There are varying views and definitions of entrepreneurship around the world. In addition, there are many other words often used as substitutes for entrepreneurship including enterprise, innovation, small business, growth companies, etc. To fully capture and understand the entrepreneurship phenomenon, it is important to take a broad and inclusive view, otherwise important components and trends in the rapidly growing entrepreneurship movement will be overlooked.

There are many forms and meanings of the word entrepreneurship:

Entrepreneur -> Individual

Entrepreneurship -> Process

Entrepreneurial -> Attitudes, skills and behaviors

Entrepreneurial ecosystem  -> Role of society

Entrepreneurship in all forms and sectors  -> broadly defined

Below are some popular definitions of entrepreneurship:

“The pursuit of opportunity beyond the resources you currently control.”
Professor Howard Stevenson, Harvard Business School

“Entrepreneurship is the process in which one or more people undertake economic risk to create a new organization that will exploit a new technology or innovative process that generates value to others.”
Carl Schramm, President and CEO, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

“Entrepreneurship refers to an individual’s ability to turn ideas into action. It includes creativity, innovation and risk taking, as well as the ability to plan and manage projects in order to achieve objectives.”
European Commission, 2006