UNIT 1- ENTREPRENEURSHIP

DEFINITION AND CONCEPT OF ENTREPRENEUR:

An entrepreneur is an individual who creates a new business, bearing most of
the risks and enjoying most of the rewards. The process of setting up a business
is known as entrepreneurship. The entrepreneur is commonly seen as an
innovator, a source of new ideas, goods, services, and business/or procedures.
According to Cantillon “An entrepreneur is the agent who buys factors of
production at certain prices in order to combine them into a product with a view
to selling it at uncertain prices in future”.
The term ‘entrepreneurship’ is associated with the term ’Entrepreneur’. Though,
they apparently look same, conceptually they are different. Entrepreneurship is
the process of finding opportunities in the market place, planning for the
resources required to convert these opportunities into success and to achieve
long term gains. It involves creating capital by exploiting resources in new ways
to initiate and operate an enterprise. Entrepreneurship can be defined by
describing what entrepreneurs do. For example: "Entrepreneurs use individual
inventiveness, and take on calculated risk to create new business ventures by
raising capital to apply inventive new ideas that resolve problems, meet
challenges, or satisfy the needs of a clearly distinct market." But the
entrepreneurship is not limited to business and profit: "Entrepreneurship
involves bringing about change to achieve some benefit. This benefit may be
financial but it also involves the satisfaction of knowing you have changed
something for the better.”
Entrepreneurship is the ability and readiness to develop, organize and run
a business enterprise, along with any of its uncertainties in order to make
a profit. The most prominent example of entrepreneurship is the starting
of new businesses. In economics, entrepreneurship connected with land, labour,
natural resources and capital can generate a profit.
Definition: Entrepreneurship refers to the process of creating a new
enterprise and bearing any of its risks, with the view of making the profit.

QUALITIES OF A SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEUR:

1. Disciplined: These individuals are focused on making their businesses
work, and eliminate any hindrances or distractions to their goals. An
entrepreneur has comprehensive strategies and outlines ways to
accomplish them. A successful entrepreneur is disciplined enough to take
steps every day towards the achievement of his objectives.
2. Confidence: The entrepreneur does not ask questions if he can succeed or
if he is worthy of success. He is confident with the knowledge that he will
make his business succeed. He shows confidence in everything he does.
3. Open-Minded: Entrepreneur realizes that every event and situation is a
business opportunity. Ideas are constantly being generated about
workflows and efficiency, skills of people and potential new businesses.
He has the ability to look at everything around him and focuses it towards
his goals.
4. Self-starter: An entrepreneur knows that if something needs to be done,
he should be start it himself. He sets the parameters and makes sure that
projects follow that path. He is proactive, not waiting for someone to give
him permission.
5. Competitive: Many companies are formed because an entrepreneur
knows that he can do a job better than others. He needs to win the game
of business. An entrepreneur will highlight his own company’s track
record of success.
6. Creativity: one aspect is being able to make connections between
seemingly unrelated events or situations. The entrepreneur often comes
up with solutions which are synthesis of other items. He will repurpose
products to market them to new industries.
7. Determination: An entrepreneur is not frustrated by his defeats. He looks
at defeat as an opportunity for success. He is determined to make all of
his attempts succeed, so will try and try again until it does. A successful
entrepreneur does not believe that something cannot be done.
8. Strong communication skills: The entrepreneur has strong
communication skills to sell his product and motivate employees. A most
successful entrepreneur knows how to motivate his employees so the
business grows overall. He is very good at highlighting the benefits of
any situation and coaching others to their success.
9. Strong work ethic: the successful entrepreneur will often be the first
person to arrive at the office and the last one to leave. He will come on
his days off to make sure that an outcome meets his expectations. His
mind is constantly on his work, whether he is in or out of the workplace.
10.Passion: passion is the most important trait of a successful entrepreneur.
He genuinely loves his work. He is willing to put in those extra hours to
make his business succeed because there is a joy his business gives which
goes beyond the money. The successful entrepreneur will always be
reading and researching ways to make business better.
 SKILLS OF AN ENTREPRENEUR:
Entrepreneur skills include various skill sets such as leadership, business
management, time management, creative thinking and problem-solving.
These entrepreneur skills are vital for promoting innovation, business
growth and competitiveness.
1. Business Management skills: Business management skills are traits an
entrepreneur must have to run a business and ensure all business goals
are met. Entrepreneurs with this skill set can oversee and manage
operations of different departments because they possess a good
understanding of each function. Business management skills include
multitasking, delegating responsibilities and making critical business
decisions.
2. Communication skills: Every entrepreneur must be able to
communicate effectively with clients, team members and all other
stakeholders. Whether through verbal communication during meetings
or sending reports and messages through emails about the project,
entrepreneurs require superior written and verbal communication. 
3. Risk taking skills: Being able to take calculated and intelligent risks is
one of the essential entrepreneur skills to learn. Employees with an
entrepreneur mindset never shy away from taking risks because they
understand that calculated risks result in tremendous success. They
know that risk is an opportunity to learn and grow a business to the next
level. Employers want candidates who can take risks in pursuit of
potential gains and profit.
4. Leadership skills: Being able to inspire colleagues, empower the
workforce and lead from the front requires excellent leadership skills.
Entrepreneurs with leadership skills motivate their employees, manage
operations and delegate tasks to reach the business goal.
5. Time management and organizational skills: Entrepreneurs with time
management and organisational skills understand different ways to
prioritise tasks and avoid procrastination. For ensuring timely
completion of projects, entrepreneurs analyse their and their team's
time, set time limit for each task, complete priority tasks first, delegate
work to others, create a to-do list and use technology to keep the
workspace organised.
6. Problem solving skills: Often, entrepreneurs face challenging and
unexpected situations. It could be a venture capitalist refusing further
funding or a team member refusing to work as per the project
guidelines; an entrepreneur must possess excellent problem-solving
skills to handle stressful situations and calmly identify alternate
 solutions. Exceptional problem-solving skills ensure they reach their
business goal.
7. Financial skills: The ability to handle resources, assess investments,
calculate ROI is a must for entrepreneurs. Apart from this, they must
know how to use accounting and budgeting software to keep track of all
the financial processes. By learning financial skills, entrepreneurs avoid
overspending and optimally allocate resources.

