Small Business Owner And Enterpreneur

A small business owner is defined in various ways. In general it is a firm which employs less than 500 persons. The small business firm makes a significant contribution to the US economy as it makes up for 99.7 percent of US employers, generates over 50 percent of non farm output of the economy, forms 97 percent of export firms and produces 29 percent of the export value of US goods, creating a total 12 million jobs. (Leebaert, 2006). It should also be clear that a small business owner may be undertaking an enterprise which is fully established, does not have any element of risk and may not be a flexible venture per se.

An entrepreneur, on the other hand pursues a business opportunity regardless of the resources at his disposal and the threats and challenges it poses. (Entrepreneurship, 2006). He is willing to take risks, seeks innovation and is adaptable to success as well as failures. An entrepreneur is a willing business person who wants to be an employer rather than employee. A small business man may or may not be a willing owner as he could well have inherited the business. Entrepreneurship generally involves establishing a new company; a small business may or may not be a new venture.

Besides, an entrepreneur may be small as well as large, for entrepreneurship is not restricted by the resources at ones disposal. Many entrepreneurs are known to start a chain of ventures rather than restricting themselves to one or two businesses for the urge to innovate is much greater in them than a normal businessman. People and financiers tend to be more conservative in dealing with entrepreneurs who are seen as adventurers, where as most small business firms are stable ventures and thus provide security both to the banks as well as their employees.

References

1. Leebaert, 2006. How Small Businesses Contribute to U.S. Economic Expansion. eJournal USA: Economic Perspectives, January 2006. http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/ites/0106/ijee/leebaert.htm. (8 July 2006).
2. 2006. Entrepreneur: What’s In a Definition? http://www.thinkinglike.com/Essays/entrepreneur-definition.html (8 July 2006).