Paper Example on History of Entrepreneurship

Introduction

Different aspects of the world have had their historical background from the ancient times to the present. They include such area,s as farming, womanhood, religions, aristocracy, merchandise, military and entrepreneurship. In this case, notable changes have transformed the functioning and nature of such spheres majestically, breeding the current day proficiency and efficiency. It is also contributed by the technological changes characterized by the self-interested parties seeking to concoct means of outsmarting their fellow competitors. In the path per, the focus is made on the field of entrepreneurship which refers to the process of the identification of business opportunities and gathering the necessary resources to start them. It is the cornerstone of the world economies and is where the most advanced technologies are bred. The entrepreneurs dominate the global economy. It began far much in the medieval times, dating back to 17,000 BCE (Casson, M., & Casson, C. 2013). It is at this time when the locals in New Guinea were exchanging obsidian rocks for goods such as the skins, food, and tools. More details regarding the entrepreneurship history are expounded in the subsequent paragraphs.

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First, there is a way in which entrepreneurs viewed the working of the universe. For them, the world was a diverse place where they could not patronize in their daily activities of the barter trade system. The first of them were noted in the New Guinea about 20,000 years ago. In this way, they could trade their wares with the traders from the immediate neighborhoods who had goods they required, and also who needed the wares they had to offer, in what is termed as the coincidence of wants. They worked in small-scale entities and had a belief that it was the best form of lifestyle for them to get involved. However, with the advent of the agrarian revolution in the region of 12,000 years, ago, more advanced farming technologies and the realization of the outside world took the steer. In this case, there was the domestication of the now - domestic animals which made the human life more settled. Further, people needed not to produce all they needed because they could trade their goods with a broader market which offered a variety of goods and services needed to them. It was catalyzed by the development of the human population along the fertile areas such as on the river banks. Some of such fertile river banks are the Nile valley, along Indus River, the Tigris, and Euphrates, and the Danube valley (In Raff, D. M. G., & In Scranton, P. 2017). It led to the development of towns and cities along the densely populated regions. The entrepreneurs began viewing the possibility of serving a greater market, thus hanging their view on the world. They started embracing diversity and further development of the routes to more distant places. They were then more aware of larger areas than before, hence knowledge which changed their view of the working of the world.

For entrepreneurs, the universe changed at around 2000 BCE when the cities had started appearing around the world. The densely populated areas along the river valleys became the first areas of civilization, including the Yellow and Yangtze in China. In this period, many different suppliers around the world encouraged the development of trade routes linking significant sources and markets for the supplies of the entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs further majored in specialization and division of labor, enabling more trade for the goods they needed and the disposition of the surplus products. Major trade routes that emerged include the trading of salt products from Africa to Roman Empire, trading of rice from China across the Asian continent, trading of the technologies including the Chinese paper across the world, trading of coffee, and oranges and lemons to Europe from Arabian countries. Others are trading of gunpowder from China to the empires across the globe such as Alexander the Great's, Roman empire, Han empire and the Persian empire (Carlen, J. 2016).

To the relieve of entrepreneurs, the use of money came into play at 2000 BCE. It helped in the evasion of the burden of waiting for the wants to coincide so that trade could get transacted. In this regard, traders could perform their transaction at any time they wanted because what they required in return was money and not other goods. Money was in the form of silver bars and silver rings, beads, and even large rocks. Later, coinage and paper money were developed. The currency also helped the entrepreneurs in the facilitation of long-distance trading, being used as a store of value and also as a medium of exchange. The marketplaces also developed at around 1470 where the growing population required larger areas where they could live by food, services, and clothes (Casson, M., & Buckley, P. J. 2010). They developed in major cities and towns across the world and helped entrepreneurs grow their businesses.

Following the changes in the technology concerning business activities, they became more aware of the world spurred more by globalization. They could deal with companies and markets oversee using the established telecommunication, trade routes, currencies, partnerships, and the marketplaces. There are also the institutions that emerged in aid of their entrepreneurial activities. They include the banking sectors, court institutions, accounting activities, insurance covers, and significant sea and land transport companies (Jones, G. 2017). The banks lent the entrepreneurs loan for the expansion of their businesses, increasing the operating spectrums and the potential profitability. They could also be used in the storage of their monies safely. The courts helped the entrepreneurs gain fair treatment in the face of injustices and also for the settlement of such aspects as contracts. Entrepreneurship thus grew higher and higher.

Due to the changes in technology spurred by more and more inventions in the field of entrepreneurship, there were things which could now be done more efficiently and which could not be done in the medieval times. One of them is the conduction of long distance trades across significant oceans and seas such as the Atlantic Ocean. There was the invention of steamships which enabled the ferrying of heavy duty goods from their sources to the market destinations. Also, the invention of currencies made it possible for the acquisition of finances in the form of financial loan for the development and expansion of the businesses by the entrepreneurs. In the medieval times, it was hard for the entrepreneurs to grow and expand the companies because the trades were mainly the barter system, with no currencies. Also, the currencies made it possible for trading at any time unlike during ancient medieval times when only the coincidence of wants facilitated the trades, without which the trade could not take place. Also, the technology enabled some aspects of the entrepreneurship different from other groups in diverse ways. The banking system helped in the money storage, and loan acquisition for entrepreneurs. Also, steamships helped in the intercontinental ferrying of merchandise and currencies facilitated value storage, instant trading and long distance trading.

References

Carlen, J. (2016). A brief history of entrepreneurship: The pioneers, profiteers, and racketeers who shaped our world.

Casson, M., & Buckley, P. J. (2010). Entrepreneurship: Theory, networks, history. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.

Casson, M., & Casson, C. (2013). The entrepreneur in history: From Medieval merchant to modern business leader. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

In Raff, D. M. G., & In Scranton, P. (2017). The emergence of routines: Entrepreneurship, organization, and business history.

Jones, G. (2017). Profits and sustainability: A history of green entrepreneurship.