The question of who an entrepreneur is has raised a lot of theories from various scholars and entrepreneurs alike and I will like to pour out my thoughts on the issue a little.
A lot of definitions of the entrepreneur have revolved around creativity, innovation and the ability to identify business opportunities that the average man would never see. The definitions also talk of a go getter who is undaunted in his quest to be his/her own boss and one who has got the charismatic ability to lead an organization. Although these qualities are very necessary for an intending entrepreneur to possess, there lives to be one very salient quality every entrepreneur should posses.
We live in a world of problems; unemployment, inflation, scarcity, violence, moral decadence, over population, crime, corruption, social misfits, financial meltdown, rural-urban drift, drug abuse, media excesses and so many others. It seems like the advent of one scientific or technological breakthrough brings in another problem. There never seems to be an end to problems and there never would be an end to problems.
Without problems there would be no existence. Man was created to solve problems. The Bible records in genesis chapter one that the earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep. The Spirit of the Lord that was hovering around the face of the deep identified a problem and God stepped in to solve that problem which brought about the creation of the world. The God who created the world and man was solving a problem. He saw something in the earth that He did not like and rather than sit down in heaven and mop about it, He got down to solving the problem which brought about the existence of a beautiful earth. The creation of the world brought about another problem- who will tend to the earth and all of God’s creations? So man was created to solve the problem. That was not all, God created man to be like Him. That means that man had the mind of God so that man could fulfill the end of God’s creations. Man was created with the creative and problem solving abilities of God for it is written in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 3 and verse 10 that God hath made everything beautiful in His time and hath set the world in their heart so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. So God created the world and all that is and that was and will still be created only that He put it all in the heart of man and at every point when it is time for the manifestation of what He created from the very beginning, He brings forth a man created for that purpose and with the required abilities to bring it into fruition. No wonder Solomon said that there is nothing new under the sun. So man was created for problem solving and would live purposelessly if he comes into the world without solving the problem he was created to solve.
The ideal entrepreneur is one who solves problems, one who is passionate about bringing about changes in the status quo. An entrepreneur is one who sees a better way of solving a problem and undertakes the responsibility of doing just that. Without problems, there could never be entrepreneurship. Problems are the threshold of entrepreneurship and the solution of one problem gives rise to another and there continues an endless cycle of problem solving because there is imperfection in perfection. A solution can be the best there is but only for a time because one solution produces another problem.
A big problem of entrepreneurs today is that they are consumed by the passion for money rather than the passion for problem solving. The profit objective prescribed by scholars in the fields of finance and business has misdirected a lot of would be entrepreneurs and existing ones alike such that problems rather than being solved are aggravated. Also, there is no longer room for creativity and innovation as today’s entrepreneurs are wont to follow the band wagon. The moment a new business model or trend is introduced and it succeeds because of its problem solving potentials, everybody throws their weight into it and begins to grapple for what is left of the crumbs. Today’s entrepreneurs look for ready made businesses rather than looking for problems that match their gifts and abilities to solve thus frustration meets them at every junction of their endeavor. The joy of setting up a business venture should not be money but the lives that are transformed by the ingenuity of the initiator of the business. Needless to say, one needs money to set up a business and partly too to sustain the business. Partly because money does not solve problems but people do.
An ideal entrepreneur is a problem solver and a value creator.
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