Entrepreneurship is a skill that is at the heart of successful value-added agricultural business development. It unleashes creativity and innovation in finding better ways to doing things. However, it is poorly understood by most people. For example, successful entrepreneurs are not plungers and risk takers. Although they may take risks, the risk are carefully quantified and compared to potential rewards. Other misconceptions abound about entrepreneurship.

To provide you with a clearer picture of entrepreneurship, read What is an Entrepreneur?  and Understanding the Entrepreneurial Mindset. To test your own entrepreneurial skills, use the Entrepreneurial Skills Assessment form.

The tool of entrepreneurs is innovation. Peter Drucker and Innovation provides you with an outline of how to use this tool.

For more information on this topic, see the links listed below of articles posted on related Web sites.

Entrepreneur Web Sites

• The Agripreneur – Ohio State Univeristy -- Focuses on small business management and policies affecting small business, economic development in communities or regions, and the tradeoff between economic development in a specific geographic area and criteria such as a project's ROI.

What an Entreprenuer Does

• Understanding Entrepreneurship – University of Hawaii – An entrepreneur sees an opportunity, figures out a way to acquire the needed resources and acts to turn the opportunity into a reward.
• What is an Entrepreneur? – Small Business Notes -- There are many differing views on what makes someone an entrepreneur and what an entrepreneurial venture is.
• Entrepreneurs Should be Solving Problems – HBS Working Knowledge -- Jay Walker has this advice for entrepreneurs: Don’t start a business with a good idea.
• HBS Entrepreneurs in Their Own Words -- HBS Working Knowledge – The experiences and wisdom of twenty-seven leading entrepreneurs.
• Lessons of a Serial Entrepreneur – HBS Working Knowledge – He invented the electronic spreadsheet—but saw little profit from the invention.  He also created four startups.  So Dan Bricklin can talk with some insight into what can make or break an entrepreneur.
• The Intellectual Underpinning of Entrepreneurial Management – HBS Working Knowledge -- The term entrepreneur—literally, "undertaker"—has been around for over two centuries, but attempts to define it have remained elusive.  This article looks back at the roots of entrepreneurship as an academic field of interest and ahead to what they believe will be "the entrepreneur's century."
• Top Ten Mistakes Made by Entrepreneurs – HBS Working Knowledge -- The most frequent flops made by entrepreneurs, everything from hiring the wrong lawyer to puffing up the business plan.
• Intrapreneurship – Small Business Notes -- Fostering entrepreneurism within established organizations.
• Entrepreneurial Spirit: Frequently Asked Questions – Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Alberta, Canada.
• 100 Ways to Be a Better Entrepreneur – Entrepreneur.com -- Learn how to run and grow your business more effectively and efficiently.

Do You Have What it Takes?

• Do you Have What it Takes? – Small Business Administration -- What does it take to be an entrepreneur? Which personality traits make for success? Let's see if you have what it takes.
• Entrepreneurial Test – Small Business Administration -- You need to think about why you would like to own your own business. What makes you think you will be Successful in business?
• Is the Entrepreneur Path for You? – Iowa Small Business Development Centers – Five important predictors for entrepreneurial success.
• A Litmus Test for Entrepreneurs – HBS Working Knowledge -- Are you cut out to conquer the challenges facing today's entrepreneur? A litmus test to help you decide. Two key questions: Do you have the patience to start small? Are you a closer?
• Entrepreneurs – HBS Working Knowledge – A video archive that captures insights from the Harvard Business School’s entrepreneurial community.
• Guts and Bliss: The Entrepreneur's Journey – HBS Working Knowledge – How do entrepreneurs stoke their courage during a recession?  For a determined group who started their own business during easier times, the answer was simple: There’s still nothing that compares to entrepreneurship.
• Entrepreneur Self Test – Center for Rural Entrepreneurship – This test can be used by individuals engaged in or considering involvement in a business.
• Do You Have the Right Stuff to be an Entrepreneur? – Allbusiness.com -- A number of personal qualities can help you to build a successful business.

Innovation

• Understanding the Process of Innovation -- HBS Working Knowledge -- Just what is the BIG idea? This article helps us understand the sources of innovation inside companies and what blocks it.
• Four Ways to Innovate in Operations – HBS Working Knowledge -- Innovation in operations—not to be confused with mere operational excellence or improvement—can yield competitive advantage.
• A Diagnostic for Disruptive Innovation – HBS Working Knowledge -- You have three potential innovations, but resources to develop just one. Here are diagnostics to help you make the best decision.
• A Toolkit for Customer Innovation – HBS Working Knowledge -- It seems almost counterintuitive. This article suggests that you stop listening closely to your customers—and instead give them tools for creating their own products.
• Cheap, Fast, and In Control: How Tech Aids Innovation – HBS Working Knowledge -- Companies don’t need to spend a fortune on research and innovation.
• The Essentials for Enlightened Experimentation – HBS Working Knowledge -- In the past, the high cost of experimentation has greatly impacted many firms' ability to successfully innovate. But now, new technologies are enabling reinvention of R&D from the ground up.
• Six Keys to Building New Markets by Unleashing Disruptive Innovation – HBS Working Knowledge -- Managers know they need growth to survive—but innovation isn't easy.
• Sometimes Success Begins at Failure – HBS Working Knowledge -- Projects that appear to be duds may have unintended upsides—Viagra started life and failed as a drug for hypertension. Here are tips for turning negative test results into gold.
• The Benefits of "Not Invented Here" – HBS Working Knowledge -- Not all the smart people work for you. By leveraging the discoveries of others, companies can produce spectacular results.
• The Crafts of Super Innovation – HBS Working Knowledge -- Is knowledge in your organization flowing to the right places? Is it sticking? The best innovations come when managers think about sharing knowledge—not just information.
• The Innovator's Battle Plan – HBS Working Knowledge -- Great firms can be undone by disruptors who analyze and exploit an incumbent’s strengths and motivations.
• The Lessons of New-Market Disruption – HBS Working Knowledge -- How two companies had such different results with disruptive innovation.
• Why Innovations Sit on the Shelf – HBS Working Knowledge -- Why can't your organization capitalize on great ideas? Surprise! The answer may have more to do with communication than inventiveness.