People who are self employed are often called entrepreneurs and some would equate that all the self employed or small business owners are entrepreneurs.
This I suppose is a matter of definition, in my eyes an entrepreneur generates large amounts of wealth whereas in many cases the self employed or even the small business owner is replacing income stream that would normally be coming from employment with one from their business.
Similarly, an entrepreneur's wealth is generally accumulated much faster than a small business owner's.
Thirdly, not only is there a huge amount of risk involved in entrepreneurship but it also involves a huge amount of innovation in order to be successful.
In contrast, small business owners generally tend to adopt and adapt ideas already in the market to sell at competitive prices.
There is obviously going to an overlap between the two views and I am sure both an entrepreneur and a small business owner start in the same way and cross paths at various times.
You have heard that successful entrepreneurs have had in the past had business fail on them and in many ways this has made them stronger.
However if these businesses had succeed and given them a decent income would they be entrepreneurs today? Setting up as a sole trader or a limited company may not be described as an entrepreneurial act in itself but is definitely one of the first steps to becoming an entrepreneur.
So how do you become entrepreneurial? The word entrepreneur comes from the French 'entrependre' which literally means 'to begin something'.
And this is how we generally see entrepreneurs, as people who begin something, people who come up with new and innovative ideas and have the capability to launch that idea into an unsuspecting market place.
When we look at entrepreneurs we see individuals who are prepared to take risks, who are smart, creative and innovative and are driven.
To be successful as an entrepreneur you need to understand your own strengths, know your weaknesses and learn from your successes and mistakes.
So we all want to start our own business then? Well not all, probably about half of us (according to recent reports) and we want to open these businesses because we have had an idea, an idea that will make money and add value to thousands of Customers! It is probably of no surprise that actually less than 10% of those that want to actually do so.
Disappointing really, as entrepreneurs have a real, positive and significant impact on our lives.
They add value to existing markets and shake them up a bit, often causing prices to drop.
They create new markets and bring products and services to us that enhance our lives and they generally improve our lot.
A fact that is recognised in the Global Entrepreneurship week.
The importance of entrepreneurs is being globally recognised.
So much so that the process of their development through the education processes is now under scrutiny.
As the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron said during Global Entrepreneurship week, 'the future of our economy depends on a new generation of entrepreneurs coming up with ideas'.
Leaders are beginning to realise the importance of entrepreneurship and the importance of developing entrepreneurs.
This includes the development of education processed that promote business and a good understanding of enterprise.
Universities are now playing a major role in the development of the youthful, entrepreneurial spirit.
If you visit almost any university and many colleges within the UK you are more than likely to find a centre focused on helping students take the first step into business and entrepreneurship.
Correspondingly during the last decade the number of students describing themselves as running their own business (i.
e.
self-employed or freelance) has increased significantly almost rising by 50% in the period 2002 to 2009.
We have also seen more funding opportunities for entrepreneurial research in addition to more advice, support and education.
However as a young adult you are 5 times more likely to be unemployed than start your own business.
To address this issue, the government has announced a scheme to help the unemployed start up their own business.
David Cameron said of the scheme that it would help make the years to come "some of the most dynamic and entrepreneurial in our history".
The new Enterprise Allowance Scheme would help people who had been jobless and claiming unemployment benefit for more than half a year.
Not only will they be offered advice, encouragement and support but there will be financial support too.
After all this though there is still one big misconception and that is the skills of an entrepreneur are not taught but occur naturally.
This probably comes from the lack of enterprise education available in the past and in essence entrepreneurs were self taught.
Yes people will have a flare for certain aspects of business over others but all these aspects can be developed and nurtured within an individual.
The application of these skill sets will vary and that's what sets people apart! However the attributes of being smart and working hard generally works over any other combination, except as many a successful entrepreneur will tell you, the attribute of being lucky.
As the business landscape changes the entrepreneur has to adapt to the ever changing challenges and opportunities.
With the support mechanisms that are available today and as markets develop and open then you start to realise that this decade is the decade of the entrepreneur.
And the world needs them.
As serial entrepreneur and Dragon Peter Jones says, have a vision, be confident, be results orientated, take action, use your influence and don't underestimate your capabilities.
And what do we say? Work hard, be smart and be lucky!