FUNCTIONS OF AN ENTREPRENEUR:
1. Taking Initiative: Entrepreneurship is a pro-active activity that takes such
actions , which others cant even perceive. This unique function of
entrepreneurship provides our civilization with a wide variety of products,
ways of actions, production techniques, etc. Therefore, taking initiative with
such end and qualification is the prime function of entrepreneurship in every
economy.
2. Organising resources: Organizing entails identifying those resources that are
required to transform a particular idea into reality. The resources include
human and nonhuman resources. Organizing in entrepreneurship will
increase productivity, promote new ventures, distribute and supervise work
and responsibility, and will remove barriers to work. Entrepreneurship, thus,
is the taping tool for assuming indigenous skills and resources for the
productive purpose.
3. Identifying opportunities and prospects: Entrepreneurship searches those
activities of value that have an economic and social contribution. It identifies
new opportunities in the socio-economic arena which have got profitable
prospects therefore, entrepreneurs are called searchers of hopes into blind
spots and this function enormously indebted our society to entrepreneurship.
4. Risk taking: Entrepreneurship takes the risk for the new venture. For
innovative actions in the field of production technology for new products in
a volatile market and new raw materials used in production. Moreover, it
also takes the risk for theft, robbery, snatching market fall and hooliganism
that may be involved with new entrepreneurship This is a major function of
entrepreneurship in developing countries.
5. Decision making: Entrepreneurship is a new initiative therefore, it has to
decide multivariate issues that affect new ventures. Entrepreneurship has to
decide upon equipment to be used quality, price and its variation, deficiency,
capital structure, the feasibility of the project, organizational structure,
philosophy of management, etc. that will guide, run and prosper the new
venture or distinct attempt for entrepreneurship. We know that decision
 making is a process and entrepreneurship to make it a success, goes through
this process.
6. Technology transfer and adaptation: Entrepreneurship throughout the world
brings invented technology from different comers of the world and makes it
appropriate by making required adjustments for local conditions. This
function of entrepreneurship involves identifying appropriate technology
with market potentials and adapts it into the local environment. Sometimes,
the technology uses indigenous materials that reduce cost and wastage of
resources. This entrepreneurial function virtually makes the world united in
terms of homogeneous technology.
7. Innovation: Entrepreneurship innovates a new production process or
technology, market, sources of new materials, management, strategy or
technique, investment opportunity, etc. Under the context of the changing
environment, the entrepreneur locates the most feasible opportunity for the
venture as well as improved or distinct technology that gives competitive
advantages or a new opportunity to prosperity. Innovation is a creative
means to add new utilities to existing situations or products.
Entrepreneurship through innovation creates innovative products or
operations for human society.
8. Social responsibility: Entrepreneurship with its innovative technology
somehow promotes human efforts. It restarts closed industries with
innovative managerial strategies and techniques. It also motivates new
entrepreneurs and attracts them to engage into an entrepreneurial venture.
Entrepreneurship provides new products or ideas that give momentum and
diversity into society. Therefore, entrepreneurship performs social
responsibility that protects the welfare, benefit and economic gain of the
society. It also promotes the community standard by providing jobs and
amenities.
9. Public relations: Entrepreneurship is a new venture that requires social
acceptance by the regulatory bodies and the public at large. The government,
as well as the persons’ who will be subject to entrepreneurship, would be
convinced through public relations to accept and to allow the entrepreneur to
execute an entrepreneurial venture. History tells that many entrepreneurs
were disregarded, coerced and even eliminated for their entrepreneurial
activities. Failure is costly and therefore, public relation is a significant
function of entrepreneurship.
10.Experience sharing: Entrepreneurship may spread in society through
publishing and sharing its success stories. Thus, entrepreneurship holds
workshops, industrial visits through which the entrepreneurial experience in
different counties may be shared with a widespread adaptation of success.
 This function will benefit the economies of the countries as well as the world
bodies,
11. Managerial roles: Entrepreneurs perform several managerial roles to keep
their venture functioning with success. The roles are interpersonal roles that
consist of a figurehead role, leadership role, and liaison role; informational
roles that include recipient role, disseminator role, and the spokesperson
role; decisional roles that consist of an entrepreneurial role, disturbance-
handler role, resource allocator role, and the negotiator role. The
entrepreneur also does the associated managerial functions such as planning,
organizing, leading and controlling.
12.Balanced economic development: Sustainable economic development
requires a balanced development among various regions and sectors of a
country. Every country tries to ensure such a situation that makes
industrialization throughout the country possible. Entrepreneurs make it
possible by establishing business ventures in various parts of the country in
various sectors of the industry.

ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP:

When it all Started?
The first entrepreneurship came into existence about more than 20,000 years
ago. However, the first known case tracts back to 17,000 BCE that took place in
New Guinea. Here, the locals exchanged obsidian with things like skins, food,
and tools. Such business continued for many millennia to come. During that
time, the ancient tribes exchange goods from various parts of certain areas for
attaining a benefit for their tribe.
Early Revolution
The first great revolution took place in entrepreneurship during the 12,000 years
ago in the form of agricultural revolution. At that time, the individuals started to
trade plants & animals with others with foods. It becomes a fundamental
shift in human history. As a result, the human begins to create villages and
towns near the fertile lands. The need for spending time on hunting gets
eliminated. Moreover, the process becomes efficient with only some farmers
staying involved in the food production process, whereas the rest of people
target other things. It makes individuals getting specialized in a variety of
professions. They were the earliest entrepreneurs in the history of humanity.
Some of the best areas of specialization at that time were fishing, tool-making,
clothes-making, and tool-making. After some years, the variety of specialist’s
increases by the addition of new areas likes carpentry, masonry, pottery, and
many more.
Real Expansion from 2,000 BCE
With the invention of cities globally, international trade started that resulted in
making entrepreneurs wealthy. Some popular trades at that time are mentioned
below:
 Trade of salt from some African countries to nations fall under the
Roman Empire.
 Trading of technologies like paper making from China to other parts of
the world.
 Trade of lemons, oranges, and coffee by Arabians to European countries.
 Exchange of gunpowder from China to other nations of this world.
Invention of Money
The invention of money resulted in development of entrepreneurship to a
different level. The barter system gets replaced with the exchange of money for
goods. It resulted in providing a way to the entrepreneurs for storing value. On
top of that, the long-distance get facilitated with the money.
Industrial Age
It began all the way in the 18th  century and continued until now. The
businesses get boosted with the availability of energy production and labour.
The age of new ideas started here and is continuing till date. Now, the
entrepreneurship has become the heart of the economy. We believe the role of
entrepreneurship will stay the same for many centuries to come.

