Thread: Difference between ENTREPRENEURS and PROPRIETORS

Per Jay Abraham,

"A proprietor (as described by Peter Drucker) is a business owner who
pretty much adds nothing meaningful to the business category they
address.

A Mexican restaurant or a deli that does pretty much the same thing much
the same way every other one does it---adds little (if any) real value
to the marketplace - other than (maybe) convenience of location.

Certainly the owner is banking on the market expanding to embrace his or
her offerings, but they don't make the experience any better. They don't
redefine the concept. They don't innovate the model or the
product/service offering. It's just another deli or Mexican restaurant.

On the other hand, a true entrepreneur is a business owner committed to
continuously innovating - innovating how they conduct business, and what
they offer, innovating the experience people encounter, innovating the
way the product/service gets delivered/presented, innovating the
product/service itself.

Drucker didn't say it - but I see a proprietor as someone who sets up a
generic business that's non-distinctive, one that takes oxygen out of
the air and cash out of commerce, but frankly, contributes back very
little exceptional value to the market beyond the "mere" self-serving
commodity aspect of their product/service offer.

Drucker - squarely sized up the difference between a proprietor and an
entrepreneur. The proprietor (he says) merely does what has been done by
thousands before them. They don't try to create a new satisfaction,
experience or consumer demand. All the proprietor does is hope they can
tap into existing demand.

An entrepreneur creates something new, creates new experiences, new
satisfaction, new definition of what they do. Entrepreneurs create
something different - more exciting, more satisfying, more desirable or
valuable to the market.

They change, transform or transmute values. Entrepreneurs focus on
changing reference models. They find ways to improve, redefine
products/service experience, the process. Perhaps, MOST importantly,
entrepreneurs make truly positive impacts on their market.

They are committed to being "game changers" - true innovators who renew,
shift, alter, redefine their marketplace position and product. They
multiply the benefits, magnify the experience, maximize the
advantage--FOR the consumer. It's ALL about benefitting the consumer!

True entrepreneurs require no certainty, instead they "feed on"
opportunity. Problems are their fuel of achievement. Challenges are
their competitive advantages.

Probably the biggest differentiation between being a value creator or a
"commerce siphon" - is whether or not your business is based on
purposeful/impactful innovation vs. pure profit motivation. Profit
today, more than any time in the past is a by-product of contribution
and the amount of value that your business adds to the consumer.

If you're a proprietor - you need to convert and become a "Born Again"
entrepreneur. How? Try this:

* Become supremely receptive to seeing change in marketing, change in
consumer buying habits, change in competitive offering as an opportunity
rather than a threat.

* Continuously evaluate your business and its performance as an
innovator/value creator in as many critical categories as possible, i.e.
product development, value added, buyer experience, performance dynamic
of product, service people.

* Become obsessed (almost) for discovery, development, perfecting new
things - new ways of marketing, new ways of delivering your
products/service, new ways of improving the transactional experience.
See your world differently than your competition.

* Learn to overcome resistance to innovate, by wanting/craving
continuous breakthroughs in marketing, strategy, innovation, your
business model, your competitive positioning..

Any business owner who tries to hold on to the "status quo" will lose
ground, rapidly. Recognize the importance of innovation and the fact
that it takes time and resource allocation/investment to bloom. "

A proprietor in most instances holds a job under the guise of business ownership. Many of them live paycheck to paycheck in the same way an employed person does, just with more hours. Others do pretty well ($100K/yr). The entrepreneurs (or the proprietors who morph into entrepreneurs) become the multimillionaires.

I thought the article was dead on.