Principles of Innovation

There are five principles that give life to the process of innovation:

1. Innovation starts when people convert problems to ideas. New ideas are born through questions, problems and obstacles. The process of innovation is indebted to the trouble that comes about when we are surrounded by that which is not solved, not smooth and not simple. Therefore, in order for the innovation process to flourish, it needs a climate that encourages inquiry and welcomes problems.

2. Innovation needs a system. All organizations have innovation systems. Some are formal, designed by the leadership, and some are informal, taking place outside established channels. Informal channels are untidy and inefficient, yet innovation is always associated with them.

3. Passion is the fuel, and pain is the hidden ingredient. Ideas do not propel themselves; passion makes them go. Passion, in addition to talent and skill, is a valuable company asset. Passion is what transforms other resources into profits, but it never shows up on a balance sheet. Unfortunately, there seems to be some universal law that says when pursuing a passion or following a dream, pain is part of the process. Innovation leaders need to take the pain with the passion and learn to manage both effectively.

4. Co-locating drives effective exchange. Co-location refers to physical proximity between people. It is a key for building the trust that is essential to the innovation process. It also increases the possibility for greater exchange of information, cross-fertilization of ideas, stimulation of creative thinking in one another and critique of ideas during their formative stage.

5. Differences should be leveraged. The differences that normally divide people — such as language, culture, race, gender and thinking and problem solving styles — can be a boon to innovation. When differences are used constructively and people move beyond fear, suspicion, mistrust and prejudice, differences can be leveraged to enhance and sustain the innovation process.

for further reading about principles of innovation visit: http://brainsells.blogspot.com/2008/03/principles-of-innovation.html

Methods of Generating New Ideas for Entrepreneurs

Even with a wide variety of sources available, coming up with an idea as the basis for a new venture can still be a difficult problem. The entrepreneur can use several methods to help generate and test new ideas including focus groups, brainstorming and problem inventory analysis

. The following are some of the key methods to help generate end test new ideas:

1. Focus Groups – these are the groups of individuals providing information in a structural format. A moderator leads a group of people through an open, in-depth discussion rather than simply asking questions to solicit participant response. Such groups form comments in open-end in-depth discussions for a new product area that can result in market success. In addition to generating new ideas, the focus group is an excellent source for initially screening ideas and concept.

2. Brainstorming – it is a group method for obtaining new ideas and solutions. It is based on the fact that people can be stimulated to greater creativity by meeting with others and participating in organized group experiences. The characteristics of this method are keeping criticism away; free wheeling of idea, high quantity of ideas, combination and improvements of ideas. Such type of session should be fun with no scope for domination and inhibition. Brainstorming has a greater probability of success when the effort focuses on specific product or market area.

3. Problem inventory analysis– it is a method for obtaining new ideas and solutions by focusing on problems. This analysis uses individuals in a manner that is analogous to focus groups to generate new product areas. However, instead of generating new ideas, the consumers are provided with list of problems and then asked to have discussion over it and it ultimately results in an entirely new product idea. The entrepreneur is not limited by only the three methods presented in this article.

Sources of new ideas

Entrepreneurs frequently use the following sources of ideas:

1. Consumers– the potential consumer should be the final focal point of ideas for the entrepreneurs. The attention to inputs from potential consumers can take the form of informally monitoring potential ideas or needs or formally arranging for consumers to have an opportunity to express their concerns. Care needs to be taken to ensure that the new idea or the needs represents a large enough market to support a new venture.

2. Existing Companies– with the help of an established formal methods potential entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs can evaluate competitive products & services on the market which may result in new and more market appealing products and services.

3. Distribution channels– members of the distribution channels are familiar with the needs of the market and hence can prove to be excellent sources of new ideas. Not only do the channel members help in finding out unmet or partially met demands leading to new products and services, they also help in marketing the offerings so developed.

4. Government– it can be a source of new product ideas in two ways firstly, the patent office files contain numerous product possibilities that can assist entrepreneurs in obtaining specific product information, and secondly, response to government regulations can come in the form of new product ideas.

5. Research & development– Entrepreneur’s own R&D is the largest source of new idea. A formal and well-equipped research and development department enables the entrepreneur to conceive and develop successful new product ideas.

