How can aspiring entrepreneurs evaluate an idea and distinguish entrepreneurship from small-business ownership?

"The United States is blessed with a wealth of entrepreneurs such as the Aguerres who want to start a small business. According to research by the Small Business Administration, two-thirds of college students intend to be entrepreneurs at some point in their careers, aspiring to become the next Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com. But before you put out any money or expend energy and time, you’d be wise to check out Table 5.2 for some preliminary advice. The desire to be one’s own boss cuts across all age, gender, and ethnic lines. Results of a recent U.S. Census Bureau survey of business owners show that minority groups and women are becoming business owners at a much higher rate than the national average. Table 5.3 illustrates these minority-owned business demographics. Why has entrepreneurship remained such a strong part of the foundation of the U.S. business system for so many years? Because today’s global economy rewards innovative, flexible companies that can respond quickly to changes in the business environment. Such companies are started by entrepreneurs, people with vision, drive, and creativity, who are willing to take the risk of starting and managing a business to make a profit. Are You Ready to Be an Entrepreneur? Here are some questions would-be entrepreneurs should ask themselves: 1. What is new and novel about your idea? Are you solving a problem or unmet need? 2. Are there similar products/services out there? If so, what makes yours better? 3. Who is your target market? How many people would use your product or service? 4. Have you talked with potential customers to get their feedback? Would they buy your product/service? 5. What about production costs? How much do you think the market will pay? 6. How defensible is the concept? Is there good intellectual property? 7. Is this innovation strategic to my business? 8. Is the innovation easy to communicate? 9. How might this product evolve over time? Would it be possible to expand it into a product line? Can it be updated/enhanced in future versions? 10. Where would someone buy this product/service? 11. How will the product/service be marketed? What are the costs to sell and market it? 12. What are the challenges involved in developing this product/service? Table 5.2 Sources: Jess Ekstrom, “5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Start a Business,” Entrepreneur, https://www.entrepreneur.com, accessed February 1, 2018; “Resources,” http://www.marketsmarter.com, accessed February 1, 2018; Monique Reece, Real-Time Marketing for Business Growth: How to Use Social Media, Measure Marketing, and Create a Culture of Execution (Upper Saddle River, NJ: FT Press/Pearson, 2010); Mike Collins, “Before You Start–Innovator’s Inventory,” The Wall Street Journal, May 9, 2005, p. R4. Statistics for Minority-Owned Businesses • The number of Hispanic-owned businesses almost tripled between 1997 (1.2 million) and 2012 (3.3 million). • The percentage of U.S. businesses with 1 to 50 employees owned by African Americans increased by 50% between 1996 and 2015. • Almost a million firms with employees are minority owned: 53% are Asian American owned, 11% are African American owned, and almost a third are Hispanic owned. • 19% of all companies with employees are owned by women. Table 5.3 Sources: Robert Bernstein, “Hispanic-Owned Businesses on the Upswing, ” International Trade Management Division, U.S. Census, https://www.census.gov, December 1, 2016; The Kauffman Index of Main Street Entrepreneurship, https://www.kauffman.org, November 2016. Entrepreneur or Small-Business Owner? The term entrepreneur is often used in a broad sense to include most small-business owners. The two groups share some of the same characteristics, and we’ll see that some of the reasons for becoming an entrepreneur or a small-business owner are very similar. But there is a difference between entrepreneurship and small-business management. Entrepreneurship involves taking a risk, either to create a new"