The essentials
An entrepreneur is a person who spots an opportunity, organises resources (money, materials, people, technology) and takes the risk of starting and running a business. Self-employment means working for oneself rather than for an employer. An enterprise not only provides income for the owner but can also create jobs for others and meet needs of the community.
Many Home Science skills can become enterprises: catering and tiffin services, bakery, pickles and preserves, crèche or day-care, boutique and tailoring, embroidery, interior decoration, event management, laundry and dry cleaning, and nutrition counselling.
Key points
- Qualities of an entrepreneur: initiative, willingness to take calculated risks, creativity, self-confidence, perseverance, leadership, planning and decision-making ability.
- Steps in starting an enterprise: identify an idea → study the market (demand, competitors, customers) → prepare a project report or business plan → arrange finance → register and obtain licences → set up and produce → market and sell → review and grow.
- Sources of finance: own savings, family, banks, government schemes, self-help groups (SHGs) and microfinance.
- Self-help groups: small groups, often of women, who save regularly and give loans to members; they help poor women start micro-enterprises.
- Profit = total revenue − total cost.
- Social entrepreneurship aims mainly at solving a social problem, with profit as a means.
Exam tips
Expect case questions that ask which quality an entrepreneur shows, or which step comes next. A market survey always comes before investing heavily.
Common mistakes
Thinking an entrepreneur avoids all risk; in fact, entrepreneurs take calculated, not reckless, risks.