We are now always hearing the fancy word called Technopreneurship which branched out of entrepreneurship. But we rarely know this word’s true meaning and its significance in our lives.
In this context, we will be covering each and every aspect of technopreneurship write from its meaning to its applications in various industries. Plus, we will cover what skills it requires to become a technopreneur and how those skills help you in creating a successful technology business.
So let’s get started.
What is Technopreneurship?
Technopreneurship is a composition of two words technology and entrepreneurship. The Collins dictionary puts it as “technopreneurs are entrepreneurs who start and manage their own technology business.”
Technology is the backbone of this entrepreneurship which involves creativity and innovation capabilities inside a tech-savvy individual. Plus, it measures how good an individual is at managing and dealing with different skill sets and resources working hand in hand.
A technopreneur basically does not create any new technology rather they disrupt the existing or traditional working system. They master the currently available technology to improve and further eliminate loopholes in the existing solutions.
You will see most technopreneurs involved in fields like biotechnology, electronics, Information and Technology (IT) sector, hi-tech sector, and more. The primary objective of these people is to maximize the efficiency involved in a certain industrial process.
What is the difference between Technopreneurship and Entrepreneurship?
As you know an entrepreneur is a person that identifies a gap or opportunity in any industry, process, or market. He basically converts those gaps into a product or service and then performs market research to identify probable earnings or profits if the business is successful.
On the other hand, a technopreneur is one who challenges the traditional system of working by brainstorming ideas for a better and more creative solution to existing problems. They enhance a particular workflow or process in any industry vertical to allow it to operate with greater efficiency and throughput.
Technopreneurs focus more on scaling and improving the existing solutions rather than investing time in the discovery of a solution like a scientist does. Entrepreneurs on the other hand explore new possible ways to create a business out of something relatively unheard of by the masses before.
What are the advantages of Technopreneurship?
There are many advantages of being a technopreneur but here are a few important points involved:
- Capability to scale a particular operation or entire business in any industry vertical
- Supports higher efficiency in particular processes by eliminating any roadblocks or hurdles
- Optimizing a particular workflow to increase the throughput and output of the involved operation
- Reduce the cost of operations by eliminating unnecessary modules involved in doing the process
- Supports automation in every involved process to remove expensive manual operations.
- Accelerates research and development of new technology by freeing up some budget involved in operations.
- Create new employment opportunities that solve holistic problems rather than targeted problems.
What does it take to become a successful Technopreneur?
A technopreneur must develop the ability to identify the potential areas of improvement in a process that has a market value. Remember that a technopreneur is one who goes one more step ahead to be successful in any venture he undertakes.
He focuses on the execution of the process rather than the innovation part of the process. Therefore here are some of those mandatory skills required to be a successful technopreneur.
1. Team Building
Technopreneurship combines the expertise of both technical prowess and an entrepreneurship mindset. Therefore selecting a team that aligns with the vision and are equipped with the necessary technical skills are crucial for a successful business.
2. Workflow Strategy
Decisions are crucial when achieving a cost-effective and robust product solution. Therefore, a technopreneur should be a good strategist and should have experience in deploying the right resources in the right situation.
Remember good hiring makes a tectonic shift in deciding whether a product is going to be the best or be one of the worst nightmares.
3. Problem Solving
Every industry vertical is evolving and there are constantly new innovations that are happening in the existing processes. This creates a challenge for a technopreneur to update his automation process with the latest innovation to stay ahead in the market.
There problem-solving attitude of both the technopreneur and his team is vital to sustaining the technology business in the future.
Some Examples of Successful Technopreneurs
While there are a lot of technopreneurs who made a significant impact on the way the industry works and how it will operate in the future. Here are some of the successful examples that gave an entirely new dimension to the way businesses run today.
1. Paypal
Paypal which was founded by Peter Thiel and Elon Musk changes the landscape of payment transactions for the people. They were the first ones to introduce a peer-to-peer payment transaction system that was faster and easier than that time banking transactions.
They not only reduced the cost of transactions involved in sending payments but also paved the way for digital currencies which we now know as cryptocurrencies.
2. Uber
Before the launch of Uber, the transportation industry was highly unregulated and the customers were at the mercy of the person they find for a ride. Transportation used to be a costly business before the arrival of Uber.
What Uber did was completely changed the economics involved in the taxi/cab industry. They regulated the rides using a GPS system and created a universal booking system. This not only offered convenience to customers but also assured them that they are headed to the correct destination.
3. Amazon
Though Amazon was not the first online eCommerce company to start but the first one that automated customer experience. Jeff Bezos focused on providing customers with products as cheaply as possible using huge automated warehouses.
This drove the cost lower than brick-and-mortar stores as they were capable of stocking in large quantities and moving the goods wherever they want. Today, Amazon has now become the biggest online retail store in the world.
4. Apple
Steve Jobs built Apple which focused on an exclusive computing system environment that was inspired by design and innovation. The elegance of the design and the performance and durability of the Apple products is what make Apple one of the preferred brands in the industry.
5. Facebook
Mark Zuckerberg did not build the first social media platform however he was the first one to remove the loopholes that were present in the system. Facebook brought the entire real-life world experience into its own social media platform.
Today, Facebook is kind of your virtual image to the public where you share your thoughts, likes, ideas, and more. They did not reinvent the wheel but improved the existing problems in online communication.
Technopreneurship – Final Summary
Technopreneurship is a process that automates and improves the life of a nation, person, or organization by removing inefficiencies. Therefore if you are looking to become a technopreneur focus on reducing the costs by using the currently available technology.
Make it easier for organizations and people to develop, process, store, distribute, and access their products. Moreover, also explore new segments for automation as that will create new jobs.
Just as software created new jobs like software engineers and replaced labor involved in management tasks with other productive areas. Finally, whatever you decide to do make sure that it leaves a deep impact on that particular process or industry for decades to come.
More from Smashitbuck: Do check out my articles on Leadership Qualities, building customer loyalty, and Digital Marketing to read this year.
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