An Interactive Model of Intrapreneuring

10 Commandments Of An Intrapreneur

1. Build your team means you need to build support for yourself and work also needs people just like you.
   
2. Share credit widely means those who gave you idea, supported you or helped you in any way, share credit with them that will give them motivation, encouragement and satisfaction.
   
3. Ask for advice before asking for resources means do not run for resources at first, try to work on the idea, make it feasible, ask for advice and guidance from your team, mentor and role model.
   
4. Under promise and over deliver means don't promise what you can't deliver
   
5. Do any job needed regardless job description, being an intrapreneur you need to do a lot more and some times a kind of task that you are not familiar with nor are written in your job description.
6. It is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, if you wait for the permission from your management before doing or trying anything new and creative, then you can not do it. Try to perform and do what it takes, if succeeded.... fine.. if not than ask for forgiveness because unless and until you don't try how ll you know about the success or failure.
   
7. Interest of the company first when circumvent bureaucracy
8. Come to work each day willing to be fired
9. Be true to the goals, be realistic to the way to achieve them
10. Honor and educate your sponsors

comparison of Traditional manager, Intra and Entrepreneur characteristics

Pinchot’s Famous 10 Questions

Here are the ten common questions that you have to answer to insure the level of support and tendencies towards the intrapreneurs.

Does your company encourage self-appointed intrapreneurs?

Does your company provide ways for intrapreneurs to stay with their enterprises?

Are people permitted to do the job in their own way, or are they constantly stopping to explain their actions and ask for permission?

Has your company evolved quick and informal ways to access the resources to try new ideas?

Has your company developed ways to manage many small and experimental products and businesses?

Is your system set up to encourage risk–taking and to tolerate mistakes?

Can your company decide to try something and stick with the experiment long enough to see if it will work, even when that may take years and several false starts?

Are people in your company more concerned with new ideas or with defending their turf?

How easy is it to form functionally complete, autonomous teams in your corporate environment?

Do intrapreneurs in your company face monopolies, or are they free to use the resources of other divisions and outside vendors if they choose?

kinds of Intrapreneurship

Intrapreneurship

What is Intrapreneurship?: Intrapreneurship is the practice of entrepreneurship by employees within an organization.

Difference between an entrepreneur and an intrapreneur:
An entrepreneur takes substantial risk in being the owner and operator of a business with expectations of financial profit and other rewards that the business may generate. On the contrary, an intrapreneur is an individual employed by an organization for remuneration, which is based on the financial success of the unit he is responsible for. Intrapreneurs share the same traits as entrepreneurs such as conviction, zeal and insight. As the intrapreneur continues to expresses his ideas vigorously, it will reveal the gap between the philosophy of the organization and the employee. If the organization supports him in pursuing his ideas, he succeeds. If not, he is likely to leave the organization and set up his own business.

Example of intrapreneurship: A classic case of intrapreneurs is that of the founders of Adobe, John Warnock and Charles Geschke. They both were employees of Xerox. As employees of Xerox, they were frustrated because their new product ideas were not encouraged. They quit Xerox in the early 1980s to begin their own business. Currently, Adobe has an annual turnover of over $3 billion.

Features of Intrapreneurship: Entrepreneurship involves innovation, the ability to take risk and creativity. An entrepreneur will be able to look at things in novel ways. He will have the capacity to take calculated risk and to accept failure as a learning point. An intrapreneur thinks like an entrepreneur looking out for opportunities, which profit the organization. Intrapreneurship is a novel way of making organizations more profitable where imaginative employees entertain entrepreneurial thoughts. It is in the interest of an organization to encourage intrapreneurs. Intrapreneurship is a significant method for companies to reinvent themselves and improve performance.

In a recent study, researchers compared the elements related to entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial activity. The study found that among the 32,000 subjects who participated in it, five percent were engaged in the initial stages of a business start-up, either on their own or within an organization. The study also found that human capital such as education and experience is connected more with entrepreneurship than with intrapreneurship. Another observation was that intraptreneurial startups were inclined to concentrate more on business-to-business products while entrepreneurial startups were inclined towards consumer sales.

