Ubiquity of entrepreneurship

Question 1

Entrepreneurs are seen as public figures

Answer 1

• Entrepreneurs are seen as people who can provide lessons beyond their business, successful or not.
• Because of their business expertise it is expected of them that they will have insight into further topics (Wetherspoons CEO Tim Martin appearing on QT)
• Trump - president of the United States, because he was an entrepreneur and ran successful business he should have a deeper insight into the real world and be able to run the US (questionable)

Question 2

Entrepreneurship and fiction

Answer 2

• All entrepreneurs in fiction are slightly “shady”
• They are conflicted as to whether they should do right by society or right by themselves
• Comedy or tragedy - businesses have and define themselves, face challenges and adversity, and overcome these. It is in some ways similar to storytelling

Question 3

Intrapreneurship

Answer 3

• Google waymo - division within Alphabet. Behave more like an innovative business, rather than a business within a business
• Innovations within corporations - funded as if by venture capitalists and left alone within the organisation
• Pseudointrapreneurship - when business simulate this to their staff, to try and preempt the results of such an exercise

Question 4

Self-employment / Micro-businesses

Answer 4

• There are more than 200,000 self employed people in Scotland
• Flexibility, autonomy, gig economy. Questions over whether Uber drivers are entrepreneurs, or lucky to fall into the business model

Question 5

Bogus/forced self employment

Answer 5

• Workers made redundant and set up as self employed
• They are set up as if they are consultants, which has benefits for the firm as they still own expertise with flexibility and it allows them payroll and pension benefits. For the worker, there are tax advantages involved but increased insecurity

Question 6

Creative destruction

Answer 6

• Businesses are founded with the aims of taking over more and more businesses as they grow
• Big PLC’s are taking over family business
• Opticians in the UK - Specsavers and high street retailers taking over
• In this relationship who are the entrepreneurs: buyers or sellers?