The entrepreneurship spirit may be developed. Entrepreneurship is also not confined to any class or group of people, and it can be developed. More than half of those who voted in the poll believe so. Prof. Andy Ferreria, who provided the entrepreneurial lessons in the book “Negosyo: Joey Concepcion’s Inspiring Entrepreneurial Stories”, noted that the “entrepreneurial spirit can be made and can be developed regardless of age, gender, social status, economic status…etc.” Prof. Ferreria goes on to say that “becoming the best that one can be is the object of the entrepreneurial spirit” and that the entrepreneurial spirit “uses the innovation process of idea generation, incubation, and implementation, to be better than yesterday.”

Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Innovation appears to be the core of entrepreneurship. Innovation, which is the “specific function of entrepreneurship” according to Drucker, “is the means by which the entrepreneur either creates new  wealth-producing resources or endows existing resources with enhanced potential for creating wealth.” Drucker went on to say that: “The term [entrepreneurship], then refers not to an enterprise’s size or age but to a certain kind of activity. At the heart of that activity is innovation: the effort to create purposeful, focused change in an enterprise’s economic or social potential.” (“The Discipline of Innovation”, Harvard Business Review, 1985)

It’s interesting that Ducker was cited in the book Blue Ocean Strategy in relation to “value innovation”, which “is the cornerstone of blue ocean strategy”. According to Drucker, “the very foundation of entrepreneurship is the practice of systematic innovation,” although there are two other critical aspects – entrepreneurial strategies and entrepreneurial management, both of which deserve separate discussions.  

Drucker discussed certain principles of innovation: “Purposeful, systematic innovation begins with the analysis of the sources of opportunities”. “To be effective, an innovation has to be simple, and it has to be focused.” “Effective innovations start small.” “The successful innovation aims from the beginning to become the standard setter, to determine the direction of a new technology or a new industry, to create the business that is – and remains – ahead of the pack.” “Innovation is work rather than genius. It requires knowledge. It requires ingenuity. And it requires focus.”

Entrepreneurship and Opportunities. The entrepreneur, according to Drucker (Innovation and Entrepreneurship), “always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.” He went on to quote J.B. Say, that the entrepreneur “shifts economic resources out of an area of lower and into an area of higher productivity and greater yield.” In a way, we could say that entrepreneurship is identifying, responding to and maximizing an opportunity. Entrepreneurship is not limited to the creation of value from nothing, but also enhancing the potential of existing resources.

In sum, we could argue that a person who takes the risks inherent in a business is an entrepreneur. We could also argue that business is not equivalent to entrepreneurship, for entrepreneurship requires something more -- innovation. Businesses that simply copy an existing framework or system are not innovative. This distinction, however, may not be material especially in times of economic crisis when any Pinoy who successfully engages in business, generating employment in the process and contributing to the economy, is most welcome.

To be sure, however, a single article would not do justice to a topic discussed in various books for decades, spawning various schools of thoughts. But we have to start somewhere and provide a working, although unfinished, definition of the Pinoy Entrepreneur for this site.

If someone has an idea, please step up. A discussion on this matter would be helpful in the search for the Pinoy Entrepreneurs.