Entrepreneurship in Perspective — Key Terms

Vocabulary flashcards covering core terms and concepts from the lecture notes on entrepreneurship, enterprise, sustainability, and related frameworks.

Entrepreneurship

The practice of seeking opportunities, taking risks beyond security, and driving an idea to reality; an integrated mindset that can operate inside or outside organizations, in profit or non-profit ventures.

Enterprising

Marked by imagination, initiative, and readiness to undertake new projects.

Entrepreneurial

Willing to take risks to create value.

Enterprise (enterprising mindset)

Identifying, developing, and bringing a vision to life—whether a new idea or a better way of doing something; applicable to business, politics, and social decisions.

Entrepreneurial Economy

An economy where entrepreneurs drive opportunities, innovation, and economic development; a standard by which free enterprise is measured.

Create new businesses

Entrepreneurs form new firms that stimulate related industries and boost economic development.

Contribute to national development

Entrepreneurship generates new wealth, expands markets, and increases tax revenue to support government spending and human capital.

Create social change

Entrepreneurs introduce new goods and services that raise living standards and economic freedom, promoting independence from outdated systems.

Starting a business from scratch

Launching a venture with a new vision; typically a sole proprietorship with autonomy in decision-making.

Family business

Entrepreneurs start a family-owned enterprise for long-term, transgenerational growth and wealth preservation.

Partnership

Entrepreneurs collaborate with others to leverage resources, diversify expertise, share risk, and broaden customer base.

Buying an existing business

Acquiring a business that already generates cash flow and has an established customer base and staff; often easier to finance and may provide valuable assets.

Franchising

A franchise provides a structured support system from the franchisor and a proven business model.

Industrial Age System

A view where the economy is the largest circle and society and environment are smaller domains, prioritizing economic growth.

Modern Age System

An environment-centered view in which the environment is the largest circle and the economy operates within society and nature.

Economy is the subsidiary of nature (Ray Anderson)

The economy depends on nature; nature is primary and essential for a healthy economy.

Triple Bottom Line (TBL)

A framework coined by John Elkington in 1994 to measure a company’s financial, social, and environmental performance.

Profit (in TBL)

The financial bottom line: the real economic value created, including income, expenditures, taxes, employment, and overall economic impact.

People (in TBL)

The social bottom line: the business’s impact on employees and communities, including fair wages, safe work environments, local hiring, and social contributions.

Planet (in TBL)

The environmental bottom line: environmental stewardship and reducing ecological footprint through energy, materials, water, and waste management.