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Consider Sam Walton, Walmart’s founder, who started by franchising a few small BenFranklin variety stores and then opened his own Walton Five and Dime stores. Today,Walmart has grown into a multibillion-dollar global business that is also one of the world’s largest companies. Sam Walton was not satisfied with just one successful Ben Franklin franchise, so he purchased others. And when that was not enough, he started and grew his own stores. Entrepreneurs combine their ideas and drive with money, employees, and other resources to create a business that fills a market need.

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A classic entrepreneur starts a new company by identifying a business opportunity and allocating resources to tap a new market; serial entrepreneurs start one business, run it, and then start and run additional businesses in succession. ElonMusk, the founder of such businesses as PayPal, Tesla Motors, Solar City, and SpaceX, is a serial entrepreneur. Some entrepreneurs focus on solving society’s challenges through their businesses. Social entrepreneurs recognize a societal problem and use business principles to develop innovative solutions. Socialentrepreneurs are pioneers of innovations that benefit humanity. ConsciousCommerce, co-founded by actress and social entrepreneur Olivia Wilde, encouragescorporations to become better corporate citizens. Conscious Commerce pairs a company’s brand with a cause. Consumers may choose from among a number of participating companies, such as TOMS Shoes, Method cleaning products, Aveda, and Kiehl’s. For example, when you purchase a red Morphie smart phone charger, Morphie helps combat HIV in Africa.

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- Being your own boss generally means getting to make all the important decisions. It also means engaging in much—if not all—of the communication related to your business, including customers, suppliers, distributors, retailers, etc.

- Entrepreneurs often they believe they have an idea for a superior product and they want to be the first to bring it to market, reaping the financial rewards as a result. Entrepreneurs believe they will not achieve their greatest success by working for someone else, and they are generally right. Of course, the downside is that when they fail, entrepreneurs do not have the cushion of employment.

- Working for a company, even a well-known Fortune 500 firm, is no guarantee of job security. In fact, over the past 10 years, large companies sought efficiency by downsizing and eliminated more jobs than they created. As economies around the world are changing, workers are discovering the benefits of entrepreneurshipcompared with employment by big firms.

- Entrepreneurship is an attractive career option for people seeking to improve their quality of life. A lifestyle entrepreneur is a person who starts a business to gain flexibility in work hours and control over his or her life. But this does not mean working fewer hours or with less intensity. Generally, it is the opposite—people who start their own businesses often work longer and harder than ever before, at least in the beginning. But they enjoy the satisfaction of success, both materially and in the way they live their lives.

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Factors Supporting and Expanding Opportunities for Entrepreneurs1. Globalization: The rapid globalization of business has created many

opportunities for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs market their products abroadand hire international workers. Growth in entrepreneurship is a worldwide phenomenon. The role of entrepreneurs is growing in most industrialized and newly industrialized nations, as well as in the emerging free-market countries in Eastern Europe.

2. Education: The past two decades have brought tremendous growth in the number of educational opportunities for would-be entrepreneurs. Today, many universities offer programs or courses on entrepreneurship and how to start a business. You don’t have to major in business to become an entrepreneur, but students who do major in entrepreneurship or take entrepreneurship courses are three times more likely to start their own business or help someone else start a business.

3. Information Technology: The explosion in information technology (IT) has provided one of the biggest boosts for entrepreneurs, such as Jack Dorsey of Twitter. As computer and communications technologies have merged and dropped dramatically in cost, entrepreneurs have gained tools that help themcompete with large companies. Information technology helps entrepreneurs work quickly and efficiently, provide immediate and attentive customer service,

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and increase sales. In fact, technology has leveled the playing field to the point that, with the use of smart phones and other wireless devices, along with instant web distribution, a dorm-room innovator can compete with a much larger firm.

4. Demographic & Economic Trends: Demographic trends—including the aging of the U.S. population, increasingly diverse ethnic groups, and the predominance of two-income families—create opportunities for entrepreneurs. Convenience products for busy parents, ethnic foods that cater to individuals, and services designed specifically for older consumers all enjoy opportunities for success. And as the economy fluctuates, entrepreneurs who are flexible enough to adapt quickly stand the best chance for success.

