Entrepreneurs Are Born and Not Made? Essay

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Entrepreneurs are born and not made
An entrepreneur is ‘a person who has possession of a new enterprise, venture or idea and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome.’ So are entrepreneurs born? Or made? There have been many debates from businessmen to academics alike on whether entrepreneurs are born or made, but is it as straight forward as that? In this essay I will evaluate arguments both for and against this statement and conclude it with my own personal observation.
The argument for this statement that entrepreneurs are born is a scientific one, with the questions being are there specific entrepreneurial genes and/or chromosomes. Some of the characteristics credited to entrepreneurs include
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Stated in an article by Karen E. Klein it is believed that a study by the University of California shows ‘87 percent of successful entrepreneurs start companies in niches where they already have business experience.’ This would suggest that an entrepreneur’s previous career would massively influence their choice in business venture. Education is also extremely influential. It is widely known that as a whole, people who go stay in education for longer are more likely to be successful in their chosen careers. ‘There is abundant evidence in every-day life and scientific literature for the fact that the acquisition of education improves the future earnings and overall success of individuals,’ (Angrist and Krueger, 1999). Peter Jones is an entrepreneur who strongly believes that education and in particular entrepreneurship can be taught, highlighted by the fact he has just established the National Enterprise Academy (NEA), the UK’s first academic institution solely dedicated to teaching enterprise and entrepreneurship. For an article in the Times, Peter Jones says, ‘While there is no simple answer to solve the issue of rising youth unemployment, innovative educational programmes have a key role to play... Entrepreneurship is a skill that can be taught like any other. Entrepreneurs are not born, they are made.

Culture is also an influence on entrepreneurs. (Paul Burns, p.45) ‘An entrepreneurial culture is one that fosters positive social attitudes towards