ROLE OF ENTREPRENEUR IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:

1. Wealth Creation and Sharing: By establishing the business entity,
entrepreneurs invest their own resources and attract capital from investors,
lenders and the public. This mobilizes public wealth and allows people to
benefit from the success of entrepreneurs and growing businesses. This kind of
pooled capital that results in wealth creation and distribution is one of the basic
imperatives and goals of economic development.
2. Create Jobs: Entrepreneurs are by nature and definition job creators, as
opposed to job seekers. The simple translation is that when you become an
entrepreneur, there is one less job seeker in the economy, and then you provide
employment for multiple other job seekers. This kind of job creation by new
and existing businesses is again is one of the basic goals of economic
development. This is why the Govt. of India has launched initiatives such
as Startup India to promote and support new startups, and also others like
the Make in India initiative to attract foreign companies and their FDI into the
Indian economy. All this in turn creates a lot of job opportunities, and is helping
in augmenting our standards to a global level.
3. Balanced Regional Development: Entrepreneurs setting up new businesses
and industrial units help with regional development by locating in less
developed and backward areas. The growth of industries and business in these
areas leads to infrastructure improvements like better roads and rail links,
airports, stable electricity and water supply, schools, hospitals, shopping malls
and other public and private services that would not otherwise be available.
Every new business that locates in a less developed area will create both direct
and indirect jobs, helping lift regional economies in many different ways. The
combined spending by all the new employees of the new businesses and the
supporting jobs in other businesses adds to the local and regional economic
output. Both central and state governments promote this kind of regional
development by providing registered
MSME businesses various benefits and concessions.
4. GDP and Per Capita Income: India’s MSME sector, comprised of 36 million
units that provide employment for more than 80 million people, now accounts
for over 37% of the country’s GDP. Each new addition to these 36 million units
makes use of even more resources like land, labour and capital to develop
products and services that add to the national income, national product and per
capita income of the country. This growth in GDP and per capita income is
again one of the essential goals of economic development.
5. Standard of Living: Increase in the standard of living of people in a
community is yet another key goal of economic development. Entrepreneurs
again play a key role in increasing the standard of living in a community. They
do this not just by creating jobs, but also by developing and adopting
innovations that lead to improvements in the quality of life of their employees,
customers, and other stakeholders in the community. For example, automation
that reduces production costs and enables faster production will make a business
unit more productive, while also providing its customers with the same goods at
lower prices.
6. Exports: Any growing business will eventually want to get started with
exports to expand their business to foreign markets. This is an important
ingredient of economic development since it provides access to bigger markets,
and leads to currency inflows and access to the latest cutting-edge technologies
and processes being used in more developed foreign markets. Another key
benefit is that this expansion that leads to more stable business revenue during
economic downturns in the local economy.  
7. Community Development: Economic development doesn’t always translate
into community development. Community development requires infrastructure
for education and training, healthcare, and other public services. For example,
you need highly educated and skilled workers in a community to attract new
businesses. If there are educational institutions, technical training schools and
internship opportunities, that will help build the pool of educated and skilled
workers. A good example of how this kind of community development can be
promoted is Azim Hashim Premji, Chairman of Wipro Limited, who donated
Rs. 27,514 crores for promoting education through the Azim Premji
Foundation. This foundation works with more than 350,000 schools in eight
states across India.

Conclusion: So, there is a very important role for entrepreneurs to spark

economic
development by  starting new businesses , creating jobs, and contributing
to improvement in various key goals such as GDP, exports, standard of
living, skills development and community development.