Another important factor that led to the choice between entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship was age. The study found that people who launched their own companies were in their 30s and 40s. People from older and younger age groups were risk averse or felt they have no opportunities, which makes them the ideal candidates if an organization is on the look out for employees with new ideas that can be pursued.

Entrepreneurship appeals to people who possess natural traits that find start ups arousing their interest. Intrapreneurs appear to be those who generally would not like to get entangled in start ups but are tempted to do so for a number of reasons. Managers would do well to take employees who do not appear entrepreneurial but can turn out to be good intrapreneurial choices.

Employee Intrapreneur

"Intrapreneurship refers to employee initiatives in organizations to undertake something new, without being asked to do so". This Intrapreneur focuses on innovation and creativity and who transforms a dream or an idea into a profitable venture, by operating within the organizational environment. Thus, Intrapreneurs are Inside entrepreneurs who follow the goal of the organization. Intrapreneurship is an example of motivation through job design.

Employees, perhaps engaged in a special project within a larger firm are supposed to behave as entrepreneurs, even though they have the resources, capabilities and security of the larger firm to draw upon. Capturing a little of the dynamic nature of entrepreneurial management (trying things until successful, learning from failures, attempting to conserve resources, etc.) adds to the potential of an otherwise static organizations without exposing those employees to the risks or accountability normally associated with entrepreneurial failure.

The Entrepreneurial Process

The process of starting a new venture is embodied in the entrepreneurial process, which involves
more than just problem solving in a typical management position. An entrepreneur must find,
evaluate, and develop an opportunity by overcoming the forces that resist the creation of
something new. The process has four distinct phases: (1) identification and evaluation of the
opportunity, (2) development of the business plan, (3) determination of the required resources,
and (4) management of the resulting enterprise. Although these phases proceed progressively,
no one stage is dealt with in isolation or is totally completed before work on other phases occurs.
For example, to successfully identify and evaluate an opportunity (phase 1), an entrepreneur
must have in mind the type of business desired (phase 4).

Identify and Evaluate the Opportunity

Opportunity identification and evaluation is a very difficult task. Most good business
opportunities do not suddenly appear, but rather result from an entrepreneur’s alertness to
possibilities, or in some case, the establishment of mechanisms that identify potential
opportunities. For example, one entrepreneur asks at every cocktail party whether anyone is
using a product that does not adequately fulfill its intended purpose. This person is constantly
looking for a need and an opportunity to create a better product. Another entrepreneur always
monitors the play habits and toys of her nieces and nephews. This is her way of looking for any
unique toy product niche for a new venture.
Although most entrepreneurs do not have formal mechanisms or identifying business
opportunities, some sources are often fruitful: consumers and business associates, members of
the distribution system, and technical people. Often, consumers are the best source of ideas for a
new venture. How many times have you heard someone comment, “If only there was a product
that would…” This comment can result in the creation of new business. One entrepreneur’s
evaluation of why so many business executives were complaining about the lack of good
technical writing and word-processing services resulted in the creation of her own business
venture to fill this need. Her technical writing service grew to 10 employees in two years.
Due to their close contact with the end user, channel members in the distribution system also see
product needs. One entrepreneur started a college bookstore after haring all the students
complain about the high cost of books and the lack of service provided by the only bookstore on
campus. Many other entrepreneurs have identified business opportunities through a discussion
with a retailer, wholesaler, or manufacturer’s representative.
Finally, technically oriented individuals often conceptualize business opportunities when
working on other projects. One entrepreneur’s business resulted from seeing the application of a
plastic resin compound in developing and manufacturing a new type of pallet while developing
the resin application in another totally unrelated area—casket moldings.
Whether the opportunity is identified by using input from consumers, business associates,
channel members, or technical people, each opportunity must be carefully screened and
evaluated. This evaluation of the opportunity is perhaps the most critical element of the
entrepreneurial process, as it allows the entrepreneur to assess whether the specific product or
service has the returns needed compared to the resources required. This evaluation process
involves looking at the length of the opportunity, its real and perceived value, its risks and
returns, its fit with the personal skills and goals of the entrepreneur, and its uniqueness or
differential advantage in its competitive environment.
The market size and the length of the window of opportunity are the primary basis for
determining the risks and rewards. This risks reflect the market, competition, technology, and
amount of capital involved. The amount of capital needed provides the basis for the return and
rewards. The methodology for evaluating risks and rewards frequently indicates that an
opportunity offers neither a financial nor a personal reward commensurate with the risks
involved. One company that delivered bark mulch to residential and commercial users for
decoration around the base of trees and shrubs added loam and shells to its product line. These
products were sold to the same customer base using the same distribution (delivery) system.
Follow-on products are important for a company expanding or diversifying in a particular
channel. A distribution channel member such as Kmart, Service Merchandise, or Target prefers
to do business with multi-product, rather than single-product, firms.
Finally, the opportunity must fit the personal skills and goals of the entrepreneur. It is
particularly important that the entrepreneur be able to put forth the necessary time and effort
required to make the venture succeed. Although many entrepreneurs feel that the desire can be
developed along the venture, typically it does not materialize. An entrepreneur must believe in
the opportunity so much that he or she will make the necessary sacrifices to develop the
opportunity and manage the resulting organization.
Opportunity analysis, or what is frequently called an opportunity assessment plan, is one method
for evaluating an opportunity. It is not a business plan. Compared to a business plan, it should
be shorter; focus on the opportunity, not the entire venture; and provide the basis for making the
decision of whether or not to act on the opportunity.
An opportunity assessment plan includes the following: a description of the product or service,
an assessment of the opportunity, an assessment of the entrepreneur and the team, specifications
of all the activities and resources needed to translate the opportunity into a viable business
venture, and the source of capital to finance the initial venture as well as its growth. The
assessment of the opportunity requires answering the following questions:
• What market need does it fill?
• What personal observations have you experienced or recorded with regard to that market
need?
• What social condition underlies this market need?
• What market research data can be marshaled to describe this market need?
• What patents might be available to fulfill this need?
• What competition exists in this market? How would you describe the behavior of this
competition?
• What does the international market look like?
• What does the international competition look like?
• Where is the money to be made in this activity?

