Conclusion

During this course, you have been encouraged to examine some important ideas about entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship, and perhaps to challenge some of your own preconceptions. You looked at how one entrepreneurial individual went about creating a successful business venture at an early age, and how other entrepreneurs have made use of informal ties with family and friends. In doing so, you also considered the mixture of personal and social influences on entrepreneurial activity.

It may be useful at this stage to review some of the issues we have covered in this course. This brief summary should help you to recall some of the main points:

• Researchers have examined entrepreneurship at the level of the individual, and have attempted to uncover its psychological and behavioural dimensions. This work has raised a number of questions regarding our understanding of entrepreneurship and what it means to be entrepreneurial.
• Entrepreneurial individuals are influenced by people around them. These informal networks play a variety of roles. For example, friends and family members may be approached in order to obtain much-needed finance, skills, knowledge, labour and other resources. Entrepreneurs need to consider the potential advantages and disadvantages when forming such relationships. People often find out about entrepreneurs through biographical or autobiographical accounts. These ‘stories’ or narratives offer valuable insights for those studying entrepreneurship, but it is always important to consider who is telling the story, and what their purpose might be. Entrepreneurs can also make effective use of stories to promote their ventures.

We hope that you found this course interesting and that it has encouraged you to continue studying entrepreneurship in its many different forms.