Entrepreneur is a buzz word these days. Every other person calls himself/herself an entrepreneur. However, only a few people realize that an entrepreneur is different from a businessman. To make people understand the difference between the two, I decided to dedicate this blog to the topic: businessman vs entrepreneur. 

Difference Between Businessman and Entrepreneur:

By definition, a businessman is a person who is involved in the business sector. Generally speaking, a businessman is responsible for processes or activities that help in generating and maintaining sales, cash flow, and revenue by using a combination of various resources including humans and finances. Such a person is also responsible for the economic growth and development of his/her organization. 

On the other hand, an entrepreneur is a person who starts a venture or a set up from scratch, taking higher-than-usual financial risks not only in the hope of profit but also for the betterment of the society. 

Choosing the Path: 

A businessman is someone who walks on a pre-defined path. He chooses an idea that is in-demand, profitable, and proven. The uniqueness of an idea doesn’t matter to a businessman. He would happily work on a borrowed idea. 

Whereas, an entrepreneur is a person who does believe in making and paving his own way. Most of the time, a lot of energy and resources are put in to make an idea work with a little return at first. 

Mode of Action:

Businessmen buy something cheap in price and sell it for a little profit. On the other hand, entrepreneurs create something and then sell it.

Competition in the Market:

Usually, a businessman has to face tough competition in the market and he has to fight for the survival of his business. On contrary to that, an entrepreneur is a person who creates his own market for his business, and generally, doesn’t have to face much competition. 

Role of Both in the Market:

A businessman is one of the market players. However, you can call an entrepreneur a market leader as he is the one who has started an enterprise of its own kind. 

Businessman and Entrepreneur – Who is More Creative:

A businessman is usually not much creative and has a hard time coming up with original ideas. However, an entrepreneur is creative and can create a good product to market from literally anything.

Entrepreneurs are the Risk Takers:

In most cases, a businessman prefers to follow the footsteps of another businessman where chances of failure are minimum. But in the case of an entrepreneur, chances of failure are higher as, usually, entrepreneurs are the risk-takers.

Method of Running a Business:

A businessman uses, right or wrong, the traditional methods of running a business, which in case of an entrepreneur is totally opposite. An entrepreneur prefers to do the same using unconventional or untraditional methods. 

The Motive of a Businessman vs Entrepreneur:

The main motive of a businessman is profit. Whereas, an entrepreneur is people-focused. He/she values customers and employees more than profit. 

An entrepreneur can be a businessman but rarely a businessman could be an entrepreneur. 

Qualities of a Successful Entrepreneur:

Success doesn’t come abruptly; it is not an accident. If you study successful entrepreneurs, you will find a lot of common traits among them. 

Success is a mindset. 

Successful people are disciplined, confident, risk-takers, and optimistic. They are their own source of inspiration. 

They are not afraid of trying something new; something that no one has ever tried before. Even if they fail, they are ready to get back on their saddles right away. 

Let me tell you the ten traits of successful entrepreneurs. Here we go:

Entrepreneurs Should be Disciplined:

Good entrepreneurs are disciplined – they have to. 

They are goal-focused and do everything they need to do to make their startup work. Entrepreneurs work hard and put all their efforts into eliminating hindrances and distractions that come between them and their goal. 

They move towards achieving their goal using well-made strategies. These people outline their path even before they start accomplishing their goals. 

A successful entrepreneur sets small goals and works day and night to achieve them. 

Nothing Can be Achieved Without Confidence:

Have you ever met an entrepreneur-to-be? If yes, you should have noticed that an entrepreneur who is going to be successful is full of confidence. 

You would have never seen an entrepreneur who asks people whether or not he can succeed? Did you?

I bet you didn’t!

I never met a person in my life, who proved to be a successful entrepreneur later, asking if others think he is worthy of doing anything. 

Successful entrepreneurs are confident in the knowledge they have to make their venture successful. They take every step with confidence. 

Powerful Work Ethics:

This trait is the most important one for any successful person. This set of values is based on the ideals of hard work and discipline. 