Developing a Business Plan

A good business plan must be developed in order to exploit the defined opportunity. This is a
very time-consuming phase of the entrepreneurial process. An entrepreneur usually has not
prepared a business plan before and does not have the resources available to do a good job. A
good business plan is essential to developing the opportunity and determining the resources
required, obtaining those resources, and successfully managing the resulting venture.

Determine the Resources Required

The resources needed for addressing the opportunity must also be determined. This process
starts with an appraisal of the entrepreneur’s present resources. Any resources that are critical
need to be differentiated from those that are just helpful. Care must be taken not to
underestimate the amount of variety of resources needed. The downside risks associated with
insufficient or inappropriate resources should also be assessed.
Acquiring the needed resources in a timely manner while giving up as little control as possible is
the next step in the entrepreneurial process. An entrepreneur should strive to maintain as large
an ownership position as possible, particularly in the start-up stage. As the business develops,
more funds will probably be needed to finance the growth of the venture, requiring more
ownership to be relinquished. Alternative suppliers of these resources, along with their needs
and desires, need to be identified. By understanding resource supplier needs, the entrepreneur
can structure a deal that enables the recourses to be acquired at the lowest possible cost and the
least loss of control.

Manage the Enterprise

After resources are acquired, the entrepreneur must use them to implement the business plan.
The operational problems of the growing enterprise must also be examined. This involves
implementing a management style and structure, as well as determining the key variables for
success. A control system must be established, so that any problem areas can be quickly
identified and resolved. Some entrepreneurs have difficulty managing and growing the venture
they created.

Entrepreneurial Cycle

Click here to download a diagram of the The entrepreneurial cycle. (54k)

Step 1 This step helps you to find the overlap between what you can do and like to do, and what your potential customers need and want. It also helps you to test how these overlap with God’s will for your life. When you have found this overlap you have your first business idea!

Step 2 This step helps you to explore your own buying behaviours, and more importantly the buying behaviours of your potential customers. If you know what your customers are looking for in terms of quality, timeliness, relationship and cost, you can make sure that you provide something that will be bought.

