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Table 5.7 A comparison between the potential of entrepreneurial and 5 : STEP THREE – EVALUATING AND SELECTING IDEAS
conventional careers for satisfying economic, social and personal
development needs143

Entrepreneurial career Conventional career

Economic needs Can offer the possibility of Financial rewards typically
high financial rewards in lower, but secure and
the long-term. predictable.

Income may be low in early Risks are relatively low.
stages and risks are high.

Social needs Entrepreneur creates Established organisation
organisational change. usually provides good
stage for making social
A great deal of freedom to relationships.
create and control network
of social relationships. Manager may have only
limited scope to control
Social status of the potential of social relationships
entrepreneur usually high. formed.

Social status of manager
variable.

Personal development Entrepreneur in control of Good potential to pursue
personal development.
needs own destiny.
The direction of personal
Possibility of creating an development may need to be
‘entire new world’. compromised to overall
organisational objectives and
Venture may be powerful values.
vehicle for personal
development and Career options limited and
expression of personal subject to internal
values. However, this is competition.
dependent on success of
venture.

It may be that the risk analysis will trigger you to reconfigure your
business idea – licensing an innovative idea rather than implementing
it yourself will reduce your personal risks, albeit by trading off the level
of your return. The analysis also provides a framework for evaluating
those ideas which remain within the frame.

Figure 5.6 highlights that not every entrepreneur shares the same attitude
to risk and return. In the model, profit seeking is associated with a strong
desire to maximise profits; activity seeking refers to other activities
associated with entrepreneurship, such as independence or intrinsic
interest in the work undertaken by the enterprise.