Spirits fly on dangerous missions
Imaginations on fire
Focused high on soaring ambitions
Consumed in a single desire
-Neil Peart
All kinds of people can be entrepreneurial, but does this make them an entrepreneur?
What is an “entrepreneur” andisn’t there an easier word to say and spell than “entrepreneur” to describewhat these people do?
While I wish there was a betterword, there are many different definitions of the word “entrepreneur” and thereare many different interpretations for what an entrepreneur actually does.
(You can blame French Economist Jean Baptist Say, as he’s the one to have decided that “entrepreneur” was the right word.)
Some people believe that inorder for someone to be an entrepreneur, they must offer something new,possibly innovative, to the marketplace. This notion was popularized byearly 20th century economist and Harvard professor, JosephSchumpeter.
According to Schumpeter,entrepreneurs are the ones who provide innovative products and services thatdisrupt markets. (And, in the process, destroy the value ofestablished companies.)
Others believe that the onlyway to truly be an entrepreneur is to take on risk – or leverage risk – to seeka great reward.
Economist Israel Kirzner’s viewsees that entrepreneurship is about recognizing – and acting – onopportunities, but not necessarily on taking risks. Accordingto Kirzner, the entrepreneur sees opportunity and acts.
Human action, it appears, is the key.
Entrepreneurship is not market research. However, acting on that market research is entrepreneurship.
Entrepreneurship cannot beplanned or centrally managed. This is why Vertically Integratedcompanies reach a point where they no longer innovate.
Entrepreneurship, and theactual entrepreneur, has been studied a lot in the 21st century, inpart because the vertically integrated behemoths are no longer innovating, andthey wanted to know “why” they were no longer innovating and “how” to innovategoing forward.
It is now well-know thatintrinsic (internal) motivation – or selfish ambition – for profit is whatpresents entrepreneurs with a reliable incentive to remedy sheer ignorance anderror in the marketing place. This, then, improves life for all.
Entrepreneurship, then, is away of thinking or acting that requires or leads to creativity, innovation, andalertness.
It is judgmentaldecision-making under uncertainty.
In a sense, all humans demonstrate entrepreneurship in action. Anentrepreneur must choose which goods to acquire and how to arrange them.
According to Nicolas Foss andPeter G. Klein in their book, “Organizing Entrepreneurial Judgement: ANew Approach to the Firm,” there are seven (7) conceptions ofentrepreneurship:
- Small business management – Owning and managing a small business. This includes a plumbing service company or a doctor’s office.
- Imagination or creativity – a specialized activity that some individuals are well-equipped to perform. An example of this might be a worker in the “creative economy” or a traveling nurse or surgeo
- Innovation – This is “creative destruction.” An example of this might be cellular phones replacing landlines and then the smart phone replacing cellular phones. Another example is Direct Primary Care or Direct Specialty Care offices.
- Alertness to opportunities – Seeing an opportunity in the marketplace and making life better.
- Ability to Adjust – This is the ability to allocate one’s resources in response to changing circumstances.
- Charismatic leadership – the ability to articulate a plan, rules, or a vision and impose on others
- Judgement – This shows the entrepreneur as an active, creative agent creating new opportunities
Are Entrepreneurs Only Motivated by Profit or Greed?
The answer to this may surprise those new to entrepreneurship, but the answer is a resounding “No.”
Yes, entrepreneurs are motivated by profit, but many are also motivated by a desire to:
– Found a dynasty
– Conquest a competitive world
– Have the joy of creating something new
Entrepreneurship is the key to economic growth and the supply of entrepreneurs depends not only on the potential for profit, but also a favorable social climate.
Entrepreneurs will appear and continue only
– In a Society that honors them
– Where prestige is attached to them
– When they are able to earn social rewards andrecognition
(Entrepreneurs appear to be a lot like physicians and other health professionals.)
The conditions and social values in which entrepreneurs have to operate must be favorable.
Whether an entrepreneur exploits opportunities or begins innovation, the success of the original entrepreneur attracts a “swarm” of others. This causes economic activity to become more and more energetic.
This “swarm” of activity causes a boom that gathers momentum which brings a secondary economic wave and causes an “imitative investment” by both entrepreneurs and investors. (All of this is followed by the original “innovative investment.”)
Eventually, creative destruction is then required for new innovation.
This is typically when the entrenched power players turn to political or crony means to “protect” their turf, or original investment (of time, money, capital, labor, etc.). Think: Rockefeller, Carnegie, and the Flexnor Report.
How Does This Relate to the New Health Economy?
This relates to the New Health Economy in two ways.
If you read Chapter 3 of thisbook, you are now completely aware that the current Matrix of Modern Medicineis collapsing, and an impending crash is coming soon.
Most of this collapse of the Matrix of Modern Medicine is of its own making.
However,
- Entrepreneurs are currently in the process of destroying old value to create new value that is even greater value than before. This is the “creative destruction” that has been referenced in this post.
- The second way that the entrepreneur relates to the New Health Economy is that the New Health Economy – and then eventually the NEW New Health Economy (because all new things pass away and are replaced by new things) – will be driven and built by new entrepreneurs.
As we now know, the New Health Economy will be horizontally integrated. There will no longer be command and control economic decision-making organizations that are political monopolies.
Entrepreneurs – “getting H “from the previous post – are what will make the New Health Economy work.
Yes, there will be some that come up with new ideas and new products that the world has never seen before.
However, because the old “system,” or Matrix of Modern Medicine, with its vertical integration and no innovation is going away, there are opportunities in health and care that have never been before.
Also, to speak frankly and plainly, if you want to be a health professional in the coming New Health Economy, the likelihood is that you, too, will need to be an entrepreneur.
Looking for more information about the New Health Economy?
- Download the Book (pdf or audio) Navigating the New Health Economy
- Click the link below to learn more about how you can be part of