fuel shortage and the pollution effects (greenhouse effects) associated with fossil fuels.

He is an entrepreneur because he identified an opportunity amid the crisis of fuel shortage and pollution and came up with an idea which could earn him a lot of money. The ability of his organization (Better Place) to manufacture cars which use electricity instead of fuel could earn him a lot of money because of the high demand of such cars especially in countries which do not produce oil (Indiana University, 2009).

Donald J. Trump (Trump International Hotel & Tower)

This is an American tycoon, who is a real estate investor. He owns the Trump International Hotel & Tower as well as chains of hotels and resorts in various parts of the world. His wealth was at one time estimated at $3 billion. He is also an author.

He is an entrepreneur because despite being born of a rich tycoon, he was curious to know how to do business and after completing his college education in Wharton School in 1968, he joined his father’s business empire which he later renamed The Trump Organization at around 1971 (Gordon & Trump, 2009).

He then continued to multiply the wealth gained from the organization and established or was involved in the establishment of various other businesses in United States like the Javits Convention Center, Wollman Rink and the United States Football League (USFL). As an entrepreneur, he managed to survive financial challenges in the years 1989 to late 1990s, when he nearly filed for bankruptcy; but managed to finance his businesses using loans from banks (Gordon & Trump, 2009).

Oprah Winfrey (Oprah Winfrey Network)

This is a Black American business woman cum media producer as well as a philanthropist. She is best known for her talent in TV talk shows and interviews of significant personalities. She has a lot of passion in media which started when she was only 19 years when she worked as a radio presenter in a radio station in Chicago .She is a lifestyle entrepreneur because she has managed to start various TV and media programs like The Color Purple, Bee Movie and Renee Zellweger (Kitty, 2011).

Achievement of Shai Agassi

His greatest achievement is making breakthroughs in the field of technology. Apart from starting Better Place and being its CEO, he is a serial entrepreneur who has started various other ventures like TopTier Software and Quicksoft Ltd. These are companies which deal with technology and how to apply it in the business environment to make money.

These undertakings are an indication that he is truly an entrepreneur, who is able to identify missing gaps in the field of technology and utilize such gaps to come up with inventions which are able to solve peoples’ technological challenges as well as generate income (Indiana University, 2009).

The significance of his achievements in inventing the electric driven cars may not be popular and crucial to the would now but in the near future, his name will be very popular when many people will start using electric cars due to the exhaustion of the available oil resources in the world. In fact, he will be as famous as people like Karl Max, Aristotle, Plato, and Albert Einstein among other renowned scholars, philosophers and scientists.

References

Gordon, M.E., & Trump, D.(2009).Trump University Entrepreneurship 101: How to Turn Your Idea Into a Money Machine.(2nd Ed.). San Francisco, CA: John Wiley and Sons.

Indiana University. (2009).The economist, Volume 391, Issues 8626-8637. New York, NY: Economist Newspaper Ltd.

Kitty ,K.(2011).Oprah: A Biography. (2^nd Ed.). Menlo Park, CA: Allen & Unwin.

Kuratko, D.F., & Hodgetts, R.(2008).Entrepreneurship: Theory, Process, and Practice.(8th Ed.). Farmington Hills, MI: Cengage Learning.

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