Step 3 This step helps you to think through how you need to structure your activities to provide what the customer needs, when the customer needs it and in the way that the customer would like it done.

Step 4 This step helps you to work out whether you can make a workable business out of this idea. It helps you to ensure that what you will be paid will cover your costs adequately and provide you with enough income to keep the business going. In this part of the diagram, you get a chance to adjust your ideas and see whether you are able to make a profit. If you cannot, then you have only lost money on paper, and you can return to step 1 and move on to your next business idea.

Step 5 If you think you can make a profit, you are ready to move into the inner cycle and put your ideas into practice:

• Seeking the loan that you need.
• Putting your plans into action.
• Attracting and serving your customers.
• Stewarding your money and resources prayerfully so that you can begin to repay your loan and continue round the inner cycle with your successful new business.
  

The Stages in the Entrepreneurial Cycle

1. Resources — this refers to a new or reserve source of supply of something. From the viewpoint of society, an enterprise justifies its existence by converting resources into desired outputs. Resource inputs of labor, materials, ideas, government support, capital, and the like are converted by a firm into outputs of goods, services, employ­ment, stimulating experiences, markets, and other things desired by those who provide the inputs.

2. Process — determines how the product or service will be produced. There are phases to be followed in the process selection.''

a. Major technological choice — Does technology exist to produce
the product?

b. Minor technological choice — What transformation processes
will be used?

c. Specific component choice — What type of equipment (and degree of automation) should be used?

d. Process flow choice — How should the product or service flow through the operation system?

The final process-selection step determines how materials and products will move through the system. The phases in process selec­tion are closely interrelated. In each phase, choices should be made to minimize the process operations cost.

3. Product/Service — refers to the output of the enterprise. This is influenced by the technology available and the operations structure within the organization. It is a strategic task involving marketing, finance, and operations. Processes involved to determine the product or service to be produced are:

a. Research — generate the product/service idea

b. Selection — choose those that are technologically feasible, mar­ketable, and compatible with organizational strategy

c. Design — develop design specifications for the product or service

d. Product — it may be a tangible object, a service, or an idea that is offered by one party in exchange for something — money, patronage, moral support, votes, and the like.

Three Concepts of a Product

1. Generic Product — Definition of a product in terms of what it is made of or what comes out at the end of a production line, or what a factory produces.

Knowing the generic product is important because this is the basic benefit consumers look for in a product. Sometimes a manufac­turer has a different view of the generic product or functions of a product from his customers. Also, different customers may view the generic function of the same product differently. The generic function also changes through time. Limiting one's concept of a product to its generic functions is ineffective, however, especially because the same generic function is usually performed by several competing brands.

1. Formal Product—Another way of identifying a product is by its core or generic function and the manner by which it is presented. Thus, the generic function in addition to the product quality level, features, styling, brand, and package constitute what is referred to as the formal product. These elements of the formal product are easily identified in physical objects although they have their counterparts in service or intangibles. The additional elements of a formal product other than its core or generic elements are explained below.

a. Product quality — This refers to the ability of the product to perform certain functions.

b. Product features — The features of a product refer to the structural characteristics that enable it to perform or function as expected. The factors that comprise a product's structural char­acteristics are size, shape, form, color, material, odor, and tactile qualities.

While added features cost money, they can also bring in more money because they improve the marketability of a product. The correct combination of product features can give a product added attraction some of which are the following:

a. Make the product easier to operate or use.

Some examples are the no-frost refrigerators, digital watches, and remote-control television sets.

b. Improve the product's durability or quality

c. Improve the product's appearance

d. Generate new uses for the product to make it more versatile

3. Product Style — The style of a product refers to the aesthetic characteristics of a product. These characteristics "involve both the actual design, shapes, colors, and other less clear-cut, ornamental features which together help create an appealing, attractive, and distinct product."

4. Profit — These is income earned over an extended period of time. Profitability ratios are designed to put company profits into perspec­tive as a measure of the organization's efficiency of operation. It must be compared with other time periods or industry averages in order to be meaningful.

Profit is not a cause but a result — the result of the performance of the business in marketing, innovation, productivity. It is a needed result, serving essential economic functions.