ENTREPRENEUR V/S INTREPRENEUR:

Intrapreneur: An intrapreneur is nothing but an entrepreneur within the

boundaries of the organisation. An intrapreneur is an employee of a
large organisation, who has the authority of initiating creativity and innovation
in the company’s products, services and projects, redesigning the processes,
workflows and system with the objective of transforming them into a successful
venture of the enterprise.

Entrepreneur: An entrepreneur is an individual who conceives the idea of

starting a new venture, take all types of risks, not only to put the product or
service into reality but also to make it an extremely demanding one.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ENTREPRENEUR AND INTREPRENEUR:

Basis of ENTREPRENEUR INTREPRENEUR

comparison

Meaning Entrepreneur refers to a person Intrapreneur refers to an

who set up his own business employee of the organization
with a new idea or concept. who is in charge of
undertaking innovations in
product, service, process etc.
 Resources Uses own resources Use resources provided by the
company.

Capital Raised by him Financed by the company

Enterprise Newly established An existing one

Dependency Independent Dependent

Risk Borne by entrepreneur himself Taken by the company

Works for Creating a leading position in Change and renew the existing
the market organizational system and
culture.

TYPES OF ENTREPRENEURS:

1.Based on the Business Type: Depending on the type of business,

entrepreneurs are classified into the following types:

A. Trading Entrepreneur: A trading entrepreneur refers to a person who

undertakes business-related activities. These types of entrepreneurs usually
buy finished products in bulk from manufacturers at some discount. They
then sell these products directly or with the help of retailers or vendors with
profits. A business entrepreneur usually acts as a middleman between
manufacturers and customers. This may include wholesalers, retailers,
dealers, etc.

B. Manufacturing Entrepreneur: The founder of a business to manufacture

products is known as a manufacturing entrepreneur. Manufacturing
entrepreneurs analyse market needs or customer needs and manufacture
products to meet such needs using various resources or technologies. In
simple words, manufacturing entrepreneurs transform raw materials into
finished products according to the customer's needs.
C. Agricultural Entrepreneur: Agricultural entrepreneurs refer to the types of
entrepreneurs who primarily do agricultural work. They participate in a wide
range of agricultural activities such as farming, irrigation, agricultural
produce, mechanization, technology, etc.

2.Based on the Technology: Based on technology, entrepreneurs are classified

into the following types:

A. Technical Entrepreneur: Such entrepreneurs are called technology

entrepreneurs who use to start and continue industries primarily based on
science and technology. These entrepreneurs develop new ideas and turn those
ideas into technology-based innovations and inventions. They always work to
create new methods of production in the fields of technology and science.
Besides, they also manufacture products that can help ordinary citizens and
other non-technical entrepreneurs in their enterprises.

B. Non-Technical Entrepreneur: As the name suggests, entrepreneurs who do

not set up and run enterprises based on science and technology are known as
non-technical entrepreneurs. In short, non-tech entrepreneurs are those who
work for innovations using traditional methods. They typically use alternative
and exemplary marketing methods and follow non-technical delivery strategies
to engage directly with customers. This ultimately helps them to survive and
grow their business in a competitive market. Moreover, they create better
relationships and meet customer needs.

3. Based on Ownership: Based on ownership, entrepreneurs are classified into

the following types:

A. Private Entrepreneur: When an entrepreneur starts something personal of his

or her own, such as setting up an enterprise, he/she is called a private
entrepreneur. A private entrepreneur is the only person who plays the sole
proprietor role for a business venture and bears the risk associated with it.

B. State Entrepreneur: When a state or government does a business or industrial

undertaking, it is referred to as a 'state entrepreneur'. In this case, the
government is the sole owner of the enterprise and will bear all the profits and
losses involved with it.

Joint Entrepreneurs: When a business or industrial undertaking is established

and operated jointly by the private entrepreneur and the government, it is called
joint entrepreneurship. The parties involved are called joint entrepreneurs. In
this case, risk and profits are shared by both parties. However, the sharing
percentages generally depend on the type of business and the agreement
between the two parties.

4.Based on Gender: Based on gender, entrepreneurs are classified into the

following types:

A. Men Entrepreneurs: When any business venture is formed, managed and

operated by men, these men are referred to as men entrepreneurs.