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Vision: Entrepreneurs generally begin with a vision—an overall idea for how to make their business idea a success. Then they pursue that vision with relentless passion. Arguably, every invention from the light bulb to the smart phone originated from a person with vision—someone who viewed the world in a slightly different way. Sometimes inventions have occurred out of necessity or even a mistake. True entrepreneurs know how to turn these situations into opportunities. It’s well known that penicillin was created by accident; so was champagne.High Energy Level: Entrepreneurs work long and hard to realize their visions. Many entrepreneurs work full-time at their regular day jobs and spend weeknights and weekends launching their start-ups. Many entrepreneurs work alone or with a very small staff, which means that they often wear most—if not all—of the hats required to get the business going, filling design, marketing, sales, and financial roles.Need to Achieve: Entrepreneurs work hard because they want to excel. Their strong competitive drive helps them enjoy the challenge of reaching difficult goals and promotes dedication to personal success.Self-Confidence and Optimism: Entrepreneurs believe in their ability to succeed, and they instill their optimism in others. Often their optimism resembles fearlessness in the face of difficult odds. They see opportunities where others see danger lurking.Tolerance for Failure: Entrepreneurs often succeed by sheer will and the ability to try and try again when others would give up. They also view setbacks and failures as

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learning experiences and are not easily discouraged or disappointed when things don’t go as planned.Creativity: Entrepreneurs typically conceive new ideas for goods and services, and they devise innovative ways to overcome difficult problems and situations. If we look at the top entrepreneurs in the world, we can see that creativity is the common denominator.Tolerance for Ambiguity: Dealing with unexpected events is the norm for most entrepreneurs. Tolerance for ambiguity is different from the love of risk taking that many people associate with entrepreneurship. Successful entrepreneurship is different from gambling because entrepreneurs look for strategies that they believe have a good chance of success, and they quickly make adjustments when a strategyisn’t working. An important way entrepreneurs manage ambiguity is by staying close to customers so that they can adjust their offerings to customer desires.Internal Locus of Control: Entrepreneurs have an internal locus of control, which means they believe that they control their own destinies. You will not find entrepreneurs blaming others or outside events for their successes or failures—they own it all.

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Inventing New Products or Processes: Many entrepreneurs who start new businesses invent new products or processes. When that happens, the inventor–entrepreneur needs to protect the rights to his or her invention by securing a patent. Also, entrepreneurs need to have copyright protection for their product names or processes.Buying an Existing Business: Some entrepreneurs prefer to buy established businesses rather than assume the risks of starting new ones. Buying an existing business brings many advantages: employees are already in place to serve established customers and deal with familiar suppliers, the good or service is known in the marketplace, and the necessary permits and licenses have already been secured. Most people want to buy a healthy business so that they can build on its success, but an experienced entrepreneur might purchase a struggling business with the intent of turning it around.Buying a Franchise: Like buying an established business, buying a franchise offers aless risky way to begin a business than starting an entirely new firm. But franchising, still involves risks, and it is wise to do thorough research before taking the plunge.

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In the past, many entrepreneurs launched their ventures without creating formal business plans. Although planning is an integral part of managing in contemporary business, entrepreneurs typically seize opportunities as they arise and change course as necessary. Flexibility seems to be the key to business start-ups, especially in rapidly changing markets. But because of the risks inherent in starting a business, ithas become apparent that at least some planning is not only advisable but necessary, particularly if an entrepreneur is seeking funds from outside sources.

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Debt Financing(=borç finansmanı): When entrepreneurs use debt financing, they borrow money that they must repay. Loans from banks, finance companies, credit card companies, and family or friends are all sources of debt financing. Although some entrepreneurs charge business expenses to personal credit cards because they are relatively easy to obtain, high interest rates make this source of fundingexpensive. In addition, many banks turn down requests for loans to fund start-ups, fearful of the high risk such ventures entail. Applying for a bank loan requires careful preparation. Bank loan officers want to see a business plan and will evaluate the entrepreneur’s credit history. Because a start-up has not yet established a business credit history, banks often base lending decisions on evaluations of entrepreneurs’ personal credit histories.Equity Financing (=sermaye finansmanı): To secure equity financing, entrepreneurs exchange a share of ownership in their company for money supplied by one or moreinvestors. Entrepreneurs invest their own money along with funds supplied by other people and firms that become co-owners of the start-ups. An entrepreneur does not have to repay equity funds. Rather, the investors share in the success of the business. Sources of equity financing include family and friends, business partners, venture capital firms, and private investors. Venture capitalists are business organizations or groups of private individuals that invest in early-stage, high-potential growth companies. Angel investors, wealthy individuals who invest money directly in new

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ventures in exchange for equity, are a larger source of investment capital for start-up firms. In contrast to venture capitalists, angels focus primarily on new ventures.Grant financing (=hibe veya devlet desteğiyle sağlanan finansman): Governmentssupport new ventures in a number of ways. They can encourage entrepreneurship is through enterprise zones, specific geographic areas designated for economic revitalization. Enterprise zones encourage investment, often in distressed areas, by offering tax advantages and incentives to businesses locating within the boundariesof the zone. Also, governments can support investments in spesific sectors.

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Big companies such as 3M, Apple, Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn allow its researchers to devote 15 to 20 percent of their time to pursue their own ideas. A group of five employees at MRY, a global branding and technology company, became tired of long coffee lines at the company’s in-house café. They released an app that allows staff to order beverages on their mobile devices and be notified when the beverages are ready.

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