Profit is, first, the test of performance — the only effective test, as the communists in Russia soon found out when they tried to abolish it in the early 1920s. Indeed, profit is a beautiful example of what engineers mean when they talk of feedback, or the self-regulation of a process by its own results.

Profit alone can supply the capital for tomorrow's jobs, both for more and better jobs.

And finally, profit pays for the economic satisfactions and services of society, from health care to defense, and from education to the opera. They all have to be paid for out of the surplus of economic production, that is, out of the difference between the value produced by economic activity and its cost.

Entrepreneur vs. Innovator

Invention: "a creation of new products, processes and technologies not previously known to exist"

Innovation: " is the 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"

An entrepreneur and an inventor both have their own financial rewards. Being an inventor takes a lot of creativity and innovation to be able to come up with an idea that no one has thought of yet; a unique idea for a product or service that has never been introduced in the market; an idea that could be the next big thing. An entrepreneur, meanwhile, is a business-minded person that can use existing products and services and customize them according to the specific needs of target market of his business. The entrepreneur will put his own brand onto the product or service and make it uniquely his own.

Being an inventor, your ideas could be of use to consumers in the commercial market. Companies would be willing to buy that idea and make it their own for reproduction. Ideas can be licensed or be rented by many companies. When you come up with novel idea, protection for the idea can then be filed in the right government agency. You can then look for a company that will be interested in your idea and will greatly benefit from it.

If a certain company has shown interest, the inventor can then personally contact that company and set up a meeting. If the inventor feels that the relationship with the company is comfortable enough and the product idea will satisfy a need that has been identified in the market, the idea will then be under license to that company. The inventor can just a collect a royalty from that idea every quarter of the year. There are some licensed ideas that lasted for many years with the same company while others can be short-lived. Licensing product ideas just deal with the numbers. There is not a single company or person that can have all the ideas. Coming up with an idea or inventing is a limitless activity. The trend for many companies have been to look for licensed product ideas from inventors that are not employed by their company.

Being an entrepreneur can also be very lucrative. An inventor can decide to market his own idea if he has the resources to do so. Turning that idea into a reality and a business can be certainly a challenge. For the first time entrepreneur, a simple idea might be a good way to start because this would not cost that much money to create.

An entrepreneur is in control of all his ideas and the way in which he brings those ideas to life and markets them. An inventor, however, surrenders much of the control of the idea when it is under license to a company. Running your own business requires complete control. You are in charge of every aspect of the product, from production, marketing to distribution. There are financial risks involved in venturing into a business. There is little risk in the licensing of an idea. One can only gain from it. There is no big investment required in being an inventor.

It is really up to you if you will consider being an inventor or an entrepreneur. You have to weigh all the advantages and disadvantages before you decide on the path to take. What is important is that you will be able to convert your idea into something useful and at the same time reap financial rewards for it.

Entrepreneurs are not equal to inventors because inventor might only create a new product, whereas entrepreneur will gather resources, organize talent and provide leadership to make it a commercial success.

Entrepreneur Traits: Here are some of traits you might be interested in:

• Self confident and optimistic
• Able to take calculated risk
• Respond positively to changes
• Flexible and able to adapt
• knowledge of Markets
• Able to get along well with others
• Independent minded
• Energetic and Diligent
• Creative, need to Achieve targets
• Dynamic leader
• Responsive to suggestions
• Take initiatives
• Resourceful and persevering
  
• Perceptive with foresight

Entrepreneurship is a dynamic process of creating incremental wealth. This wealth is created in terms of equity, time and career commitment of providing value for some products or services. the entrepreneur must infuse value to the product or service.

Are You an Inventor or an Entrepreneur?

Being an entrepreneur has more to do with a state of mind than a state of employment. And when you think of being an entrepreneur, it doesn't just mean starting a company.

One of the most consistent things I hear entrepreneurs say is, "I have this great idea." And the advice they often get is to write a business plan. Most entrepreneurs firmly believe there is nothing better than a solid plan couples with a great idea.

But don't confuse being an entrepreneur with being an inventor. Great ideas are a dime a dozen. Action is what differentiates an entrepreneur from an inventor. If you want to focus on ideas, become an inventor — not an entrepreneur.