B. Women Entrepreneurs: When any business venture is formed, managed and

operated by women, these women are referred to as women entrepreneurs.
Besides, if women have a minimum 51 percent share of the capital, they can
also be known as women entrepreneurs.

5.Based on the Enterprise size: Based on the size of the enterprise,

entrepreneurs are classified into the following types:

A. Small-Scale Entrepreneur: If an entrepreneur has invested up to a maximum

of 1 crore in starting an enterprise, including plant and machinery, such
entrepreneur is called Small Scale Entrepreneur.

B. Medium-Scale Entrepreneur: If an entrepreneur has invested a minimum of 1

crore to a maximum of 5 crores in starting an enterprise, including plant and
machinery, then such entrepreneur is called Medium Scale Entrepreneur.

C. Large-Scale Entrepreneur: If an entrepreneur has invested more than 5 crores

in starting an enterprise, including plant and machinery, such an entrepreneur is
called a large-scale entrepreneur. This includes any investment above 5 crores.

6. Based on Clarence Danhof Study: Clarence Danhof conducted a study on

American agriculture and classified entrepreneurs accordingly. According to
him, entrepreneurs generally have less initiative and drive when they start any
business venture. However, they learn things with their continued economic
work and become more innovative and enthusiastic. Based on his study, he
classified entrepreneurs as follows:

A. Innovating Entrepreneurs: Innovative entrepreneurs, also known as

innovators, are the type of entrepreneurs who usually come to the market with
new ideas or innovations. In particular, they create new products, find new
production methods, create new markets and restructure the business. Such
entrepreneurs always try to innovate and invest their time and money in
research and development.
 B. Imitative Entrepreneurs: Imitative entrepreneurs or imitating entrepreneurs
are often called 'copy cats'. This is because these entrepreneurs mainly follow
and adopt the innovative entrepreneurs' existing successful enterprise system.
They do nothing new of their own. Imitative entrepreneurs apply strategy from
other enterprises in a manner where all core fundamentals of the original
business model are replicated, and all efficiencies are retained. These
entrepreneurs help improve any product, production process or suggest the use
of improved technology addressed by other enterprises.

C. Fabian Entrepreneurs: Fabian entrepreneurs are timid and cautious. He

imitates other innovations only if he is certain that failure to do so may damage
business. Those types of entrepreneurs who generally do not seek to implement
changes in their enterprise techniques. They are very careful in applying any
approach and cautious in exercising any change. These entrepreneurs are known
for not making sudden decisions. They imitate the change in their strategy only
when it is completely clear that failing to do so will not harm.

Drone Entrepreneurs: His entrepreneurial activities may be restricted to just one

or two innovations. They strictly follow their traditional strategies or methods
for development, production or marketing. These entrepreneurs feel or
experience pride and tradition in the old ways of doing business. This is why
drone entrepreneurs sometimes suffer losses, yet they do not adopt changes in
their current methods.

RECENT TRENDS:

Gone do those days when India had the world’s lowest entrepreneurial activity,
with just 5% of Indians own a business. Today the scenario is entirely different.
According to The State of Indian Startup Ecosystem Report 2021, India has
over 5,694 active investors and 38000 startups. ( give the latest figure) Hence,
the trend of entrepreneurship and startup boom is increasing. However, running
a business successfully or starting a new business makes sense when you stay
updated about the entrepreneurship trends and develop business acumen.

Let us see the Current Trends in Entrepreneurship Development:

● Launch of Startup India

● Increasing spend on social media and digital marketing
● Growth in new technology
● Micro-influencers are helping drive sales
● Growth of Entrepreneur Communities
These trends will help one become aware of the business world's changes that
help make the right business decisions.

Launch of Startup India: The startup ecosystem in India is changing, and

SME's or Small and Medium Enterprises are privileged today compared to what
it was a decade back. The government has taken various initiatives to establish a
favourable Indian Start-up ecosystem, and they have launched a new portal,
Start-up India, to promote the growth of Indian Start-ups. With the latest
technology, customer-friendly approach, new taxation policy, and relaxation in
GST, ease of business registration, the startups in India have become a
significant player in the Indian economy. New innovative businesses are
coming up frequently, increasing the need for entrepreneurship knowledge.

