Who are Entrepreneurs?
Who are Entrepreneurs?
This week the new Chairman of the National Endowments for the Arts (NEA), Rocco Landesman, referred to artists as entrepreneurs on the PBS News Hour. The message is part of his “Art Works” tour. I believe he’s right and it got me thinking about how exactly I define entrepreneurship and who qualifies for the moniker.
The only conclusion I’ve reached so far is that a lot more people are entrepreneurs than realize it or will admit to it.
For example, a friend buys Legos from individuals on-line (the big boxes of “left-overs” every home has), matches the individual pieces from multiple bulk purchases with the building instructions she downloads from Lego’s website, has her two sons put together the newly compiled kits, photographs the completed kits and sells them on-line.
In her mind this system she’s devised is just a little hobby that enables her sons to put together as many Lego kits as they want. From her perspective this “hobby” is not important, elaborate or creative enough to be labeled “entrepreneurial.” But I think she’s wrong and I believe there are a lot of people out there just like her.
What would happen if these entrepreneurs realized who they were? Why is this behavior so difficult for us to acknowledge? What can we do to encourage and celebrate these entrepreneurial endeavors?
To read more about the message of the Art Works Tour, check out: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/
To watch the PBS New Hour interview that started this thought process, go to: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/
Several of us in the Lincoln YPG ENT group have discussed this many times. Is an independent insurance agent who sells Aflack considered an entrepreneur? What about someone who buys a franchise? Buying a franchise means the frachisor teaches you everything you need to know to be successful which sounds like a cake-walk to most entrepreneurs who have to innovate and figure it out themselves. But those who start a franchise have entrepreneurial visions of owning their own business.
Recently it was brought back into my mind by an article labeled “Is Miss Nebraska an Entrepreneur.” They break it down into innovative entrepreneurs and replicative entrepreneurs.
http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/sep2009/sb20090915_826314.htm
We started a discussion about it here:
http://www.linkedin.com/groupAnswers?viewQuestionAndAnswers=&gid=2638835&discussionID=12692063&goback=%2Eanh_2638835
Thank you for the links – both are wonderfully informative. The distinction between innovative and replicative entrepreneurs makes a lot of sense. The words themselves are a great choice and clearly communicate the intended meaning.