Differences between Businessman & Entrepreneur.

MD JAWED AKBAR

Differences between Businessman & Entrepreneur.

Entrepreneur who starts the business from scratch. for example, initiating the plan , materializing and implementing . and also creating brand for his products and services.

In simple words entrepreneur who run the business in a unique form.

Businessman who follow up the market trying to capture the existing customers by doing some additional or value added services in the existing products and services category.

Back in the day, everyone who owned a venture or inherited one was called a businessman, at least in India. Some of the largest business houses started out as traditional family-owned set ups too, that have been run by next generations over the decades.

In the last decade we've been talking a lot about entrepreneurs and the influx of venture capital funds and now angels, incubators have given birth to a growing entrepreneurial ecosystem in India.

Today, as I see there are two classes of people and there are few crucial markers that differentiate one from the other.

The idea: A businessman usually starts a venture from an existing idea or concept and therefore becomes a market player. An entrepreneur on the other hand, thinks of a unique idea, spins it into a venture and aims to become a market leader, someone who seeks to change the rules of the game. His idea is disruptive.

Profit motives: Businessmen have one primary motive-a healthy bottom line, even in the early days. In short, they want short-term gains. An entrepreneur, however, begins his journey with a people and customer-oriented outlook. Entrepreneurs we know look to solve problems, and therefore give customers what they need as opposed to what they want. Profits, therefore, are a natural progression to this goal and if thought out wisely, come late but in good measure. An entrepreneur thus, works with patience and perseverance, to see his or her idea mature, gain good traction and carves a niche, which in effect, gives rise to competitors or more businessmen!

Job creation: Businessman hire people to increase productivity. Entrepreneurs, create jobs. Infosys was a classic example in India's employment story that created jobs for lakhs of people and gave them the quality of life that was otherwise a distant dream.

How many startup ventures set out to do this without the tag of social entrepreneurship?

Risk factor: A businessman plays it safe, goes the tried and tested route and is afraid of failure. An entrepreneur is a person with a daring adventurous spirit, someone who is innovative, revolutionary, and unfazed by the idea of failing, Failure to him or her is just a stepping stone to success, because the journey is important first. Therefore, every successful entrepreneur out there, has experienced some failure, but stood steady through every hurdle.

Having defined the two broadly, some aspects remain murky even today. Entrepreneurship with all the 'brew-ha-ha' around it has also become a fad. Despite many enthusiastic people starting out on their own, calling themselves founders, entrepreneurs, I feel sometimes it is a glorified term. Majority of ideas are those copied from the west, which is okay, considering India's operational challenges are quite different and therefore executing a business model does require some innovation and creativity. However, many first generation entrepreneurs ride the wave-betting on the present day success of a sector or where most VC money goes. E-commerce story is a case in point, so is mobile applications, social networks, as top three contenders in the copy-cat category. The others look at it as a get-rich-quick scheme. Start, scale, get funded, and get acquired. End of story!

Unfortunately many fail to realize that the hype often leads to mediocrity.

Food for thought: Do you want to ride the wave of mediocrity? If not, then think hard before venturing out. Even if you inherit a family enterprise-are you subconsciously a businessman or an entrepreneur?