What distinguish a business man from an entrepreneur especially in a country like Nigeria. I think it is in the way the offer solutions. An entrepreneur thinks outside the box and he is innovative with his business ideas, where as a businessman sometimes carries a mass mentality. Everyone goes into a particular line of business and the businessman is there also without any differentiation in his product or services.
In Nigeria, there are ample opportunities that are not yet to be explored especially in the food value chain sector. If you take a bag of Irish potatoes that is 55kg which sell between N15,000 to N20,000 from the farmgate or farm. lf a businessman, takes delivery of the Irish Potatoes he can decides to sell for N25,000 to N35,000 or he can go ahead to divide it into 5kg and sell each for N3500, at the end of the day he would have made at least from 50% to 70% profit. This is what the mass(mentality) do and so the businessman man follow suit.
As a entrepreneur, who thinks outside the box, you could decide to do French fries, potatoes chips, or potatoes flour. If we settle for French fries(which is easier with a kitchen machine) which goes for N1000 per kg at a distributor price, after processing one would have at least 45kg this would translate into N45,000. An entrepreneur would make at least 150% to 200% profit.
Using the above case study you find out that as an entrepreneur you have satisfy your client emotional needs for French fries and has also save them time for peeling and turning the Irish Potatoes .
This line of thinking is what differentiates the businessman from an entrepreneur. So when approaching a business look for ways to multiple value. Think outside the box.
Are you a businessman(woman) or an entrepreneur.?

There is now a platform created to support and grow agricultural and food related brands. It is called The Chicken Farm. It is a site that connects buyers and sellers of chicken products. Products including: Poultry, Fast Food, Equipment, Manure, Feed etc can all be sold and bought on the site as long as they relate to chicken. Register with: www.thechickenfarm.com.ng/register/TCU20GOL4. It's all free.
It's for those in Nigeria.