Essentials of Entrepreneurship examines all phases of the entrepreneurial process: generating ideas for something new and better than what currently exists, determining whether these ideas suggest viable business opportunities, identifying and obtaining the financial and human resources required, securing intellectual property protection, launching the new venture, developing strategies for gaining and maintaining competitive advantage, and building a customer base. In discussing these and other topics, the text draws on research findings that help identify variables that play a role in entrepreneurs’ effective performance of these tasks, and so–ultimately–in their success. New to the second edition: • Two brand new chapters, addressing the issues facing the next generation of entrepreneurs: • how to achieve long-term success through maintaining growth with sustainable business goalsthe emerging trends to look out for, including the gig economy and technological advances.•New updated case studies place entrepreneurial theory into practice, identifying how others can take inspiration from them. Updated cases and examples include Pets.com; aeroponic farming; Martha Stewart Living; the amphicar and social networksNew discussion of non-traditional forms of support such as crowd funding and social media, and their effect on the modern entrepreneurUpdated chapter on opportunity recognition; why some people are better at it than others and the role of self-regulatory theory, including signal detection theoryNew coverage of the effects of business failure, including the role of psychological capital and how successful serial entrepreneurs learn from their failures and mistakesUpdated coverage of the government regulation and legislation affecting new ventures.Presenting a concise and current overview of entrepreneurship and assuming no previous knowledge, this text is ideal for use in any undergraduate or MBA level entrepreneurship course, whether within a business school or any other discipline.
Robert A. Baron, Regents Professor, Spears Professor of Entrepreneurship, Holder Family Chair in Entrepreneurship, School of Entrepreneurship, Spears School of Business, Oklahoma State University and Keith M. Hmieleski, Robert and Edith Schumacher Faculty Fellow and Professor of Entrepreneurship, Academic Director, Neeley Entrepreneurship Center, Neeley School of Business, Texas Christian University, US
Contents: 1. Changing the world . . . One idea at a time 2. Cognitive Foundations of Entrepreneurship 3. Opportunities: Their Nature, Discovery, and Creation 4. Feasibility Analysis . . . Look Before You Leap: What Entrepreneurs Need to Know Before They Begin 5. Transforming Ideas into Reality: Careful Planning . . . and Improvising 6. Assembling Key Resources I: Obtaining, Managing, and Using Financial Assets 7. Assembling Key Resources II: Building a Strong Founding Team, Developing Social Networks, and Obtaining Expert Advice 8. Entrepreneurs: Their Central Role and What They Need to Succeed 9. Legal Aspects of Entrepreneurship: Protecting Your Ideas 10. Strategies for Attaining Growth and Ensuring Long-Term Success 11. Endings . . . Happy or Sad: When and How Entrepreneurs Leave Their Companies 12. Emerging Trends in Entrepreneurship Index
Acclaim for the first edition: 'Baron has long been recognized as an expert in the area of entrepreneurial thinking. This expertise shows in his artful treatment of the essentials of entrepreneurship. In a clear and helpful way, he punctuates state-of-the-art knowledge about entrepreneurial thinking with practical, hands on recommendations for doing.'--J. Robert Mitchell, University of Western Ontario, Canada'Baron's gift is his ability to ask basic questions and then translate complex concepts into straightforward and understandable answers. He simplifies without ever over-simplifying. In this important book, he provides both a breadth and depth of coverage on the opportunity, the entrepreneur, and the venture. In the process he offers a realistic perspective that synthesizes what we know while introducing exciting new ideas.'--Michael H. Morris, University of Florida, US