What is an entrepreneur?
An entrepreneur is someone who spots a gap in the market and develops a novel idea or solution to fill it. They develop a company around their idea and make the final decisions regarding things like the budget, selling points, marketing strategies, and development procedures. An entrepreneur takes on a lot of responsibility as part of their job, but they can also make a lot of money.
For instance, an entrepreneur launches a business selling bamboo flooring that is peel-and-stick. They choose how to make the flooring, what to charge for it, where to sell it, and who the intended market is. Despite the fact that this business owner probably has a team of advisors, they have the final say in all matters.
What is an intrapreneur?
An intrapreneur is a person who uses fresh, creative concepts to advance a business. They look for novel or inventive procedures, items, or methods that can lessen an organization’s excessive waste and boost profitability. Some main goals that intrapreneurs seek to achieve include:
Anyone can take on an intrapreneur role within their company. An intrapreneur might be a team leader who creates a new shift schedule to shorten transition times, for instance.
What are the benefits of intrapreneurship vs. entrepreneurship?
Both intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs have significant roles to play and have their own set of advantages. Within an organization that values creativity and innovation, intrapreneurs work on specific projects and frequently get helpful feedback from their team members along the way. The ability to use funds and other resources provided by the company for their endeavors is one of the biggest advantages of choosing this course. Additionally, since the business assumes all risks, intrapreneurs have more freedom to come up with original solutions to problems.
Since they work for themselves, entrepreneurs typically have more flexibility than intrapreneurs. Entrepreneurs have the ability to act swiftly and independently in accordance with their own vision. They have an advantage over businesses that go through a drawn-out approval process because they can implement ideas without having them go through a formal evaluation process.
How does an intrapreneur differ from an entrepreneur?
The environment in which these two types of roles are performed is the primary distinction between them. An entrepreneur starts and runs a new business, whereas an intrapreneur works for an established organization in a position that enables them to promote innovation.
Both roles have their challenges, but since entrepreneurs are starting their own businesses, they typically take on more risk than intrapreneurs. When they feel they are ready to launch and manage their own businesses, many intrapreneurs later transition to becoming entrepreneurs.
What are some examples of intrapreneurship and entrepreneurship?
In order to stay competitive and develop new products and services that consumers will enjoy, many large companies use intrapreneurs. However, intrapreneurship can exist in smaller workplaces, too. To help you better understand the two roles, the following examples of intrapreneurship and entrepreneurship are provided:
Intrapreneurship
At the moment, Anna manages a medium-sized marketing company entirely from a distance. She is in charge of a sizable department that has shown to be extremely productive but has poor interpersonal communication skills. She worked to come up with a unique solution after realizing her group’s issue. She made the decision to hold regular “Innovation” video meetings where staff members could virtually gather and present any procedure or idea they wanted to try. These “Innovation” calls prompted staff to engage more and support one another’s creative processes, boosting output.
Entrepreneurship
Moira worked as a software developer for 10 years. She became aware of the need to increase development’s accessibility to a larger audience during that time. Increasing the scope of software development would enable more small businesses to create programs specifically tailored to meet their needs. Small business owners could create their own software using a very straightforward program that Moira created. She established a business to market the software and provide users with support and troubleshooting.
What skills do you need to succeed as an intrapreneur or entrepreneur?
Successful intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs share many of the same skills and characteristics since both roles focus on the development of novel and innovative ideas, services, and products, including:
