LO1: Learn about entrepreneurial personality types:

• From the 1700s to the 1950s people thought there was only one type of entrepreneurial personality.
• Since the 1960s five distinct types of entrepreneurial personalities have been found: small business owners, idea people, the managerial entrepreneur, the salesperson, and the contemporary classic entrepreneur.

LO2: Learn the competencies of the successful entrepreneur:

• Forms of business-related expertise are called competencies.
• To be successful, an entrepreneur needs competency in the basic business functions (e.g., sales, operations, etc.), industry-specific knowledge, resource competencies, determination competencies, and opportunity competencies.
• Professionalization describes the extent to which a firm meets or exceeds the standard business practices for that industry. Professionalization can be minimalized, specialized or expert.

LO3: Discover the types of career paths entrepreneurs pursue:

• A career is a lifelong series of jobs or occupations.
• The five typical career paths for entrepreneurs are habitual, growth, harvest, spiral (or helical), and occasional.

LO4: Understand the challenges of family business owners:

• Family businesses are one of the major forms of small business.
• The major challenges facing the family business are role conflict and succession.
• All three challenges can be met through careful planning.
• Married couples and even nonfamily partnerships face many of the same problems and solutions.

LO5: Recognize the special nature of entrepreneurial teams:

• The majority of businesses are started by teams.
• Spouses or life partners are the most common form of team.
• Couple teams can benefit from trust and financial flexibility.
• Typical problems include lack of agreement, separating work and family issues, and handling endings.
• Similar problems also crop up in non-spouse teams.

LO6: Gain insight into the challenges women and minority business owners face:

• Women-owned and minority-owned businesses are growing at rates faster than other types of businesses.
• The major challenge facing these businesses is gaining access to opportunity.
• Access is achieved through networking and set-asides.

LO7: Understand the situation of people who become business owners later in life:

• Late career entrepreneurship happens when a person is laid off, downsized, or given early retirement.
• The challenges facing late career entrepreneurs come from having to do everything themselves, loss of confidence, and using too much of their personal money too soon in the business.
• Having to do everything can be handled by identifying the tasks to be done ahead of time. Loss of confidence can be dealt with through taking time to heal and by networking with enthusiastic entrepreneurs. Late career entrepreneurs should use their own money only when it makes sense for the business, usually proven through a business plan.