The beneficial differentiation within entrepreneurship of self-employed, business owner and entrepreneur

Abstract

This study explores the diversity among entrepreneurs to identify the innate factors behind the variation. The intention is to explain why some entrepreneurs prefer to be self-employed in one-person businesses, while others build enterprises with numerous employees. A factor analysis of the personality traits of active entrepreneurs reveals nine entrepreneurial factor types, which are further subjected to psychological analysis. Based on leadership, innovation, social and efficiency skills, the psychological interpretation reveals three categories in entrepreneurship: the self-employed, the business owner and the entrepreneur. The categories exhibit inherent dissimilarities and similarities that clearly explain the discrepancies in entrepreneurs’ preferences on a profoundly personal level. The concept of entrepreneur, commonly used to refer to a variety of individuals, accurately describes only one category. Instead, the concepts of self-employed and business owner better explain the related activity and outcomes of the other two categories. Accordingly, the results suggest that the quality of support, expected outcomes and consequently socio-economic growth will improve with a thorough consideration by authorities of each individual’s personality or at least by consideration of which category best describes the target group of, for example, teaching and financial support.