Sanjog Singh Kadayat, Roll 25 ‘Synergy’

Reflection – Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management

More than a coursework, Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management session was
an experience, impact and momentum of which, even a global pandemic seemed not able to
significantly halt. Our facilitator, Mr. Brijesh Sharma, has been a key figure to make this leaning
experience possible during the semester. The experience can be briefed in terms of knowledge
gained from the syllabus and the knowledge gained from the learning methodology. Article and
real-world based learning provided a stronger insight of the course than a lecture-based classes
could ever do. Personally, the greatest takeaways from entrepreneurship course could be
summarized in terms of – what makes an entrepreneur, how are entrepreneurs different from
small business owners and considerations regarding intellectual property rights that have to be
made.
What makes an entrepreneur?
The biggest misconception in this field is that if one starts a business, they become an
entrepreneur, but that could not be more far from the truth. Entrepreneurship is not an activity,
but it is a mindset and a way of life. Entrepreneur is a person who recognizes and exploits
opportunities irrespective of their field. Sarasvathy (2001) identifies entrepreneurs as people who
abide by effectual reasoning and forego causal reasoning. Effectual reasoning begins with a set
of means and allows goals to emerge over time and through imaginations and diversions and
does not set a particular end goal. Sarasvathy also emphasizes on elements that an entrepreneur
should be most aware of which are ‘Who are you’, ‘What you know’ and ‘Who do you know’.
This lesson on true meaning of being an entrepreneur and their personality has made me
aware and can be advantageous to me in the following ways.
 Effectual reasoning helps one to innovate on opportunities and establish business
ventures whereas causal reasoning is also important in order to sustain a business. Hence,
the skills of an entrepreneur need to change with the change in business cycle.
 Just because I do not open my own business does not mean that I cannot be entrepreneur
at all. I can be in any field and exploit opportunities to make things easier for people.
 Information is key and everything may not be possible alone. So, influential and skillful
people must be in our social circle in order to learn of and achieve things that would not
be possible singularly.
Difference between entrepreneur & small business owner
Small business owners and entrepreneurs are both risk takers pursuing their own vision
and need a lot grid to make things happen. The main difference is that entrepreneurs usually take
outside funding to build something way bigger while small business owners start and run a
business with limited resources and planning. Entrepreneurs are always thinking way ahead
about the next thing in the world and do not settle for status quo. Small business owners start
their business to mostly feed themselves and do not scale up like a startup.

Group 3
Sanjog Singh Kadayat, Roll 25 ‘Synergy’

Knowledge of being able to differentiate between being an entrepreneur and a small

business owner can be fruitful in the following ways.
 Both entrepreneurs and small business owners begin with vision, energy, and enthusiasm
to implement their businesses. The difference is that entrepreneurs know when to sell and
move on to another innovative project.
 Small business owners often do what they do to support themselves and their families, as
well as to work for themselves. But to be identified as an entrepreneur we must change
after change and creation.
Importance of Intellectual Property Rights to entrepreneurs
During our Entrepreneurship course, we had an opportunity to visit Department of
Industry at Kathmandu and understand that IP Rights in Nepal is very primitive and unfavorable
in the current business scenarios. Hence, efforts are being made to draft a new IP bill which
would incorporate both industrial properties and copyrights within a single formal document
making it easier for entrepreneurs as well as government officials to handle cases related to such
abstract properties.
We were able to learn why IP protection is very important for entrepreneurs which could
be summarized as follows.
 IP Rights protect inventors and innovators and encourages creativity as well as build
opportunities for extra earnings throw royalties which would be considered rewards for
their intellect.
 IP also protects consumers and society from purchasing unqualified goods by giving an
indication of branded and quality products as well as stimulating change.
All in all, Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management was a course experience
which worked as an eyeopener for academics as well as dreamers.

Group 3