And as for plans, entrepreneurs probably spend more time on our business plans than just about anything else we do. But business plans are often useless, even counterproductive; the old adage that "planning is everything; plans are nothing" (credited to Eisenhower) couldn't be more true in entrepreneurship.

The important thing is the process of planning — but you also have to be willing to throw out that plan. The single biggest advantage you have as a start-up versus an established business is your ability to be nimble, to act, to change. If you're beholden to your ideas or to your business plan, you will fail.

Thomas Edison is a great example of someone who most people think of as an inventor because of the thousands of ideas he came up with. But when someone asked Edison about his ideas he replied that he didn't care about his ideas. The only ideas that were interesting to him were the ones that he could commercialize. "I am quite correctly described as more of a sponge than an inventor," he said. Yet most people in fact don't realize that the light bulb was not Edison's idea; he just commercialized it. Edison thought of himself as an entrepreneur.

Social entrepreneurship

Social entrepreneurship is the work of a social entrepreneur. A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change. Whereas a business entrepreneur typically measures performance in profit and return, a social entrepreneur assesses success in terms of the impact s/he has on society as well as in profit and return. While social entrepreneurs often work through nonprofits and citizen groups, many now are working in the private and governmental sectors and making important impacts on society.

The main aim of social entrepreneurship as well as a social enterprise is to further social and environmental goals for a good cause. Although social entrepreneurs often are associated with nonprofits, this need not be incompatible with making a profit. Social enterprises are for ‘more-than-profit,’ using blended value business models that combine a revenue-generating business with a social-value-generating structure or component. A social entrepreneur in the twenty-first century will redefine entrepreneurship as we know it, due to their progressive business models.

One well-known contemporary social entrepreneur is Muhammad Yunus, founder and manager of Grameen Bank and its growing family of social venture businesses, who was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2006

Another example is of the very Nobel personality of Pakistan Mr. Abdur Satar Edhi being a very successful social entrepreneur.

"Nonprofits have to recognize that they're businesses, not just causes. There's a way to combine the very best of the not-for-profit, philanthropic world with the very best of the for-profit, enterprising world. This hybrid is the wave of the future for both profit and nonprofit companies."
-- From "Genius At Work" - an interview with Bill Strickland, CEO of the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild and the Bidwell Training Center Inc.

The nonprofit environment has changed.

• Community needs are growing in size and diversity.
• More nonprofits are competing for government and philanthropic funds.
• Traditional forms of funding are becoming smaller and less reliable.
• New for-profit businesses are competing with nonprofits to serve community needs.
• Funders and donors are demanding more accountability.

"In the face of this new reality, an increasing number of forward-looking nonprofits are beginning to appreciate the increased revenue, focus and effectiveness that can come from adopting "for profit" business approaches. Increasingly, they are reinventing themselves as social entrepreneurs, combining "the passion of a social mission with an image of business-like discipline, innovation, and determination."
-- From "The Meaning of Social Entrepreneurship" by J. Gregory Dees.

Entrepreneurship

Before discussing entrepreneurship lets see how academicians define "entrepreneur" (ahn’tra pra nur) a French origin word . The basic dictionary definition of an entrepreneur is a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, esp. a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk" “Entrepreneurs are risk takers, willing to roll the dice with their money or reputation on the line in support of an idea.They willingly assume responsibility for the success or failure of a venture.”

While studying the phenomenon of Entrepreneurship different researchers and scholars has described it differently according to there knowledge and understandings.
1. Transformation of demand into supply for profits. ( Smith 1776)
2. Bringing together factors of production (Say, 1803)
3. Founding a private enterprise (Mill 1848)
4. Creation of organizations (Gartner,1888)
5. Ownership (Hawley,1892)
6. Responsible decision making (Knight,1921)
7. Carrying out new combinations: later on termed innovation through the process of
‘creative destruction’ i.e. old being washed away by the new. (Schumpeter, 1934)
8. Bearing Uncertainty (Knight,1921 Cantillon 1755)
9. Exploration of opportunities- being an arbitrageur and an equilibrating agent. (Kirzner, 1973)
Exploiting the opportunities that changes in technology, consumer preferences, social norms, etc. and Undertaking innovation and bearing risk.