The difference between entrepreneur and manager must be understood since they’re never the same. Every business guru or starter must know the distinct difference between the entrepreneur and the manager.
Many times both roles have been confused together. It’s a fact obliviously ignored or often misconstrued. In this article, so much is done to unleash the difference between entrepreneur and manager.
Who is an Entrepreneur?
An entrepreneur is one who invents an idea to solve a specific societal, national, or global problem. He creates something new out of nothing, and goes all out, courageously takes all risk to ensure his ideas succeeds.
Entrepreneurs organize the factors of production required to bring companies into existence. They are rewarded with profits. Yet, they’re concerned basically with the company’s formation, growth, and perpetual continuity.
Who is a manager?
A manager is one who performs an administrative function in an organization. The manager guides direct organizes and coordinates a group of people in an organization to realize set goals. Managers carefully ensure employees are up to the task, active and effective at their respective duty posts.
The manager is one who consciously puts things in order with respect to how employees fulfill daily obligations. His duty is to ensure that required inputs are available and all hands are on deck to maximize output.
Comparison Table Between Entrepreneur And Manager Based On Different Metrics
| Comparison Metric | Entrepreneur | Manager |
| Definition | A person who identifies a problem and solve the problem in an innovative way. He establishes a company, creates an enterprise, and takes financial risks to realize the profit. | A manager is responsible to coordinate, control, administer, and run the organization smoothly. |
| Target | Sets up the company to solve a specific problem. | Ensures the smooth operation of the company. |
| Motivation | The profit which is a by-product of solving a problem | Position |
| Method of handling task | Informal | Strictly formal |
| Reward | Profit by doing good | Salary |
| Decision-making method | Informed and intuitively | Delegated and calculative |
| Risk | Takes all risks | Risk-Free |
| Propelling Force | Innovation and creativity | Maintaining standard in office |
| Status | Owner | Employee |
Based on each comparison metric above, find the below-highlighted difference between entrepreneur and manager.
- The entrepreneur is the brain behind the company. He establishes the enterprise, wielding through the formative stages. In the early stage, he is not particularly after profit, but vision-driven. He does all possible to solidify the company and to ensure its rigidly built. The manager, just as the name implies, takes care of all operations of the company. He is responsible to ensure the smooth running of the company. His work ranges from administrative to supervisory and control.
- The main target of the entrepreneur is to set up the company. He makes ready all factors of production for the business to commence operation. The manager’s job is to lead supervisors, who in turn would give orders at their respective levels to subordinates. This is to ensure the smooth operation of the company and to ensure all hands are on deck in maximising output.
- The entrepreneur is highly motivated by achievement. The entrepreneur’s success is in his creative idea being built and sustained. His goals are tied to his invention and ideas. This defines achievement for an entrepreneur. The manager, unlike the entrepreneur, finds motivation in his position. He’s concerned about his competence to lead, guide, supervise and control daily activities successfully.
- The entrepreneur handles tasks in several ways that best suits him. He can choose to be informed if he wishes. The manager follows the office ethics laid down in the organisation. Everything about his approach is strictly formal.
- The entrepreneur is rewarded with profit for his input, while the manager is paid a salary as a reward for his contribution.
- An entrepreneur makes carefully informed decisions based on cues drawn from within and outside the organization. He intuitively makes decisions based on his conclusions. The manager’s decisions might be delegated. He also makes calculatingly informed decisions based on his position and responsibilities.
- The entrepreneur bears full risks associated with the company. The manager bears no risks at all.
- The entrepreneur’s propelling force is in his consistent ability to create and innovate; develop new ideologies to better the company. People who occupy the managerial position have one goal – to be at their optimum best. Their primary aim is to perform well in demonstrating administrative prowess to achieve desired progress in office.
- The entrepreneur is the owner of the company. The manager works in the company. The manager is an employee.
Real Examples of entrepreneur and manager
Typical examples of the entrepreneur and manager are basically captured in their respective roles. Their functions give a lead to their examples and qualities.
An entrepreneur sets up the company, plans the approach to growth and continuity of the business. He makes intuitively guided decisions based on surveys within and outside the organization. The following describes the qualities of the entrepreneur:
- Creative
- Proactive
- Innovative
- Decisive
- Strong-willed
These explain the flexibility that comes with being an entrepreneur. The entrepreneur’s creative and innovative are highly valuable for his company’s success.
At different points, he must invent ideas to foster rapid developments of the company. He must be proactive, decisive, and strong-willed.
The entrepreneur’s goal is well defined in terms of vision (the endpoint) and mission (daily engagements). He communicates with a leader’s skill. Persuasively, he drives home what he intends to achieve with the employee’s maximum input.
The entrepreneur, being the boss, clarifies his vision to the manager. With what’s available, the manager works with all other employees. The bulk of work is on the entrepreneur’s table. He lays his neck and gives his all to see through the growth of his company.
A typical manager is one whose position is ranked after the entrepreneur. He takes care to ensure employees are at peak with roles assigned to them. He performs leadership and supervisory roles at the managerial level.
A manager primarily displays administrative and managerial competence. He leads and coordinates other staffs accountable to him. He motivates and inspires workers to action, encouraging diligence and efficiency.
Information is key in a rapidly changing world that you can’t afford to be misinformed. This article covers everything you need to know about the difference between an entrepreneur and a manager. The meanings, differences, roles, and examples of the entrepreneur and manager are all embedded in this article for you.
For example, Elon musk or bill gates is an entrepreneur where Sundar Pichai or Andrew Herbert is a manager. It is a real-life example of an entrepreneur and manager. You may see crazy innovative ideas from Elon Musk what you do not see from Sundar Pichai because he is just a managerial position although he has an innovative role in decision-making. but approval of that decision depends on his employer.
