STOP CALLING EVERYONE AN ENTREPRENEUR

We have gotten a bit carried away with the “entrepreneur label” stop it. So many people in Nigeria consider themselves entrepreneur without even knowing what been an entrepreneur entails. In Nigeria, every Wale, Musa and Chidi goes about with the entrepreneur title not knowing that they are small business owners. Entrepreneurship is so much more than having a business.

Too many people confuse entrepreneurs from small business owners. A lot more people are qualified to run a grocery shop than take companies from inception, through market, funding and growth to IPO.

Now you may be asking, "who is an entrepreneur”

An entrepreneur is someone who is motivated to begin a start up. They seek to provide radical solution to huge problems with the use of breakthrough technologies that will make that solution possible. An entrepreneur has an insatiable need for more, more and more. They can’t stop. They are fearless and driven to maximize opportunity. An entrepreneur aims for improvement over what currently exist. They don’t dare to be different, they are different.

A small business owner, on the contrary, build business incrementally, bit by bit. They often solve smaller, localized problems with their business and are not looking to radically move the needle. These people are the broad base of employment in Nigeria. Everywhere you go in every street are littered with small businesses. They cover a lot of surface area but aren’t disrupting the status quo, creating entire new fields, or accelerating an entire market forward.

Small business owner seek lower risk and their goal is sustaining a living for themselves and their employees. Furthermore, their products and services often live in the realm of the known and established. They live and operate in their local community. That local tailor that has been in your street for 20 years is a business owner also that young guy that just opened a barbing salon in your area, that bet 9ja agent and that freelance web designer are all small business owners not entrepreneurs.

When we talk of entrepreneurs, we need to mention those people who discovered a new world, who aim for improvement in fields and business ideas that already exist, who provided radical solutions to problems that we never thought possible. People like Aliko Dangote who gave us a FCMG company we can be proud of, Linda Ikeji who open our eyes to what blogging is, CEO’s of Konga and Jumia who introduced the E-commerce gig to us, our very own Seun Osewa of Nairaland and Mike Adenuga who without him we wouldn’t have known what per second billing is all about.

These people are true entrepreneurs. Bigger is always better for them and that’s the one facet of their business that has held lasting values with customers through the years.

okay

Most people are ordinary business men and women. 'Advanced traders' if you like.

Okay I will stop

Some people will be selling fixed game and they will go and be coming and call their sell entreprenuer, no be only, na exitprenuer

.

Ah no even read the Epistle

Not everyone can sustain a business. We cannot all be entrepreneurs.

Now I know better. I'm a small business owner.

Errm, while I understand your point, I'd love to disagree.
Entrepreneurship is Entrepreneurship.

Below is Wikipedia's definition

Entrepreneurship has traditionally been defined as the process of designing, launching and running a new business, which typically begins as a small business, such as a startup company, offering a product, process or service for sale or hire. The people who create these businesses are called entrepreneurs.

What you mean is there are different grades of entrepreneurship. You are trying to differentiate​the silicon valley type entrepreneurship from the guy attempting to make a buck selling DVDs on the streets.

The best bet would be to create a new name for the transformative version of entrepreneurship which is what most startups play in.

I yeard u

Okay ooooooooooooooooooooooooo. Either entrepreneur or small business owner. May God bless our hustle.

Check my signature for your quality customised Atm card flash drive.

shop owners are enterprenuers

People like Aliko Dangote who gave us a FCMG company we can be proud of, Linda Ikeji who open our eyes to what blogging is, CEO’s of Konga and Jumia who introduced the E-commerce gig to us, our very own Seun Osewa of Nairaland and Mike Adenuga who without him we wouldn’t have known what per second billing is all about.


When Dangote started selling petty things he was was not an entrepreneur right?

What about when Seun was buying N100 browsing time at Cafe to build Nairaland he was not an entrepreneur?

We are all entrepreneurs in what so ever small start up we are into so far we have the bigger picture to change the world.

The Bible says we should not despise the days of little beginning.

all those big big names u mention they all started small and called themselves entrepreneur....Any name u which to call yourself whether Business owner or Entrepreneur please do so, As far u are doing a legitimate business......Everything na packaging.

Reminds me of my neighbor's brother Ehidiamhen; who was arrested last week

I went with my lawyer to stand/sign as surety for him at the SCID.
I was told he was an entrepreneur just to find out he was a yahoo-boy.

Never knew the word entrepreneur was actually a euphemism for fraudster.

Very true ... Nice info

Whats the one saying... I am a living thing so therefore I should be an enterprising

the thing tire me self

A barbar who discovers how to barb a new hairstyle that will make girls go gaga for a guy is an entrepreneur; for instance, TeeBillz (Tiwa Savage's runaway husband) barber is an entrepreneur; checkout his hair cut back then that made Edible Caterings to go gaga, it was an entirely new trend created with technology; clipper

Nice write-up, lol coming from a lady if u aren't rich from ya business, ladies won't consider u as an entrepreneur

On a more serious note, Op by your definition of who an entrepreneur is, then most of the people u mentioned as entrepreneurs are not entrepreneurs.

Dangote wasn't the first Nigerian to start manufacturing company....he was only favored by Federal Government policies, import waivers, dollar waivers, etc.

Seun isn't an entrepreneur too cos many Nigerians also started a forum when Seun started nairaland but luck, time and whatever smiled on his own innovation, so by your definition Seun isn't supposed to be an entrepreneur too.

Mike Adenuga too isn't qualified going by your definition.

Linda Ikeji wasn't the first Nigerian to start blogging, there are many of them who started with Linda, and Linda did nothing different except feasting on celebrities she happens to know about their dirty lifestyle and over time, luck, time and destiny smiled on her dedication, so remove her from your list too.

From all u wrote, it seems anyone who isn't rich through their business isn't an entrepreneur to you. Many Nigerians have created technological innovations that didn't fly, that doesn't mean they aren't entrepreneurs sis.‎



Seun needs to modify nairaland; add some new features, develop some new techs I know, acquire some dying tech/dotcom biz in Naija and revive them, and also look for a way to make nairalanders profit from using nairaland just as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc is empowering it's users‎
‎

We don hear... Satisfied?

hmmmm i hear

entrepreneur


noun (plural entrepreneurs)
- A person who organizes and operates a business venture and assumes much of the associated risk.
- A person who organizes a risky activity of any kind and acts substantially in the manner of a business entrepreneur.

Shut up op

Why

Thanks

OP while you're trying to make sense, the world would disagree with you.

Entrepreneurs either run small or big businesses...with emphasis on seeing a need and filling that need within an environment, nationwide or worldwide; based on scope.

Sezua:
entrepreneur


noun (plural entrepreneurs)
- A person who organizes and operates a business venture and assumes much of the associated risk.
- A person who organizes a risky activity of any kind and acts substantially in the manner of a business entrepreneur.

Shut up op

no mind the op even a phone repairer is an entrepreneur

Start one business and know what it takes to manage and sustain a business...

Let's agree to disagree

anyone that makes a financial undertaking with probable risk of two events ie,profit or loss to me is an entrepreneur.only that the ability to measure and take risks makes a better one.

Bloggers stop raising shoulders.....stop addressing yourselves as CEO