Discover 9 Types of Entrepreneurship: A Practical Guide for Success

Explore the diverse world of entrepreneurship from innovative startups to social ventures and beyond where vision meets strategy in transforming ideas into reality

Entrepreneurs are people who create new products and businesses by identifying market gaps. They contribute to the financial resources with significant economic activity.

American Shopify entrepreneurs made nearly $490 billion in economic activity in 2022 alone. There are various forms of entrepreneurship to take into consideration when launching your own business, but cultivating an entrepreneurial attitude will help you take advantage of a market that is expanding.  

While the process of setting up a business might be similar, not all entrepreneurs are the same. You have different visions that fall into various types of entrepreneurship.

If you're an aspiring entrepreneur, exploring the different types of entrepreneurship is essential. It will help you to understand which type aligns with your business idea.

Read this blog to learn about the various types of entrepreneurship with examples. Start your business journey on the right note.

Small-Business Entrepreneurship

This type of entrepreneurship focuses on starting a business with limited capital. Entrepreneurs usually hire local people or get help from family members to run their businesses. 33.3 million American companies are classified as small enterprises, accounting for 99.9% of all American companies. 

Small business owners take the initiative to run their own ventures. Hence, they understand the meaning of taking risks. They are more focused on profitability. They understand how to take calculated risks to use their small investment correctly.

These business entrepreneurs can identify niche markets. They create solutions that meet market demands. Often, they add unique features to common services or products. It helps them overcome competition, which is usually high in small business sectors.  

They have a long-term vision and carefully assess the potential and risk associated with their idea.

Operating a small business requires resourcefulness. With limited capital and workforce, entrepreneurs must find creative ways to tackle challenges and have excellent problem-solving skills.

Some examples of entrepreneurship at a small scale include: 

• Running grocery shops.
• Building a small café.
• Offering freelance services in digital marketing, graphic designing, etc. 
• Offering tutorial services.
• Fitness trainer.
• Working as an agent for tax management, real estate, etc.

Large-Company Entrepreneurship

Large-company entrepreneurs are advanced professionals with the ability to sustain innovation. In this type of entrepreneurship, owners run companies with finite lifecycles.
It involves large-scale investments of resources and capital to run the organization.

As a large-company entrepreneur, you must have a wide range of skills. You must be capable of collaborating with others and addressing challenges strategically, which will help you scale your business.  

You also need to have clear goals and objectives for your company so that you can explain them to stakeholders when needed. Moreover, when running a large company, you must create an environment that offers scope for innovation and risk-taking.

Operating on a large scale also requires you to have good industry knowledge. You must have regular insight into the current industry needs and innovation. This will be crucial to identify market potential and growth opportunities.

Large-company entrepreneurship doesn’t mean you have to start big. Small ventures can also transform into large firms when they grow rapidly. It may also happen when a larger company acquires them for good. 

Tech giants like Google and Apple are great examples of this type of entrepreneurship business. These companies started from scratch and became leaders in their areas. Tesla is another example of a large company that took the risk of implementing a new idea and taking it to success.

Scalable Startup Entrepreneurship

Scalable startups are an exciting type of entrepreneurship. Startup owners become scalable startup entrepreneurs when they believe their ideas can have a significant impact. They launch their startups aiming for rapid growth and scaling the company in new markets.

Most scalable businesses are technology-based and have global implications. In fact, 92% of small enterprises use cloud-based solutions, which reduce their workload by at least 42%. 
Venturing into this type of entrepreneurship business requires you to have an eye for potential opportunities in the market. You must identify what the market needs right now and offer an impactful solution based on your business idea. 

Scalable startups are always looking for funding opportunities to launch their business. Thus, they follow the best startup websites and other channels to secure funding opportunities. 
Most often, they are financed by venture capitalists who believe in their ideas.

Let's look at Facebook or Uber to explain this type of entrepreneurship with examples. These companies became global phenomena and achieved success as they rapidly scaled their operations.

The primary advantage of entering this type of entrepreneurship is the scope of innovation. You can think outside the box and confidently pitch an idea to get funded. 

However, it comes with its challenges. To run a scalable startup, you need a highly skilled and professional team to work with. As 25% of entrepreneurs find hiring qualified employees difficult, it can be tricky to build such a team. Another big challenge is funding, as you need significant capital to fund an innovative idea.

Entrepreneurs can use third-party services to address some of these issues.

Social Entrepreneurship

When business professionals observe the needs of society and take up the responsibility to fulfill them, they become social entrepreneurs. 

This type of entrepreneurship focuses on social motives more than profitability. Social entrepreneurs generate revenue while also creating a positive impact on society. They are mostly connected with non-profit firms.

Globally, social enterprises generate revenue of around USD 2 trillion every year. They also create around 200 million job opportunities for people across sectors like agriculture, finance, and more.

Social entrepreneurs explore areas with marginalized, economically disadvantaged, and underserved communities to offer solutions to improve their conditions. This may include:

• Creating environment-friendly products.
• Providing clean water to developing countries.
• Providing access to education for underprivileged children.
• Creating mobile apps and other technology to help people, and so on. 
• Some examples of entrepreneurship with a social cause are:

The Ocean Cleanup- It's an initiative to eliminate plastic pollution from the oceans of our world. The organization has developed and deployed several cleanup apparatuses that collect plastic waste using huge nets in the ocean gyres.

