I have been supporting and coaching professional people a long time.  Nearly 25 years.  In that time I have made a number of observations about the characteristics that distinguish entrepreneurs, intrapraneurs,  and small business proprietor.

As you begin the process of finding the perfect business for yourself, understanding these distinctions will be important to you.  While you can certainly create astonishing success as any one of them, knowing which

 appeals to you and aligns best with your goals will help you understand the business systems and processes you will want to plan on implementing.

The Entrepreneur

A widely held definition of the entrepreneur includes the idea that they assume the risks involved to undertake a new business venture.   This is not an entirely accurate characterization however.  While it is true that entrepreneurs do assume risk to establish, own and operate new or emerging business ventures, they are, in fact as risk averse, if not more so, as anyone else. 

A more accurate distinction is in how the entrepreneur interprets the creation of value in the market place.  They are successful because they are able to effectively organize the available resources of land, labor, capital, intelligence, knowledge, and creativity into new, more valuable ways to help people solve problems.   In other words, the entrepreneur builds value in the market place by leveraging the skills and assets of others, not through his individual technical contribution. 

It is this strategic and coordinative capacity that unique demarks the contribution the entrepreneur makes to the success effort.   The more efficiently a person can manage these resources and add value to the market the greater the margin of success.

Perhaps a better representation of an entrepreneur is that of a passionate expert as opposed to a renegade or gambler.

The Intrapreneur

An intrapreneur is someone who practices the skills of entrepreneurship within an established organization or business system.  The intrapreneur may be an employee who is engaged in a special project and behaves as an entrepreneur even though he has the resources and capabilities of the larger firm to draw upon.  While he captures the nature of entrepreneurial management, he follows the goals of the organization.

Alternatively he may be self employed and operate within a set of established business policies and procedures such as with a franchise or network marketing business.  These business models offer a low risk alternative to creating a standalone business while allowing the entrepreneurial spirit to be expressed. 

The majority of people investigating new business opportunities frequently begin here.

Both the entrepreneur and intrapreneur are principally focused on finding innovative ways to use the available resources to provide greater value to the market.

The Small Business Proprietor

While both entrepreneurs and intrepreneurs are often business owners, there is an important distinction to be made between the businesses they build and those of the small business proprietor.

The small business proprietor builds his business around himself.  Be it his individual talent, a unique product, or his personality, he weaves himself into the fabric of the business often to such a degree that the business would not function without him. 

He often relies in large part on what he accomplishes as the ‘technicians’ of his trade for the growth and success of the business and may tend to be less strategic with regard to engaging alternative resources as a source of increased value.

Independent shop owners, non-franchise restaurant owners, tradesmen, free lance writer, and sometimes medical professionals are a few examples of small business proprietors.

Don’t be misled by the word ‘small’ however.   It refers to the business structure and number of employees (usually less than 100) and not revenue or profitability.   Many small business proprietors do extremely well financially, especially in this day and age of the internet.

As you consider finding the perfect business for yourself, you should be very clear about these distinctions and know which best suits you and your desires.

Do you pride yourself and measure your accomplishment by how much you individually produce or contribute to growing the business in a day, a week, or a month?

Are you more interested in applying your unique passions to following somebody else’s business system than creating one of your own?

Or

Are you always scanning the way things are done looking for something better?  Do you often find yourself seeing things that could be done differently and so, improved?

Are you an entrepreneur, and intrapreneur, or a small business proprietor?

What information will you find most helpful in actually finding and starting your perfect business?

Let me know and I will put it together.

Next post I will share one of the 8 secrets to finding the perfect business.

I am standing for all that is possible for you in life and businesses.

Steve
Founder, ThePerfectBizFinder