Startups with more significant potential will be adopted faster, and big investors
fund small startups and entrepreneurs. Earlier, such investments in startups were
considered fancy investments. However, today Unicorns startups (private
startups with an investment of over $1 billion) can step toward the mid-level
business within six months. Premium institutes like IIT Delhi have emphasized
that those who wish to become their own bosses and succeed must also know
about Entrepreneurial Ecosystem and Venture Creation, Entrepreneurial
Operations and Decisions, Entrepreneurial Finance, Growing and Scaling Up
Entrepreneurial Ventures, Entrepreneurial Failure Management and much more.
Their Certificate Programme in Entrepreneurship will help you put your best
foot forward.

Increasing spend on social media and digital marketing: Companies are

spending more on social and digital media marketing because they can optimize
their ads and marketing strategy on social media according to consumer
behaviour. Moreover, social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and
Instagram can provide real-time statistics of their users, and they will show your
ads on their user's profile who are interested in a similar type of products and
services that you offer. So, you can easily reach your potential customers
through these digital marketing platforms, and you can reduce your marketing
cost by promoting your brand and products on social media platforms.

Growth in new technology: Technology has proven to be a boon for

entrepreneurs; they can now use it to create applications and websites to
establish their names and generate brand awareness. Indian App Market is also
going strong and is predicted to get stronger in the coming years. India's app
market is leading the world with over 28,000 Indian app publishers on Google
Play Store. Looking at the current trends, entrepreneurs are also vying to have
their app on the Play Store for branding. Further, spend on mobile ads is
projected to increase from 45% to 65% in 2022. Apart from social media
entrepreneurs for business networking and attracting customers, some have built
their careers on Social media alone. YouTubers and Bloggers are a good
example. Social media is popular because its reach is impressive. As per
IBEF.org, eCommerce sales increased by 36% in the last quarter of 2020. Also,
with the increasing digital literacy and smartphone users, there is a rise in
eCommerce investments, with several small and big new players all set for their
digital presence. Ecommerce sales are expected to get a further boom in the
coming years. As per the Indian eCommerce industry report, The Indian E-
commerce market is most likely to grow to US$ 200 billion by 2026 from US$
38.5 billion as of 2017.

Micro-influencers are helping drive sales: Influencers are the people who
have a good number of followers on their social media profiles. It can be a
celebrity, music star, or tutor. According to various surveys, consumers trust
word-of-mouth recommendation from friends and family, which is how micro-
influencers work. Micro-influencers are not celebrities, and they are ordinary
people who can create specific content about a topic or theme. They have a
small number of followers, a high engagement rate, and can interact with their
followers. If you have a limited budget for your marketing, you can hire a
micro-influencer because they can help you establish your brand through a
word-of-mouth marketing campaign.

Growth of Entrepreneur Communities: Entrepreneur communities are

forums where like-minded people from the same industry can interact with each
other. There are many benefits of joining a professional community for
entrepreneurs like knowledge sharing, getting valuable tips, staying updated
about the latest trends, solving business issues, learning from mistakes, learning
new skills, getting more business, getting good ideas, and business networking.
Due to so many advantages, there is a rise in entrepreneurs and business
communities.

SOCIOPRENEUR: Sociopreneurs are the ones who pay attention to the world
around them. They recognize a need in their community or in society as a whole
and then seek out ways to feed this need while still being able to turn a profit.
Companies like Toms, which gives a pair of shoes to a child is need for every
pair consumers buy, rely not only on creating a good product but also on
providing their consumers with the knowledge that they are playing a part in the
giving back process. other companies have picked up on this. Amazon for
example, has their “Amazon Smiles” program. Amazon gives a portion of their
profits to a charity, customer can select from a list, giving an opportunity to give
back as he shops.

EDUPRENEUR: An edupreneur, or education entrepreneur, markets their

expertise and skills to public or private schools, colleges and universities or for-
profit and non-profit organizations, using a learning platform. These
professionals are educators who share their knowledge. They're also
entrepreneurs because they sell their knowledge often through pay-to-access
systems.

