Entrepreneurship
High School
Definition
The process of starting and running a business by identifying an opportunity, taking on risk, and organizing resources. Entrepreneurs drive innovation and create jobs in the economy.
Worked examples
Sara noticed her town lacked a good bakery, invested her savings to lease a space, hired staff, and opened a gluten-free bakery.
Sara identified an opportunity, took financial risk, and organized resources to create a new business.
Elon Musk founded SpaceX to make space travel affordable, using private capital and innovation to compete with government agencies.
An entrepreneur drives innovation by pursuing a bold vision and taking on significant risk.
Common mistakes
- Entrepreneurship is the same as being self-employed or freelance. → Entrepreneurship involves creating a new business venture and accepting risk; freelancers may not take on business risk or scale. Entrepreneurs build scalable ventures; freelancers typically sell their own labor without building a larger organization.
- Only tech startups count as entrepreneurship. → Entrepreneurship happens in any industry—retail, food, services, manufacturing, agriculture, and more. The key is starting a business and taking risk, not the sector.
- Entrepreneurs are just people who want to get rich quick. → Entrepreneurs identify real needs, solve problems, and accept years of risk and hard work. Most entrepreneurs fail or take years to profit; success requires persistence, not just ambition.
Where you'll use it next
You'll apply entrepreneurship in economics when studying market competition, innovation, and economic growth. It also connects to business studies, personal finance, and understanding how new industries emerge.
See also
Reviewed by Pat Cheng, M.Ed. — StudyPug Curriculum Lead · Last updated June 6, 2026