Expanding on Schumpeter’s Definition:

After digesting numerous definitions of entrepreneurship, one would tend to see a strong link between these two terms: entrepreneurship and innovation. In retrospect, most of definitions tended to be, to some extent, a re-work and expansion of Schumpeter’s definition of entrepreneurship (which is that of innovation being applied in a business context). As defining term of ‘innovation’ is highly debatable and would merit a paper on its own, author has thus, for convenience, summarised definition of innovation. Innovation can be perceived simply as transformation of creative ideas into useful applications by combining resources in new or unusual ways to provide value to society for or improved products, technology, or services.

In author’s opinion, difficulties of defining “innovation” could be reason for quandary one finds himself in attempting to arrive at a clear-cut definition of term “ Entrepreneurship”.

Take for example, if someone starts another run-of-the-mill hot dog stand in streets of New York, will he termed as an entrepreneur? According to Drucker’s definition, he will be seen as one. However, if above definition by Schumpeter was used as a guideline, answer is probably ‘NO’. Why? The core of matter lies in what is so innovative about setting up another hot-dog stand which are in abundance in New York. On contrary, if he is first one to start a stand selling hot-dogs with Oriental Sweet and Sour sauce topping; he could be termed as an entrepreneur (even based on Schumpeter’s requirement) as he has done what others have not done before. In context of entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation are key points in whole scheme of things.

In this manner, by adding “innovative” features to a product or services and setting up a business based on these additional features to compete in existing market, new entrants may be able to gain this competitive advantage over existing market players.

In case of hot-dog seller, it may be argued that his addition of Oriental Sweet and Sour sauce toppings may be seen as nondescript. This runs in contrary to some scholars’ definition of entrepreneurship as requiring quantum changes in products/ services to be justified as being entrepreneurial (Bygrave, 1985; Bygrave & Hofer, 1991).

Consistent with creating new products for sale, someone who starts a business by providing a totally new way of serving his customers/ clients is considered to be entrepreneurial too. Though, it is often argued that there are no real new products or services in a case where one does not look to past products and services for ideas for improvements. Thus, notion of incremental improvements should be accepted as being innovative too.

Innovation in business sense may not necessarily involve, in physical sense, introduction of a new product or service. It can be in form of what is commonly known as creative imitations. For example, if an individual starts selling a product that is already common in his area or country, he will not be seen as being entrepreneurial. However, if he is first to sell same product in a virgin locale or to an untouched market segment, he will be seen as an entrepreneur in his own rights.

Take Muhammad Yunus, for example. Yunus became an entrepreneur when he started a micro-loan programme for poor villagers in a rural part of Bangladesh named Grameen, with only US$26. The loan was divided among 42 villagers to assist them to buy small items such as combs, scissors, needles and other necessities to start their own home businesses. In past 22 years, Grameen Bank has grown with over $2 billion loans granted. It has now become a model for several micro-loan facilities.

From following example, Yunus created banking and lending facilities in Grameen specifically for poor villagers. Banking and lending money activities are not new but Yunus was first to provide such facilities in a rural part of Bangladesh and that is definitely innovation and risk-bearing on his part as a social entrepreneur. In short, innovation need not arise mainly from a new product or service but it could be an old product or service finding a new market for penetration.

An individual could be termed as an entrepreneur if he or she sells a product or service using new systems and/ or mediums of marketing, distribution or production methods as a basis for a new business venture. A good example will be Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, successful Web-based bookstore. He was one of first to sell books on a large scale using an online store and also patented one-click system for online buying. Though selling books is not an innovation in itself, Jeff Bezos was innovative in use of Internet then as a viable marketing and sales channel for selling books.

Another example from field of e-commerce is Stuart Skorman, founder of Reel.com. Reel.com is essentially one of first cyber movie store with a very large inventory of over a 100 000 videos. Though setting a movie store was revolutionary then, Reel.com main distinction was being known as first online store to expand by opening an offline store. The founder felt that by doing so, online store could be an advertisement for offline store and vice versa, thus strengthening this click and mortar business venture- an example of creativity and innovation applied in a profitable business context.

Conclusion:

This paper has started as an attempt to redefine term of entrepreneurship but ended up ‘updating’ wheel, based on definition as proposed by Schumpeter. The paper expanded on this influential work by giving examples to illustrate what innovation in entrepreneurship was and hope that along way, new insights were unearthed in study of defining entrepreneurship.

In summary, author hopes that this paper would further encourage infusion of creative thinking and innovation within educational system to nurture future entrepreneurs with a competitive edge. In author’s view, characteristics and capabilities to set up a new business venture based on doing things that have not done before should be encouraged. Innovation needs to be cornerstone of entrepreneurship as opposed to mere setting up of another new enterprise without implementing changes or adding features of improvements to products and services provided and/ or its business processes.

Dr. Alvin Chan is a Senior Research Consultant at First Quatermain Centre of Collaborative Innovation (ASIA).

1. Cost, of course, as all attendees must absorb their own costs. The seminars themselves sometimes also have an entry fee that can be quite high. All travel costs, food costs, hotel costs, and other miscellaneous costs must be absorbed by attendees.

2. The chance that speakers may be sharing incorrect knowledge, or not at all knowledgeable themselves (it pays to make your own assessments of presented topics, not just blindly "follow pack"). Tips, tricks, and strategies need to be weighed as to "worth" and "accuracy" before using these. Careful thought rules here.

3. The time spent away from your actual business, or life, to attend. Time is always a concern when scheduling activities and some individuals simply can't spare time away from their lives for activities such as this.

4. The chance that topics may not actively help your business or your concerns, and that seminar will be a waste of time, where nothing you learn is of any use to you.

5. The chance that attendees will expect too much from a seminar and thus be disappointed. Realism must rule here. These are not "instant answers" to anything.

Overall, seminars, if chosen carefully, can be a good experience. They are not miracle cures to business problems or other problems, however, and this must be kept in mind when deciding to attend a seminar. These are, after all, optional events, and success or failure in business or life will probably not hinge on attendance at seminars!

Many different methods of learning business strategies and life strategies exist for those that don't have time flexibility or money flexibility to attend. Just visit your local library or local community college, and you'll find a wealth of knowledge on all subjects. Read a book concerning your issues, or take a class, and you'll find these can be great alternatives to seminars.

After all, education exists in many forms, not just at seminars!