Entrepreneurs

An entrepreneur is a person who starts and runs a business. They often come up with the idea, set the business up and stay involved in running it, rather than just putting money in and leaving others to manage it.

Entrepreneurs organise resources. A business needs money, staff, equipment and materials before it can trade, and the entrepreneur brings these together. For example, someone setting up a weekend street-food stall selling wraps might use their savings to buy a second-hand trailer, a griddle and serving equipment, pay a weekly pitch fee at a local market, and pay a friend to help serve during the lunchtime rush. The entrepreneur decides which resources are needed, how much to spend and where they come from.

Entrepreneurs also make business decisions. They choose what the business will produce and how it will operate. In the street-food example, the owner decides which fillings to put on the menu, what to charge for each wrap, whether to trade on Saturdays, Sundays or both, and how to advertise on social media. These decisions shape how the business runs day to day and how it competes with the other food vans at the market.

Finally, entrepreneurs take risks. Starting a business means putting money and time into something that might not work. If the wrap stall does not attract enough customers, the owner could lose the money spent on the trailer and equipment and the pitch fees already paid, and the stall may close. Unlike an employee, who is paid a wage for their time whatever happens, an entrepreneur earns profit only if the business succeeds, and may lose what they invested if it fails.