Entrepreneur : Who Coined The Term ‘Entrepreneur’?
You might have come across some “Entrepreneur” who is a hard-working person, loves to take risks, and is always optimistic about business opportunities. The word finds its roots in the French vocabulary, which means “to undertake.” It sums up such a person since an entrepreneur loves to undertake an enterprise, and the life of such an individual is nothing short of an adventure.
In this article, you will learn about entrepreneurs in general and find out who coined the term ‘Entrepreneur.’ You shall also know some essentials about the person as well. Apart from that, we will also provide you with a brief history of the word entrepreneur. Hence, to find out more, read on through to the end of the article.
Who Is An Entrepreneur?
As per the definition of Investopedia,
“An entrepreneur is an individual who creates a new business, bearing most of the risks and enjoying most of the rewards. The entrepreneur is commonly seen as an innovator, a source of new ideas, goods, services, and business/or procedures.”
Entrepreneurs are really important in today’s time, as they play a key role in the economy. They make use of their skills and initiative in such a way that they find out the needs and demands of the market, which others cannot. By finding market opportunities and gaps, entrepreneurs try to offer solutions in the form of products and services.
According to Entrepreneur.com,
“There is, consequently, an entrepreneurial element in most or all business undertakings. Entrepreneurship is ultimately to bear the risk of the enterprise. It must be heroic and creative since the action requires that the costs of establishing and carrying out production are borne before market demand is known.”
With the help of solutions, entrepreneurs bring new ideas to the market. If an entrepreneur becomes successful in taking risks in the market, the individual gets to make profits. Apart from that, the individual is able to find out better growth opportunities and fame as well. On the opposite end, the entrepreneurs that fail after taking risks suffer from losses and become less prevalent with time.
Read More: What Are The Different Types Of Entrepreneurship? – Take A Look
Who Coined The Term ‘Entrepreneur’?
The word entrepreneur finds its origins in the late 18th century. Even after so many years, economists were unable to provide a consistent definition of the word “entrepreneur” or “entrepreneurship”. Although the concept of entrepreneurship remained in society for centuries, the 18th-century or 19th-century definition of entrepreneurship did not talk about entrepreneurs taking risks or bringing something new to the table.
Only in the 20th century did economists take entrepreneurship as a serious matter for economic models and try to incorporate the same into theories. A major economist named Joseph Schumpeter was of the opinion that entrepreneurs are the ones behind the creation of new things to earn profit. Before that, economists thought companies were responsible for it. Schumpeter proved this old theory wrong.
In addition to that, another economist, Frank Knight, held the opinion that entrepreneurs are the ones that bear the uncertainty of the market. He also held entrepreneurs responsible for risk premiums in the financial market. Israel Kirzner held that entrepreneurship is the process that leads to the discovery of the new.
A Short History Of The Term ‘Entrepreneur’
Many people think that the famous Scottish economist Adam Smith coined the term “entrepreneur”. However, it is not true. However, Adam Smith was the first person to describe the capitalist production theory in detail and business owners’ profit motive. The entrepreneur is the type of person Adam Smith overlooks in his famous “Wealth of Nations”.
However, a big admirer of Adam Smith’s book, Jean-Baptiste Say, coins the term “entrepredre” a few years later in France. The meaning of the word is simply “an undertaker”, “one who undertakes”, or “an adventurer”. Say agreed with all the points of Smith’s book, “Wealth of Nations,” and he stated that Smith’s serious flaw was the removal of the enterprising businessman from the whole subject.
According to Investopedia,
“Jean-Baptiste Say pointed out in his own writings that it was entrepreneurs who sought out inefficient uses of resources and capital and moved them into more productive, higher yield areas. Simply put, entrepreneurs seek opportunities for profit and, by doing so, create new markets and fresh opportunities.”
Entrepreneurs are the people that constantly disrupt the balance of competition, as they prevent monopolies in the market from creating a large number and diverse range of products. Monopolies create a situation in the market that allows consumers to keep consuming and producers to keep producing.
Because of taking such risks, some of the richest entrepreneurs that you see today make fortunes that are way more than the normal and small entrepreneurs in the economy.
Jean-Baptiste Say put more focus on the importance of entrepreneurs. This is because he was one himself. He was a cotton manufacturer, and he knew the importance of an entrepreneur’s ability to recognize and manage market opportunities in an effective manner.
Hence, Jean-Baptiste Say came up with
“A Treatise on Political Economy, or the Production, Distribution, and Consumption of Wealth.”
With this book, he captured the thought and imagination of a lot of economists of the time.
American leaders of the time, like Thomas Jefferson, were very much inspired by Say’s outlook. Hence, Say’s theories and philosophy found a lot of mileage in the United States of America. The US combined Adam Smith’s free-market principles and Say’s entrepreneurial principles, created a major industrial revolution, and quickly became the strongest world economy within a few years.
Read More: How To Become An Entrepreneur? – Steps To Follow
Final Thoughts
In capitalist economies like the United States, entrepreneurs play a major part in ensuring the economic growth of the country. They take on a lot of risks to bring new ideas into play and more innovation as they find new ventures in the market.
The economist and philosopher Jean-Baptiste Say coined the term “Entreprendre”. This term is the root word behind the word entrepreneur. The word means a person who undertakes a new venture. What are your own opinions of the history of the word ‘Entrepreneur’? Share your views with us in the comments section below.
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If we look at options A, C, and D, clearly all of those options easily come under practices followed for generating ideas. However, judging an idea's feasibility and seeing how realistic it is does not fall under developing ideas. Please take a closer look at these different alternatives below to find out the credibility of this answer. Challenge The Usual Entrepreneurs usually identify opportunities for improvising, innovating, and differentiating their businesses. They do it by challenging the usual and coming up with a different idea. This tendency to question the usual gives them the capacity to break the existing norm, routines, and assumptions and come up with a new direction. This process involves the entrepreneurs questioning the pre-existing practices and norms. They examine these practices critically and identify different areas where they can solve a complexity. They introduce new ideas around those areas, breaking the norms and practices in the process. 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