Which of the following are characteristics of entrepreneurship?

A. Systematic Activity
B. Organisation of production
C. Innovation
D. Lawful and purposeful Activity
E. Low level of risk

Choose the correct answer from the options given below.

A, B, C, D

The correct answer is option 4- A, B, C, D.

Entrepreneurship is the process of setting up one’s own business as distinct from pursuing any other economic activity, be it employment or practising some profession. The following are the characteristics of entrepreneurship:

(i) Systematic activity: Entrepreneurship is not a mysterious gift or charm and something that happens by chance! It is a systematic, step-by-step and purposeful activity. It has certain temperamental, skill and other knowledge and competency requirements that can be acquired, learnt and developed, both by formal educational and vocational training as well as by observation and work experience. Such an understanding of the process of entrepreneurship is crucial for dispelling the myth that entrepreneurs are born rather than made.

(ii) Lawful and Purposeful Activity: The object of entrepreneurship is lawful business. It is important to take note of this as one may try to legitimise unlawful actions as entrepreneurship on the grounds that just as entrepreneurship entails risk, so does illicit businesses. Purpose of entrepreneurship is creation of value for personal profit and social gain.

(iii) Innovation: From the point of view of the firm, innovation may be cost saving or revenue-enhancing. If it does both it is more than welcome. Even if it does none, it is still welcome as innovation must become a habit! Entrepreneurship is creative in the sense that it involves creation of value. By combining the various factors of production, entrepreneurs produce goods and services that meet the needs and wants of the society. Every entrepreneurial act results in income and wealth generation. Entrepreneurship is creative also in the sense that it involves innovationintroduction of new products, discovery of new markets and sources of supply of inputs, technological breakthroughs as well as introduction of newer organisational forms for doing things better, cheaper, faster and, in the present context, in a manner that causes the least harm to the ecology/ environment.

(iv) Organisation of Production: Production, implying creation of form, place, time personal utility, requires the combined utilisation of diverse factors of production, land, labour, capital and technology. Entrepreneur, in response to a perceived business opportunity mobilises these resources into a productive enterprise or firm. It may be pointed out that the entrepreneur may not be possessing any of these resources; he may just have the ‘idea’ that he promotes among the resource providers. In an economy with a well-developed financial system, he has to convince just the funding institutions and with the capital so arranged he may enter into contracts of supply of equipment, materials, utilities (such as water and electricity) and technology. What lies at the core of organisation of production is the knowledge about availability and location of the resources as well as the optimum way to combine them. An entrepreneur needs negotiation skills to raise these in the best interests of the enterprise.

(v) Risk-taking: It is generally believed that entrepreneurs take high risks. Yes, individuals opting for a career in entrepreneurship take a bigger risk that involved in a career in employment or practice of a profession as there is no “assured” payoff. In practice, for example, when a person quits a job to start on his own, he tries to calculate whether he or she would be able to earn the same level of income or not. To an observer, the risk of quitting a well-entrenched and promising career seems a “high” risk, but what the person has taken is a calculated risk. They are so sure of their capabilities that they convert 50 per cent chances into 100 per cent success. They avoid situations with higher risks as they hate failure as anyone would do; they dislike lower risk situations as business ceases to be a game/fun! Risk as such more than a financial stake, becomes a matter of personal stake, where less than expected performance causes displeasure and distress.