When looking at the use of the word Entrepreneur, we can see that the word first came into use in the 1860’s. From 1860 to about 1890 the term entrepreneur was hardly ever used, which is understandable because it was still such a new word in the English language. The origin of the word comes from both French and English. The French word “entreprendre” meaning “to undertake” and the English word enterprise was combined to form this now daily used word.
The dictionary describes an entrepreneur as: “a person who sets up a business or businesses, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit.”
“many entrepreneurs see potential in this market“
Synonyms: businessman, businesswoman, business person, business executive, enterpriser, speculator, tycoon, magnate;
dealer, trader, buyer and seller, merchant;
commercial intermediary, intermediary, middleman, promoter, impresario;
informal wheeler-dealer, mogul, big shot, bigwig, whizz-kid, mover and shaker, go-getter, high-flyer, hustler
“an entrepreneur who had set up his own firms“
The use of the word entrepreneur dramatically increased in the 1900’s at the turn of the century, which also marked the use of the camera, which in turn left many artists unemployed. The renaissance is historically a point of time that brought about many changes, economically, technologically and historically. It’s understandable that people had to turn to more of earning a living, hence the term entrepreneur.
We can see that entrepreneur’s plaid a very important role in history and the life we know today. Some of these entrepreneurs include Henry Ford, who is most well known for making the automobile much less costly and mass production of inexpensive goods, which both helped the public and uplifted employees with high wages.
Thomas Edison, the founding father of the telephone and the motion picture camera was a talented inventor and businessman. He was also credited with developing many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures.
Oprah Winfrey used her entrepreneurial talents in the entertainment industry and became famous for her journey to stardom. She is best known for her talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show, which was the highest-rated television program of its kind in history.
Bill Gates, the American business magnate, investor, author, philanthropist, humanitarian, and principal founder of the Microsoft Corporation is probably the most well known entrepreneur of the technical world. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions of chairman, CEO and chief software architect, while also being the largest individual shareholder until May 2014.
Looking at all these great names in history that made their mark in many different fields and industries, it’s clear that an entrepreneur can come from anywhere and make revolutionary changes in the world as we know it. In our modern society, entrepreneurs have become an essential part of our economic well being and social growth as a people.
There is a common misperception that an entrepreneur is a person who is unemployed and just looking for a way to get a bit of money to survive. In some cases, this might be a motivation to go forth with a lifelong dream, but in most cases it is the result of hard work and careful calculations in combination with timing and motivation that drives individuals to grow into exceptional business men and women.
If you are wondering if you should take that step into the world of the entrepreneur by undertaking the task set before you and glancing into the unending opportunities and grabbing hold of your dreams of having your name on a global enterprise, then I hope this inspires you.
There are many risks and potential for failure, but there is also great potential for success. If any of the people mentioned in this article decided to give up before reaching success, the world would be at a loss for it. Thomas Edison is also very well known for his failures and his perseverance in the face of disappointment. His teachers said he was “too stupid to learn anything.” He was fired from his first two jobs for being “non-productive.” As an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb but his drive and motivation laid the foundation for so many concepts and breakthroughs in our daily lives.