CleanCook- This company provides ethanol and methanol cookstoves in areas where people use traditional cooking methods like firewood, kerosene stoves, or charcoal.
Their main market is in Africa, where these cookstoves help reduce air pollution and deforestation.

Innovative Entrepreneurship

Every entrepreneur is undoubtedly an innovator. However, this type of entrepreneurship particularly focuses on creating new products and services to improve or replace existing ones. 

Some visionaries who are striking examples of innovative entrepreneurs are:

• Jeff Bezos - Mastermind behind Amazon who changed the e-commerce and cloud computing sectors.
• Elon Musk - Founder of Tesla and SpaceX, highlighted how to use technology innovatively and completely transformed the automotive industry.
• Mark Zuckerberg - Redefined digital communications by launching social media giant Meta (formerly Facebook).

Innovative entrepreneurs come forward to explore and experiment with ideas or new technology that no one has tried. As such, they often have the understanding and capability to discover potential opportunities. 

They assess a specific market's driving forces and influencing factors and aim to create room for innovation. Moreover, they are adaptable to people’s changing needs and mold their product or business according to current requirements. 

They are more passionate about their products and aspire to make them valuable for people. So, they put in all their efforts to make their product or service stand out.

However, the challenge in this type of entrepreneurship business is that people do not easily believe in a new product, so it becomes hard to sell it. Building a new customer base can also be difficult. There is also the fear of other brands copying your idea, which increases the competition.

Hustler Entrepreneurship

Hustler entrepreneurship is another notable type among the different types of entrepreneurship. The hustle and determination of the entrepreneur distinguish this type of entrepreneurship from others. 

Hustler entrepreneurs are driven by their passion for their business. No matter the challenges, they work hard to overcome them and achieve success. They are very resourceful and understand where they should take a risk and where to avoid it. 

They rely more on their hard work than capital and are willing to make extra efforts even for the smallest success. Let’s understand this type of entrepreneurship with an example- Imagine making a hundred calls in a day just to make one sale. A less motivated individual may not complete the task, but a person with a hustler attitude will do everything for that one sale.

One great example of a hustling entrepreneur is Sarah Blakely, founder of Spanx undergarments. She started Spanx with no entrepreneurial experience or business capital but turned it into a billion-dollar business with her determination. Today, she’s the youngest self-made female billionaire.

Imitator Entrepreneurship

As commonly said, imitation is the best form of flattery. Imitator entrepreneurs follow the tried and tested business strategies of other entrepreneurs. They closely observe what successful business people are doing and then build their strategy along the same lines.

While innovative entrepreneurship is all about making the first move, imitators get the advantage of witnessing the market response.

They can then launch a similar or better product or service at competitive prices to attract customers. These entrepreneurial ventures scale quickly as the groundwork is already established and an audience is ready for the product.

Let's consider Spotify's example. The company followed the idea of an online music streaming app established by known names like Pandora and Apple iTunes. The product was the same, but Spotify made the app more user-friendly. It also provided personalized music recommendations with a free model that attracted many users. Today, Spotify is dominating the music streaming industry.  

Although this type of entrepreneurship offers advantages, there are downsides, as in other types of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs often fear legal consequences if they do not have proper licenses.

Researcher Entrepreneurship

Research entrepreneurs assess many factors and analyze the market thoroughly before launching their business.
They usually extensively research untapped areas, identify gaps, and devise innovative solutions. They utilize their reach to the fullest and know how to capitalize on their findings.
In addition to the current market dynamics, they use statistical data to forecast future demand and build strategies accordingly. 

Here are some examples of professionals who followed this type of entrepreneurship:

• Actress Jessica Alba founded the Honest Company after researching the need for safe consumer products for families.
• After extensive research, Brian Chesky understood the need for alternative lodging options and launched AirBNB.

Buyer Entrepreneurship

This type of entrepreneurship involves people who can buy companies or acquire other businesses that can supplement their processes. Buyer entrepreneurs have access to significant capital and always explore opportunities to combine different companies for more value. They also have great networking skills, which they need to build business relationships. 

Buyer entrepreneurship offers many benefits, like higher profits and scaling opportunities. However, entrepreneurs also have the risk of overpaying while acquiring companies or facing liability during acquisitions. 

One very well-known example of this type of entrepreneurship is tech-giant Google. The company has acquired many businesses with products that complement the products offered by Google.

Wrapping Up

Entrepreneurship is a vast domain with no fixed path to success. Currently, there are around 582 million entrepreneurs worldwide. If you have a solid business idea, you can explore many different types of entrepreneurship.

Be it small or large business entrepreneurship, social or imitator business idea, or any other form, follow the one in which your passion lies.  

Always analyze your skills and interests before venturing into any type of entrepreneurship. Additionally, it is important to consider the risks and disadvantages associated with each type before making a decision. This will help you strategize better and prevent financial losses or failure.