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SMEs - different types of entrepreneurs
| Guest post by: Dr. Rob Smorfitt |
Article Overview: Different types of entrepreneur have different needs
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Free Download - SMEs – SMEs struggling in South Africa. Why? By Dr. Rob Smorfitt |
SMEs - different types of entrepreneurs
Research indicates a number of
different types of entrepreneur. These include survivalist entrepreneur; salary replacement entrepreneur; lifestyle
entrepreneur, small business manager, franchisee, copycat entrepreneur, franchisor, inventrepreneurs, serial entrepreneur, portfolio entrepreneur, angel funder and venture capitalist.
However these can be grouped into three (3) groups of people who act in a
similar manner.
The first is the survivalist. The survivalist is often associated with
informal sector survivalist businesses, but could also include the formal
sector person forced through circumstances into self employment. This could be
someone who has been retrenched.
The second group is the lifestyle entrepreneur. They vary in a number of
ways, but generally are the same “animal”. For some the “lifestyle” is about
working the hours they want, or the type of business (maybe a hobby) or about
maintaining a lifestyle which includes holidays, and toys such as motorbikes,
cars, caravans, boats etc. All of them have clearly defined “rules” on how they
run their business. These rules are written in stone most of the time. Do not
ask these entrepreneurs to work late or weekends.
The third group are the high growth entrepreneurs. These are the
entrepreneurs who generate large profits quickly, normally create the bulk of
new jobs in an economy, and are able to retire young. Notice I said “able to”; many
do not and start the next business soon after they harvest from their business.
the USA and UK have been executing research in this regard and their findings are really interesting and supports IFC research. The question is whether their governments will pay attention to this research.
Where do you fit in?
What can business and governments do to promote SMEs?
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SMEs – SMEs struggling in South Africa. Why?
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SMEs - African confusion with entrepreneurship
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4.0 The state of women’s enterprises in Tanzania: Support for Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania, 2005
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Article Tags: entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, SMB, SME, SMME, Smorfitt, types of entrepreneur
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About the Author: Dr. Rob Smorfitt RSS for Dr. Rob's articles - Visit Dr. Rob's website Have an MBA and a PhD in entrepreneurship. Three key areas of ongoing research are entrepreneurship and innovation in large business strategy, the impact of legislation on SME development and SME finance. Run my own SME blog at http://sme-smb-smme.blogspot.com as well as an entrepreneurship and innovation for large businesses blog at http://innoveur.blogspot.com I have been self-employed since 1982. I have started or purchased in excess of 50 businesses since then. Most were sold again and a few were shut down because of a lack of profitability. Many were run by staff or family while I worked full time in my bigger businesses. Author of 6 books. Written articles for various magazines, newspapers and websites. Experienced in research within developing countries.
Click here to visit Dr. Rob's website  
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Related Forum Posts
your personality type?
- I'm curious if any of your are familiar with personality theories? Myers-Briggs, enneagram, etc.?
If so, what type are you?
I've read that many entrepreneurs tend to be ENFPs, ENTPs, ESTPs, etc. (All types of course can be entrepreneurs!) We simply have different approaches to our work.
I'm an enneagram 7, ENFP.
There are free quizzes for these online if you do a quick google search.
Re: In-House or Outsource?
- Unfortunately, in the South African context, very few SMEs see outsourcing as an option. They believe it is too expensive, and they are paranoid that someone will "steal their ideas".
I believe that the three main functions that cannot be outsourced are marketing, sales and strategy. These must be done in house I believe. If you do not have the marketing skills then get them. Hire a consultant or attend a course, but get the skills. Even if you use a consultant, you need to understand what marketing is about, as no one knows your market like you do. Marketing is made to seem difficult and complex, but everyone who really understands their markets, can easily learn to do their own marketing.
In South Africa, labour legislation is extremely inflexibile, and consequently labour broking is a large industry. This is an ideal starting point for SMEs in South Africa, as it is a legally complex area, whih comes with severe penalties.
I say do it!
Rob Smorfitt
In-House or Outsource?
- I've got a couple of questions with regard to outsourcing:
What are the types of things with your business that you can outsource (or which types of businesses should outsource at all)? What are the key risks and advantages of doing so? And how do you find a company that is right for you to work with?
Thanks!
Young entrepreneur financing
- Hi Michael
I like your idea to help young entrepreneurs because there are many entrepreneurs who have many projects which they can not developed since they don’t have enough funds.
I think it is important to give them an opportunity to developing as entrepreneurs
Which Famous Entrepreneur To Profile Next?
- I'm always on the lookout for new entrepreneurs to profile and share their success with budding entrepreneurs. There's no better group of people to learn from than those who have already gone from an idea and made it big! Here are some entrepreneurs we're considering profiling - what do you guys think?
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