About Entrepreneurship

What is an entrepreneur?

An individual engaged in the process of starting and growing one's own business or idea. 

Dozens of definitions exist; but in the end, this one seems to best fit the research and findings on the issue.  Success in entrepreneurship requires not only knowledge, but practice and skill in the process of doing. 

Findings on job creation and the contribution of young firms to the economy underscore the significance of starting and growing.

Reflecting the degree to which the entrepreneurial spirit permeates more and more of society, the definition notes that entrepreneurship can be applied to both business and non-business ideas. 

Who are entrepreneurs?

Entrepreneurs take risks to start businesses, work tirelessly to fulfill their visions, foresee change and develop new products to take advantage of that change, use innovations in technology or processes or marketing to take them in new directions, and are committed to grow as fast as the marketplace allows.

In the United States, about 600,000 - 800,000 new businesses are started each year. Most succeed, many fail. These small businesses are the foundation for our employment growth. They allow their owners to work for themselves and be self-sufficient.

However, some entrepreneurs are not satisfied and want to go beyond the American dream of owning their businesses. They take big personal and financial risks to grow new kinds of businesses at a rapid rate. This smaller group has created the new products, new companies and new industries that have led in large part to this period of economic growth.

Impact on the economy

Entrepreneurship is a job-creation engine that has a positive impact on local, regional and national economies. After reviewing data from a variety of sources, it appears that the youngest and smallest firms are the biggest job producers. 

• Firms of fewer than 20 employees generate the majority of net new jobs in the U.S. 

• New jobs from start-ups are an immediate and significant boost to the economy. 

• Gazelles - defined by business researcher David Birch as 'firms with revenue of at least $100,000 (initial year) that sustained at least 20% growth in revenue over four consecutive years' - contribute approximately 1 out of every 7 gross new jobs added to the economy each year.

• 70% of gazelles are comprised of firms with fewer than 20 employees at the end of four years of rapid growth. 

• New dynamic theories of the economy suggest that the prevalence of small firms provide a constant tide of new ideas and experimentation vital to the health of the economy as a whole.  

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