<p>I feel a rant coming on - bear with me please.&nbsp; I don't do it often.&nbsp; Indulge me and perhaps by then end I can even find something positive to add.&nbsp; <p>To start off - I really, really, really dislike the word 'entrepreneur'.  <p><a href="http://new.corepurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/entrepreneur.jpg"><img style="border-width:0;margin:5px;" border="0" alt="entrepreneur" align="right" src="http://new.corepurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/entrepreneur_thumb.jpg" width="240" height="214"></a>"Why?" you might ask.&nbsp; "Aren't you one? "</p> <p>The answer is probably yes by some peoples' definition and then by others' it would be no.&nbsp; </p> <p>There are few words in our business lexicon that are more misused, argued over, or modified than the word entrepreneur.</p> <p>With all the talk about entrepreneurship these days, you would think our generation invented it.&nbsp; We did not.</p> <p>The word entrepreneur was first coined in the eighteenth century by <a href="http://homepage.newschool.edu/het//profiles/cantillon.htm" target="_blank">Richard Cantillon</a> and later expanded upon by <a href="http://homepage.newschool.edu/het//profiles/schump.htm" target="_blank">Joseph Schumpeter</a> in his writing the <i>Theory of Economic Development</i>&nbsp; in 1911 .&nbsp; It first appeared in Webster's dictionary in 1852 and it's definition is actually very simple according to today's Merriam-Webster's online dictionary - </p> <p><a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/entrepreneur" target="_blank"><em>en·tre·pre·neur</em></a><em>&nbsp; (noun) </em></p> <p><em>Date: 1852&nbsp; Etymology: French, from Old French, from entreprendre to undertake </em></p> <p><em><strong>:</strong> one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise</em></p> <p><em>In today's business literature, we now find a plethora of _____preneurs.</em></p> <ul> <ul> <li><em><strong>Intrapreneurs</strong> - entrepreneurial people inside an&nbsp; enterprise</em>  <li><em><strong>Co-preneurs</strong> - husband and wife entrepreneurial teams</em>  <li><em><strong>Solo-preneurs</strong> - the me- myself- and I crowd</em>  <li><em><strong>Mommy-preneurs</strong> - does being a Mommy make your business different?</em>  <li><em><strong>Home-based-preneurs</strong> - does it matter where your office is?</em>  <li><em><strong>Serial-preneurs</strong> - these folks just can't seem to get enough...</em>  <li><em><em><strong>Green-preneurs</strong> - these are the save the planet, eco-friendly folks</em></em>  <li><em><strong>Social Venture-prenuers</strong> - the make a difference folks</em>  <li><em><strong>Micro-prenuers</strong> - smaller scale ventures</em>  <li><strong>Macro-preneurs</strong> - get out of my way I'm gonna be big!</li></ul></ul> <p>et cetera, et cetera, et cetera!</p> <p>And then we have my personal favorite - the <strong>snob-preneur</strong> - those entrepreneurs who look at other classes of -preneurs and confidently state that the other group really is not an entrepreneur at all.&nbsp; They do not count.&nbsp; They are just a life-style business, or a non-profit, or a franchise, or a .....</p> <p>You can find snob-preneurs everywhere.&nbsp; I've had this debate with some of the top authors of best selling books on entrepreneurship (and no, I am not naming names) as well as with entrepreneurial advocates across every level of the continuum.&nbsp; It is like entrepreneurship is some exclusive club and only certain people have the right to belong.</p> <p>But going back to our simple definition, an entrepreneur is a person: one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise.</p> <p>It should not matter whether... </p> <blockquote> <p>you own the company or work in it.&nbsp; </p> <p>you go it alone, partner with family, or grow your team to be a cast of thousands. </p> <p>your office is in a corporate complex, your garage, your basement or your car. </p> <p>your enterprise is structured to create wealth for shareholders, for yourself, to create greater value to society as a whole,&nbsp; or any combination thereof.</p></blockquote> <p>Instead, let's celebrate the "one" in the definition.&nbsp; The person who see an opportunity, has the courage to pursue it despite the risks, and who through their passion and persistence creates something great - by their definition - not ours.</p> <p>Perhaps, it's time for a new word to encompass that.&nbsp; Preferably one that is easier to spell.&nbsp; <p>Got any ideas?  <p>&nbsp; Thanks for stopping by.&nbsp; Stay tuned...  <blockquote> <p>Joan Koerber-Walker</p></blockquote> <p> <div style="display:inline;margin:0;padding:0;" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:1fe4e1bd-24b5-441a-9b76-59a0fc9b92db" class="wlWriterSmartContent">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Joan%20Koerber-Walker" rel="tag">Joan Koerber-Walker</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/CorePurpose" rel="tag">CorePurpose</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/entrepreneur" rel="tag">entrepreneur</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/entrepreneurship" rel="tag">entrepreneurship</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/business" rel="tag">business</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/economics" rel="tag">economics</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/definitions" rel="tag">definitions</a></div></p>