Entrepreneur vs Businessman by Eric Kinoti

According to the dictionary, an entrepreneur is a person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so. It also defines a business person as a person engaged in commercial or industrial business and or someone involved in business, where in particular undertaking of activities, commercial or industrial, for the purpose of generating revenue from a combination of human, financial, and physical capital.

For me an Entrepreneur, in the purest sense, is the person who identifies a need—any need—and fill it. It’s a primordial urge, independent of product, service, industry or market. Entrepreneurship is about the future and sustainability, an entrepreneur identifies a gap and creates a lasting solution and not just for money but for the future generations benefit and sustainability.

On the other hand, a business person is that person who identifies a weakness and capitalizes in that just to make profits. For example a typical business person is that who while in a pub drinking and discussing stuff, notices another person is doing well in what he/she is doing and rushes to do it without doing any research or getting to know the hurdles involved. who opens a butchery near another does that because he knows probably customers are complaining about the other butchery’s services. He gets into the business to make money. And that the primary principle of a business person.

I encourage people to follow the entrepreneurship journey because it has a lot to offer. You may not get money immediately, but trust me the values and lessons you learn are priceless. I can assure you, all the entrepreneurs I know are very persistent, courageous, risk takers and patient.

I will point out a few. ..

Churchil is is one entrepreneur who has built his empire around comedy. He identified a gap and commercialized it. He bring joy to the living room, to the young and to the old. It is his talent. It’s something he can do even without a pay if he chooses to, but today he earns from it. He has invested in upcoming comedians too. He mentors them and makes them stars. He gives people a platform to shine. That’s entrepreneurship.

Kaweru Dennis of La Giacca, a very young Fashion-preneur identified a gap in suit making for the young achievers who want to be trendy and official at the same time. He opted to quit working for Stanchart Bank to follow his dream and to do something that gives him satisfaction. He has capitalized in his talent to earn from it. He makes good suits always in fashion.

Wesley Thomas Owiti Okoth of Bows and Tie is another Fashion-preneur . This is one person who gave young entrepreneurs to network in an event that they appreciate professionalism with a wealth of creative concepts and innovative ideas.

Mwenda Thuranira, The founder of Myspace Properties. He identified a gap in real-estate management in Mombasa and now he is the leading consultant in real estate issues. You can even call him a real estate guru.

Danson Muchemi N, Is a TechPrenuer, Google Award winner in Finance innovation. He is the Founder of Jambo Pay, the company that is collecting revenue for Nairobi County Government and a couple of others.

The list is endless, but one thing you should know is that all they entrepreneurs started small, they had many hurdles on their way but they were hard working and patient enough to work towards a break through.

In the line of making Entrepreneurship more attractive and the way to go, I am organizing An All Entrepreneurs boot camp, an event that we can all come and share our experiences and learn from each other. We also have a Young CEO Consortium where will be having sessions with the upcoming entrepreneurs, the young guys who have the idea but don’t have the capital to fund it or that guy who has Ksh 20,000 and want to start a business. I hope you will all be in attendance.