THE BUSINESSMAN AND THE ENTREPRENEUR
The term Businessman and Entrepreneur often used interchangeably are commonly assumed to mean the same but both words refer to a different individual possessing a distinct approach to business. However, between businessman and entrepreneur is a fine line.
A businessman also known as a market player follows a set path incise by other person with an unoriginal idea, whereas, the entrepreneur also known as a market leader thinks and believes in making his own path with new ideas. In the below article, we will help you understand the differences between businessman and entrepreneur. In the article below we will distinguish the businessman from the entrepreneur by briefly explicating on them.
THE BUSINESSMAN
A businessman is an individual(s) who engaged in carrying out any activity related to commercial and industrial purpose that is highly in demand to earn maximum profits in return irrespective of uniqueness. He is motivated by profit or money of which it is his reason for starting a business from an existing idea or concept and he only pursue opportunities that offer minimal risk and good income potential.
The businessman is a market player that prefers offering products and services that have already proven it-self profitable in the market. He is calculative in nature and uses traditional method to run the business; he follows the footsteps of other businessmen and makes his place in the market with his efforts and dedication despite facing extreme competition.
THE ENTREPRENEUR
An Entrepreneur is an individual who identifies a problem and develop an exclusive idea to initiate and establish a new venture to solve the problem for the purpose of adding value to the society and achieving profit (Makata, 2020). He creates a new business in the face of risk and uncertainty for the purpose of achieving profit and growth by identifying significant opportunities and assembling the necessary resources to capitalize on them” (Zimmerer & Scarborough, 2008).
Joseph A. Schumpeter thus writes- “The entrepreneur in an advanced economy is an individual who introduces something new in the economy — a method of production not yet tested by experience in the branch of manufacture concerned, a product with which consumers are not yet familiar, a new source of raw material or of new markets and the like.”
He further states the entrepreneur’s function is to “reform or revolutionize the pattern of production by exploiting an invention or more generally, an untried technological possibility for producing a new commodity.
Entrepreneurs are primarily motivated on being able to provide a solution to a problem. Emphatically, the goal of an entrepreneur is solving a problem; he pursues opportunities regardless of the risk and income potential, as long as it’s aligned with his passion.
An Entrepreneur is innovative and revolutionary in nature; he is not afraid to innovate, create new products and offer new services that can offer a better solution to what already exists in the market. The business started by entrepreneurs with a new concept for the first time is known as Start-up. The entrepreneur is an integral part of the operation that builds and deploys the other functions of the operations i.e. labour, land, and capital. Later in the future, the entrepreneur becomes a businessman.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A BUSINESSMAN AND AN ENTREPRENEUR
- A businessman start a business on an old concept or idea while an entrepreneur brings his unique idea to run a startup company.
- The nature of a businessman is calculative but an entrepreneur is innovative and revolutionary in nature.
- The risk factor of a businessman is less because he follows the footsteps of other businessmen while that of an entrepreneur is comparatively high because he makes he own path with his new idea.
- A businessman is oriented towards profit, however, an entrepreneur is a people focused in essence, he gives more importance to its employees, customers, and the public.
- A businessman makes his place in the market with his efforts and dedication, whereas an entrepreneur creates the market for his own business.
- The businessman is a market player while Entrepreneur is a market leader because he is the first to start such a kind of enterprise.
- A businessman likes to only pursue opportunities that offer minimal risk and good potential income. But an entrepreneur will pursue opportunities regardless of the risk and income potential, as long as it’s aligned with his passion.
- A businessman is self-reliant and believes that he can succeed on his own. But an entrepreneur believes in the power of creating and working with a team to succeed.
FINAL THOUGHT
In economics, the entrepreneur is considered as the most important factor of production, which organizes and mobilizes the other three factors of production i.e. land, labor and capital. In the long run, these entrepreneurs become businessmen. Tony Hsieh, CEO Zappos once said “Chase the vision, not the money; the money will end up following you.”