ECOPRENEUR: An ecopreneur is a person who avails services, goods and

technology which is environment-friendly and can be easily recycled as well as
organic. The term is gaining popularity day by day as people and organizations
become more conscious about the degradation of the environment caused by
other large scale industries that are responsible for contamination in the
atmosphere. However, the concern of an ecopreneur is related to humanity and
then, the primary motive would be to earn the profit. But the preference gives to
serve mankind and also, the availability of the natural resources for the
upcoming generation. But now, large companies are also concerned about the
innovative concept of Ecopreneurship as it is a smart way of gaining benefits
for a long span of time.

AGROPRENEUR: The concept of agricultural entrepreneurship was introduced

to support farmers as well agricultural industries by improving the means of
production and increasing market engagements. An agropreneur is an
entrepreneur whose business is agriculture or agriculture related. A successful
agropreneur needs to understand consistency, creative thinking, smart working,
risk taking, communication, and finding market opportunities. The tremendous
opportunities present in the agricultural sector have allowed the promotion of
agropreneurship. 

SELF HELP GROUPS:

Self-Help Groups (SHGs) are informal associations of people who choose to
come together to find ways to improve their living conditions. It can be defined
as self-governed, peer-controlled information group of people with similar
socio-economic background and having a desire to collectively perform
common purpose. SHG rely on the notion of “Self Help” to encourage self-
employment and poverty alleviation.
Objectives:
a. To build the functional capacity of the poor and the marginalized in the
field of employment and income generating activities.
b. To resolve conflicts through collective leadership and mutual discussion.
c. To provide collateral free loan with terms decided by the group at the
market driven rates.
d. To work as a collective guarantee system for members who propose to
borrow from organized sources.
e. The poor collect their savings and save it in banks. In return they receive
easy access to loans with a small rate of interest to start their micro unit
enterprise.
Significance:
1.Social integrity: SHGs encourages collective efforts for combating
practices like dowry, alcoholism etc.
2. Gender Equity: SHGs empowers women and inculcates leadership
skill among them. Empowered women participate more actively in gram
Sabah and elections. There is evidence in this country as well as elsewhere
that formation of Self-Help Groups has a multiplier effect in improving
women’s status in society as well as in the family leading to improvement in
their socio-economic condition and also enhances their self-esteem.
3. Voice to Marginalized Section: Most of the beneficiaries of government
schemes have been from weaker and marginalized communities and hence
their participation through SHGs ensures social justice.
4. Financial Inclusion: Priority Sector Lending norms and assurance of
returns incentivize banks to lend to SHGs. The SHG-Bank linkage
programme pioneered by NABARD has made access to credit easier and
reduced the dependence on traditional money lenders and other non-
institutional sources.
 5. Alternate source of Employment: It eases dependency on agriculture by
providing support in setting up micro-enterprises e.g., personalized business
ventures like tailoring, grocery, and tool repair shops.
What are the Issues?
1. Lacks up-gradation of skills: Most SHGs are not making use of new
technological innovations and skills. This is because there is limited awareness
with regards to new technologies and they do not have the necessary skills to
make use of the same. Furthermore, there is a lack of effective mechanisms.
2. Weak Financial Management: It is also found that in certain units the return
from the business is not properly invested further in the units, and the funds
diverted for other personal and domestic purposes like marriage, construction
of house etc.
3. Inadequate Training Facilities: The training facilities given to the members
of SHGs in the specific areas of product selection, quality of products,
production techniques, managerial ability, packing, other technical
knowledge are not adequate to compete with that of strong units.
4. Lack of Stability and Unity Especially among Women SHGs: In the case of
SHGs dominated by women, it is found that there is no stability of the units as
many married women are not in a position to associate with the group due to
the shift of their place of residence. Moreover, there is no unity among women
members owing to personal reasons.
5. Inadequate Financial Assistance:It is found that in most of the SHGs, the
financial assistance provided to them by the agencies concerned is not
adequate to meet their actual requirements. The financial authorities are not
giving adequate subsidies to meet even the labour cost requirements.