Entrepreneur's Handbook

Homepage Girişimcinin El KitabiINTRODUCTION
Entrepreneur's Handbook

INTRODUCTION

Entrepreneurship and SMEs have a very important place in economies today. In Turkey, SMEs constitute 99.8% of companies in number, approximately 3/4 of employment, approximately 2/3 of sales (turnover) and more than half of exports (TURKSTAT, 2016). Although these numbers are not exactly the same for most countries, they are similar in general. If we look at economic growth and job creation, there is an even greater role of recently established small companies and the entrepreneurs who founded them. The role of small startups in generating net jobs varies between countries, ranging from half to almost all of the total, and they all have an important place. On the other hand, it would not be right to classify all new initiatives and entrepreneurs in the same way and expect the same contribution. Although there are different classifications, the most used ones are the Obligation-Based Entrepreneurship and Opportunity-Based Entrepreneurship classification. Obligation-Based Entrepreneurs usually consist of those who turn to entrepreneurship because there are no other opportunities, and even if the businesses established in this way survive, they usually do not have a chance to grow. On the other hand, Opportunity-Based Entrepreneurs see a gap in the market and set out to take advantage of it, and by achieving success in such businesses, they have the possibility of both survival and high growth. Among the total number of newly established businesses, quite a small group of companies lead the way in creating value and employment mentioned above by achieving success, and these companies are mostly among the opportunity-based entrepreneurs.

The classic entrepreneurs, who make up the majority, are usually established businesses to stay small (or at least not to grow too much). Our grocery store on the corner of our street, our ravioli store in the neighborhood, our barber can be given as examples of such entrepreneurs. Another type of entrepreneur is entrepreneurs with high growth potential. For example, Murat, who is trying to produce rehabilitation robots to help recovery after serious injuries, Şahin trying to make transportation to and from the airport cheaper, Umutcan, who tries to make garbage collection and recycling more efficient, Mustafa, who tries to sell domestic automotive spare parts manufacturers abroad, and Berkay, who follows the problems experienced by IT companies can be given as examples of high growth potential entrepreneurs.