Consider the nature of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship by answering the
following questions: a) Are entrepreneurs born or made? b) What skills do
entrepreneurs typically exhibit and which do you think is most important?
The word “entrepreneur” comes from a French word “entreprendre” which means “to
undertake”, according to the Longman Online Dictionary. The meaning of entrepreneurship
differs to the different groups in the society. For example, for an economist, an entrepreneur
uses capital, labour, equipment and other assets to bring about innovation and change in
ways that create profit. Psychologists see them as individuals who are motivated by factors
such as the need to experiment, achieve, acquire or control their own destiny and
Anthropologists believe that they can recognise opportunities and act upon them. On the
other hand, according to managers and businesspeople, entrepreneurs are innovators who
develop innovative ideas, utilise resources effectively and creates employment. (Hisrich and
Kearney, 2014) Entrepreneurial ventures are in vogue everywhere. Entrepreneurs are very
important actors for the global economy as they create jobs, increase economic activity and
encourage innovation. There are no specific rules or boundaries required to become an
entrepreneur, hence anyone can become one. There is an ongoing discussion on whether
entrepreneurs are born or made. Some researchers believe that entrepreneurs are innate and
not build; others are of view that they are build and not innate while many also think that
entrepreneurs are both innate and build. But who is right here? To get to the answer, we must
go over the common characteristics shared by entrepreneurs too.
In an interview, James V. Koch said that if someone wants to know who is likely to be an
entrepreneur, he must not go in business schools and look up who enrolled for
entrepreneurship courses. Instead he should analyse someone’s risk-bearing ability and
personality as we cannot teach a person to love taking risks. (Daley, 2013) The tendency to
become an entrepreneur is mostly to be in our genetics, according to Shane Scott in his book.
He mentioned that there are genes associated to be a good leader, which were identified in
many successful businessmen. (Shane, 2010) A survey carried out by Northeastern
University’s School of Technological Entrepreneurship in 2006 revealed that almost two-third
of entrepreneurs assert that they have been motivated to start their own businesses by their
inborn desire and dedication, rather than by their schooling or work experience. (Taylor,
2006) For example, Dhirubhai Ambani who was a successful Indian businessman started his
entrepreneurial journey by selling food to pilgrims over the weekends to support his poor
family. (Peter, 2020) Another aspect we can analyse is that if an individual is born in a
business-oriented environment where his/her family already has a successful company
eventually, he/she will eventually take over the business. For example, Mukesh Ambani, the
son of Dhirubhai Ambani took over the family business and has more or less the same
business style as his late father. (Mishra, 2019)
On the other hand, people such as Julian Lange argues that entrepreneurs are build. He said
that recent studies made, shows that the basics of being an entrepreneur can be taught.
However, individuals cannot learn how to be a passionate entrepreneur. (Daley, 2013) People
can learn to become an entrepreneur through experiences at school or at work. Anyone one
can also use their hobby or skills to become successful businesspeople, like for example Bill
