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Skills and Competencies of a 21st Century Entrepreneur

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Table of Contents INTRODUCTION 2 CRITICAL EVALUATION 3 PRE – START UP PLANNING AND PREPARATION 3 ENTREPRENEUR IN AN ORGANISATION 4 ENTREPRENEUR AS AN INDIVIDUAL 5 ENTREPRENEUR WITHIN THE SOCIETY 5 CONCLUSION 6 RECOMMENDATION 6 REFERENCES 7 ANNOTATED BIBILIOGRAPHY 8 APPENDIX 9

INTRODUCTION
Various definitions have been given to the word entrepreneur, due to the changes and complexity of the world’s economic structure. Entrepreneurs have been cussed and discussed, declared to be social misfits and bastions of the private enterprise system.
“An entrepreneur sees an opportunity which others do not fully recognize, to meet an unsatisfied demand or to radically improve the performance of an existing business. They have unquenchable self-belief that this opportunity can be made real through hard work, commitment and the adaptability to learn the lessons of the market along the way”.(Martin , 2010). Entrepreneurship is an act of being an entrepreneur which involves initiating in a business venture, gathering the necessary resources and assuming the associated risks and rewards.
There are common traits associated with an entrepreneur, most entrepreneurs tend to: * Tolerant of ambiguous situations * Resist conformity * Enjoy risk-taking * Self-reliant, dominant and independent * Be interpersonally aloof yet socially adroit * Adapt readily to change
The importance of entrepreneurship for economic development has been widely acknowledged in recent times. Entrepreneurship is assumed to be a major source of innovation, job creation and growth (Kunene, 2008). According to the SBA factsheet 2010/11, SME’s account for over 99% of the firms in the U.K and over 50% for total employment and value added.
In the 21st century, entrepreneurs need certain skills and competencies. Due to the rapid and constant change in the business

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