The Relationship Between Entrepreneurship and Sales

Something we covered very briefly in class was the relationship between entrepreneurship and sales. Like I said, it was briefly covered, but it was something I continued to think about and appreciate. Some who aren’t as educated with business may assume that entrepreneurship are the same, however they are different. There is a connected relationship between entrepreneurship and sales that is designed to be beneficial to multiple people. First, I should define the two individually… Entrepreneurship as a general definition is innovation and problem solving. Some characteristics of a successful entrepreneur are desiring independence, have a strong sense of initiative, driven and motivated, can react quickly, dedicated to their business and are persistent individuals. As for sales, Pink defines sales in many ways, one of which is sales as moving. To quote Pink, sales is “persuading, convincing, and influencing others to give up something they’ve got in exchange for what we’ve got”. Sales is moving… moving people to part with resources such as cash. We also defined sales as an art of discovering and understanding one’s need, offering a solution to meet the need, or helping a prospect get what they need, and facilitate mutual benefits in the transaction. Sales and entrepreneurship are two different things, but there is a connection there. Entrepreneurs need to take on a sales role of some sort, whether that is selling themselves, their original idea, selling to adopters of a product, the story of the company, or to investors even. A salesman and an entrepreneur can and should collaborate. Sometimes an entrepreneur can sell an idea to others but struggle to actually sell the product to people, or the salesman would struggle to sell the idea but have an easier time to sell the product. A real life example of this relationship between an entrepreneur and a salesman is Elon Musk. Musk sold himself and his ideas to investors and others, however he seems like a relatively awkward guy, although Musk is super intelligent, there may be others that can fill that role of a salesman and sell to people for him. It is just being efficient, and it is a mutually beneficial relationship.