Entrepreneur vs Businessman— what are the key differences
At first glance being an entrepreneur and a businessman seems to lead to the same thing and although there are some similarities, there are major differences as well. Let’s see what are the key differences between the two:
- Definition
Creating a business is far different from running one. When we are stepping first into the market, you need to project your product and its concept further ahead. Therefore, you have to be able to risk, in order to win. It is very difficult to find yourself in a position where you need to take these financial risks, but they are necessary to assure an idea transforms into a business. The entrepeneur is the individual who has the vision, creativity and willingness to take risks. It is the one who creates something new, in hopes to change the market. On the other hand, a businessman plays things safer. The business will be analized with careful evaluation. This happens, due to the fact that the idea already exists and so it is easier to calculate the risks. Therefore, a businessman is seen as a traditional, profit-oriented individual.
- Focus
One key difference between the two is what they focus on. An entrepeneur mainly focuses on the customer service and satisfaction, and so there it chooses to take a more informal approach. However, if you invest precisely in a business, you do it purely to make profit, and that’s what happens with a businessman: you want to make profit.
- Risks
If you have an idea that does’t exist yet, you bet the market will have no mercy when it comes to killing it. Although, the market is dynamic, it offers some resistance to new coming ideas. That is why, in order to be successful, an entrepreneur has to learn how to take moderate/ calculated risk. The ride will be hard and some sacrifices will have to be made further ahead. When a business idea is already cemented on the market, it takes a lower risk to introduce a new business around it. And so, a businessman, while it has to take risks, they are particularly low and accommodated.
- Business growth
As with all things in life, the higher the risk the higher the reward, and this case is no exception. The growth rate of an entrepreneurial venture is far superior to a traditional one. It may be true that most innovative businesses fail to penetrate the market, but once they do, their growth sky rockets. As the businessman is more conservative in its approach, the business will have a more slow growth rate. Nevertheless, each approach is valid and the steady growth business has a higher chance to succeed on the long term.
- Leadership
There are three major types of leaders: the authoritarian/ traditional leader, the participative leader and the delegative leader. These types of leadership will vary depending on which environment and what situation there is. However, most often than not, the entrepreneur takes the more liberal and open minded persona, identifying opportunities and trying to find solutions to problems in group. The entrepreneur is more open to ideas from across the board, and takes a participative leadership role or delegative leader role. Can you guess what kind of leader a businessman is? The thing is the more conservative business craves more structure and stability. Remember that your main goal is to make profit. It is a no brainer, that you need to put more authority and demand precision out of your employees. The ability to maintain something is as difficult as creating one. The businessman will be more inclined to take the authoritarian leadership role or the delegative role — he took a low risk in building the business and does not want to loose it all.
- Conclusion
All in all, creating and managing a business in a whole is a very hard and time consuming thing to do. Not all people want to invest all their money in some idea, even more so if it’s brand new. Whether if you take the hard risk high reward approach or you feel mentally and financially more secure by going slow, but steady, each perspective is valid and can make you a lot of money if done right. So do you want to be an entrepreneur and show the world your out of the box idea, or you simply just want to make money with something you already know works?
