Five different types of entrepreneurs – what type are you?

There are as many ways to be an entrepreneur as there are entrepreneurs. However, we have nevertheless – and completely unscientifically – tried to categorize five different types of entrepreneurs based on the experience we have in our daily work with many different entrepreneurs. Read on to see if you recognize yourself in one of the four types of entrepreneurs.

The innovative entrepreneur

Passion, creativity, innovation and curiosity characterise this type of entrepreneur. If you belong to this group, you see new business opportunities long before anyone else. You are creative, risk-seeking and love what is popularly called "disrupting" large established industries and companies. Once you've settled on a business idea, you fight for it – at whatever cost. It is not the money that drives the work, but the creative urge and the desire to develop new processes and products that have not been seen before. Many of history's most famous entrepreneurs belong to this group, including Steve Jobs, who from the garage challenged the IT giant IBM with the development of the first personal computer.

Inventor

The inventor is easily confused with the innovative entrepreneur, but where innovation refers to an improvement, development or significant contribution to an already existing service or product, the entrepreneur in the inventor category can be defined as an entrepreneur who for the first time introduces a new type of product or service to the market that has not been seen before. If you belong to this category, you are most likely good at coming up with forward-looking ideas, but not the strongest when it comes to sensing the commercial opportunities and introducing the product itself to the market. Elon Musk is one of today's entrepreneurs who could be a good bet for an entrepreneur in this category.

The traditional entrepreneur

For this type of entrepreneur, it may not be the new groundbreaking idea, but rather the idea of being your own boss who runs the plant. You have the professional background, knowledge and experience within a particular subject area, you are for example employed as a carpenter, lawyer, hairdresser or similar in an already established company, and the belief that you can provide a better service, a better job or the like, as well as the desire to be master in your own house, makes you start your own business. Most of the entrepreneurs we talk to at Qred belong to this group.

The Solver

A classic – you have experienced a "problem" or a challenge repeatedly and thought "there must be others who have the same problem". And you have the solution. An example of such a type of entrepreneur is, for example, Martin Ferro-Thomsen, founder and CEO of the Danish tech company Conferize. In his working life, he had attended numerous conferences with the feeling that he was not getting the most out of it. That prompted him in 2011 to start the digital conference service.

The philanthropist

If you find yourself in this entrepreneurial category, you are most likely driven by making the world a better place more than you are driven by the prospect of a big financial bonus. Retained The company, like all other companies, must at least be able to run smoothly, but the purpose of founding the company is more about being able to make a difference than paying dividends to shareholders. An example of such entrepreneurs is the founder of the Tiger stores, Lennart Lajboschitz. When the Tiger chain was sold, he became a billionaire and has chosen to use part of his fortune to open a village hall in Absalons Church in Vesterbro, where locals could gather for food and activities such as bingo, table tennis and film and music events.

Do you have a penchant for entrepreneurship but not yet taken the plunge? Read our puzzled advice on how to get started starting your own business here.

If you want to learn more about even more types of entrepreneurs, take a look at Startupsvar.dk's article on entrepreneurial types, based on an analysis conducted by Mandag Morgen under the headline "The entrepreneur of the future".

‍