Simply put, an entrepreneur takes the partial or complete responsibility of the business; he is the person who manages and organizes it. He wants the business to grow and for that he makes plans and strategies. He exploits the opportunities and assumes risks also to increase profits. However, there are different types of entrepreneurs but basic entrepreneurial traits do imply both, risk taking and innovation, though at varying levels. Since it was first used in 1973, the term entrepreneurship has also evolved a lot and now includes team building, leadership, managing capabilities as essentials of an entrepreneur. Considering this explanation, Shai Agasse ( The founder of Better Place), Donald J. Trump (The real estate tycoon) and Oprah Winfrey ( The Broadcasting Pioneer) typically suit well in the role of entrepreneurs.
Shai Agasse founded the Better Place and serves the organization as CEO. His role is more of a software entrepreneur as he also founded TopTier Software in 1992 in Israel. In addition, he is the co-founder of many other organizations and well-recognized as an Israeli entrepreneur.
Donald J. Trump has a detailed list of accomplishments. A real estate tycoon, host of The Apprentice, world known gold course developer, one of the best -selling authors, and the owner of Miss US and Miss Universe pageants; he is among only a few entrepreneurs who has undertaken altogether different roles and tasted success in all of them.
Oprah Winfrey is one among the best admired entrepreneurs, reveals a recent poll. Started broadcasting at just 17, later she founded her own Harpo Studios as she was not satisfied by working for others. She was also the co-founder of Oxygen Media, that has reached to a mammoth 50 million people. Oprah is also known for the innovative capabilities she possesses.
Donald Trump has a long list of achievements in his career till now. The best trait is- he fathoms the opportunities in the situations where other see problems. Thus, he put to use the very important entrepreneurial aspect of seeing 'value' in the opportunity. In 1975, though he was not having the required cash, he managed to buy the property ( Commodore Hotel) as he saw a great future opportunity in it. He has exceptional deal making skills and it is because if that he could get loans even without having the sufficient collateral.
It is the result of his risk taking nature, his enthusiasm and his dedication that he became the master of all trades. Whether it is pop culture or real estate or authorship or golf courses; he earned a name and fame everywhere. Above all, this is not the end now. It is not possible to profile the typical entrepreneur. The capabilities grow with time and experience. Likewise, Donald's interests and capabilities are expanding and he is in line to write new success stories in the time to come.
Thus, the way Donald has worked closely resembles the Timmons model of entrepreneurial process. The model says that the opportunity is the starting point of the process, not money or anything else. Donald also exploited the opportunities and this was in fact, his one of the best traits. He ran short of cash at times but managed to make the deal only because he saw an opportunity in that situation beforehand.
The key role players in this model are, the entrepreneur, the team, resources and the opportunity. The model says that the central role is played by the entrepreneur and if he works on the opportunity, there can be developed a venture having very high potential. Donald Trump, an enthusiastic person, got the guidance from his father and initially started the business in his sharing only. Therefore, he had the set up, the resources and the team which he used the best by his talent. In this sense, Timmons model closely applies to his modus operandi.
Theoretically speaking , the entrepreneurial process contains a detailed framework including generation of ideas, opportunity evaluation, strategic planning, company launch and growth. These factors are well founded in the way he worked. Grabbing the demand that time, he shifted the focus of his father's business from middle class housing to commercial real estate. Though he had to face many obstacles, he made the way through by effective deal making skills. Obviously, his ideas, opportunity evaluation and planning were up to the mark when he produced The Apprentice, a new reality series by NBC.
In short, Donald's achievements clearly reveal that he has almost all required traits of entrepreneurial process. He has the courage, the risk taking capabilities, skills to forecast, dedication, deal-making, effective planning , problems resolution skills, leadership abilities, team making and other aspects that fetch out the best in an entrepreneur. This matters a lot in entrepreneurship and the combination of these qualities made the Donald what he is today. the traits in him reflect a true entrepreneur having capability to exploit the right opportunity at the right time.
References
Baron, R. A., & Shane, S. A. (2007). Entrepreneurship: A Process Prespective. Cengage.
Bygrave, W. D., & Zachakaris, A. (2010). The Portable MBA in Entrepreneurship. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
Davidsson. (2005). The Types and Contextual fits of entrepreneurial Processes. International Journal of Entrepreneurship Education , 407-30.
Phypher, J.-D., & McLean, P. (2009). Good to Green. John Wiley & Sons.
Shane, S., & Venkataraman. (2000). The Promise of Entrepreneurship as a Field of Research. Academy of Management.
Tuccille, J. (1985). Trump: The saga of America's most powerful Real estate baron. Washington D.C.: Beard Books.