Focus, stay being motivated, and completing tasks on time are some of the work ethics that should be present in every entrepreneur. 

Knows How to Listen to Others:

If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, you need to develop this trait. Listening to others carefully and learning about their interests is really important to make the right decisions. 

Open to New Ideas:

Entrepreneurs believe that every situation – no matter how bad it is – could be a business opportunity for them. 

They are full of ideas about efficiency, skills, potential new business ideas, and strategies. 

They have the eye that can look around them and find a business idea in everything even if it is something not too pleasant.

Successful Entrepreneurs are Proactive:

This is a very important quality of entrepreneurs. These people know if they want something to be done, they are the ones who should start it. 

They set their own parameters and ensure their project follows that path. Entrepreneurs are proactive. They do not wait for someone to give them permission. 

Comprehensive:

Good entrepreneurs remain comprehensive no matter what happens. They accept the numbers and change strategies according to the requirements. 

They are bold enough to make a decision to stop right away if there is no profitability.

Being comprehensive needs you to be well informed; not in a dreaming state, being realistic, neither be afraid nor be over-excited.  

Competitive in Nature:

Entrepreneurs are competitive in nature. They know their capabilities. When they start a project, they have only two options – either win or learn.

If they get success in their venture, well and good. But if their idea, somehow, fails, they see it as an opportunity to a new potential business.

Passion is the Key:

To become a successful entrepreneur, passion is the key. Successful entrepreneurs love what they do. 

They do not keep looking at their watch to finish their work and head to the home. They don’t mind investing some more hours in their work. In fact, they don’t see as a burden, they just love it. 

Their passion keeps them motivated to research and find more ways to improve their business. 

Determination:

As discussed earlier, successful people never get discouraged by the defeats they have to face in their way to accomplish their goals.

To them, failure is a new door to an opportunity to be successful. They keep trying again and again until they learn the correct way to execute their idea. 

People may think, but entrepreneurs are not weird when they think everything is possible and achievable

3 Ways to Become an Entrepreneur:

If you are one of many people who wants to be an entrepreneur, you might be looking for answers to the question, what does it take to become an entrepreneur?

Well, there is no one-fits-all solution to this question. However, with my journey as an entrepreneur, I have found three things required to be successful or a good entrepreneur. Let me tell you my secrets:

Always Work Smarter, Not Harder:

Usually, people think that an entrepreneur is a person who has no life except his business. He/she works 20-hours a day, doing nothing else but working all the time. 

Working without time boundaries is important sometimes, however, not always. 

I am not saying that hard work doesn’t pay off. But working around the clock doesn’t make you a successful entrepreneur automatically. 

It sounds like you would be doing everything from A to Z yourself. This approach may work for some time, but not in the long run. 

Remember, overworking leads to fatigue which leads to errors. Moreover, do you really think you have the capability to do every task yourself? 

No doubt, you may be good at a couple of tasks and can do others as well. But what do you want; just a completed task or a task well done? 

Outsource Work You Aren’t Good At:

It is very simple: hire people for work you are not good at. This will save you a ton of time that you can consume in performing tasks you are really good at. 

In this way, you can focus on the most important areas of your business. If you can’t hire an in-house team, there are plenty of platforms like Upwork.com and Fiverr.com from where you can find someone good to help you. 

If you want to outsource the SEO of your website, this article about SEO experts would be helpful.

Spend Less, Get More Done:

Although there could be some problems in working with freelancers when you are an established company, they can be of great value in the early days of your business.

Using third-party contractors and freelancers in the early stages of your company won’t cost you an arm and a leg, and could be really effective as well. 

Conclusion

Businessman vs entrepreneur is not a war and we are not going to announce a winner here. However, you must have noticed while going through this article that a businessman is a businessman. Whereas an entrepreneur is not only an entrepreneur but he/she is a risk-taker, a manager, a leader, and an organizer – all at the same time. 

In a nutshell, a businessman focuses on competition but an entrepreneur focuses on co-operation and co-ordination.