An entrepreneur spots a gap in the market and takes personal and financial risks to set up a business. In your exam, you need to tell skills from characteristics and explain how entrepreneurs help their business, society, and the wider economy.
What is an Entrepreneur?
Enterprise means having the drive and creativity to turn ideas into practical actions. Entrepreneurship takes those ideas and turns them into financial, cultural, or social value for others.
- An entrepreneur takes personal and financial risks to set up a business in the hope of earning a profit.
- Anyone can be enterprising. An employee who reorganises a stockroom or a student who runs a school fun run shows enterprise without owning a company.
- An intrapreneur is an enterprising employee who invents new products or improves systems from inside an existing workplace.
- Entrepreneurs find opportunities by making something brand new, filling a local service gap, or offering better value than existing rivals.
Skills versus Characteristics
Exam questions test whether you can tell learned abilities apart from natural personality traits. Always check which term the paper asks for.
- A skill is an ability you learn and develop through training, study, and regular practice.
- A characteristic is an innate personal trait or quality that forms part of your personality.
| Entrepreneurial Skills (Learned) | Entrepreneurial Characteristics (Inborn Traits) |
|---|---|
| Planning: setting realistic targets and deadlines | Creative: inventing original products and fresh ideas |
| Delegating: assigning tasks to competent workers | Risk-tolerant: willing to take calculated chances |
| Budgeting: tracking cash inflows and outflows | Resilient: bouncing back quickly after business setbacks |
| Communicating: speaking clearly with banks and buyers | Flexible: adapting readily when circumstances change |
The Entrepreneur's Role in an Organisation
Inside a business, the founder acts as the engine that gives the enterprise direction and momentum.
- Setting the vision: They decide what the firm sells, who its customers are, and where it should expand.
- Providing finance: They invest their savings or borrow start-up capital, carrying the loss if the firm fails.
- Assembling a team: They recognise their personal limits and hire specialists, like bookkeepers and graphic designers, to cover weak spots.
- Introducing innovation: They adopt modern digital systems and new working methods to stay ahead of rival businesses.
Role in Society and the Economy
Exam questions often ask you to divide an entrepreneur's impact into economic benefits and social benefits.
Economic Role
- Job creation: Employing staff gives people an income, cutting down local unemployment.
- Tax revenue: Businesses pay corporation tax on profits, and staff pay income tax (PAYE), funding public services like schools and hospitals.
- Spin-off trade: A growing business buys packaging, transport, and raw ingredients from other Irish firms.
Social Role
- Meeting local needs: They supply new goods and services that raise living standards.
- Community support: Local firms sponsor youth sports teams, support parish halls, and run events that bring neighbourhoods together.
Key terms
- Entrepreneur
- A person who spots an opportunity and takes personal and financial risks to establish and run a business.
- Enterprise
- The ability of a person to creatively generate ideas, spot opportunities, and turn them into targeted actions.
- Entrepreneurship
- Acting on opportunities and ideas to turn them into financial, cultural, or social value for others.
- Intrapreneur
- An enterprising employee who uses entrepreneurial thinking to develop new ideas and improvements inside their workplace.
- Entrepreneurial Skill
- An ability developed and improved over time through training and practice, such as planning or budgeting.
- Entrepreneurial Characteristic
- A natural personality trait or personal quality someone is born with, such as resilience or creativity.
Check yourself
What is the key difference between a skill and a characteristic?
A skill is learned through training and practice, while a characteristic is an inborn personality trait.
What three types of value can entrepreneurship produce?
Financial value, cultural value, or social value.
What do we call an employee who acts enterprisingly inside their workplace?
An intrapreneur.
Give one economic benefit and one social benefit an entrepreneur brings to an area.
Economic: creating local jobs; Social: sponsoring a local sports club or community project.