Entrepreneurial Types: What are the Four Main Types of Entrepreneurs?

What Type of Entrepreneur Are You?

There are four main types of entrepreneurs. Determining which type of entrepreneur a person is becomes an essential part of the analysis process used by anyone who wishes to succeed in the tough world of self-employment. All four types of entrepreneurs are equal in terms of capability, they simply have different styles and personality traits.

The Franchisee

This type of entrepreneur often doesn’t possess the adventurous trait and they choose to begin their self-employment career with a company that already has established a name and customer base. A franchise is a business in which the owner is a third party operator. For example, a chain restaurant will allow a person to run one of their restaurants. They will own a restaurant with the name of the chain, but they will be independent as well. The franchisee often possesses creativity. They are buying into an existing business and need to be creative to make the service or product better.

The Business Opportunity Buyer

This type of entrepreneur desires ownership, but after they learn the business they will leave the support fold. They often possess several entrepreneurial traits including being adventurous, creative, and flexible. They also possess patience. They will take the time to learn all aspects of their new business from those supporting them and then, once they are comfortable running their business on their own, they leave their support fold.

The Independent

This type of entrepreneur will dive into the business and know their business and industry from day one. The knowledge they do not possess and all problems that present themselves will be dealt with and figured out as they arise. They often possess all six entrepreneurial traits including patience, being meticulous, creativity, flexibility, being thick-skinned, and being adventurous. Being thick-skinned, adventurous, flexible, and creative are most important, however. Since this type of entrepreneur deals with things as they come, they need to be flexible and creative or else their problems may not get solved, or they may not be solved completely. They need to be thick-skinned because they are likely to run into critics. They need to be adventurous because diving in will not be comfortable. They will need to be meticulous in order to fully learn and understand whatever industry they choose and patience will allow them to remain meticulous.

The Intrapreneur

This type of entrepreneur does not solely own a business, but a portion of one. A good example is a lawyer that just made partner. They co-own the firm with the other partners. They share in the profits, as well as any recurring bills and debts. They take part in all of the business decisions and all partners are equals in all business elements. Intrapreneurs need to be thick-skinned because there will be times when their ideas will be out-voted by their partners. They need to be flexible and creative because there will be times when they will need to compromise. They will also need to be patient because things will not always swing their way and major decisions may take time to decide because more than one person will be involved in the decision-making process.