IJED- Editorial Focus

Entrepreneurship is as old as economics itself. It must have taken a primeval entrepreneur to trade-in his sharp chipped stone for extra animal victuals. Entrepreneurship can be traced back to the period economists started studying the factors for people's material well being. It can further be shown that the engine behind economic progress in the history of mankind is entrepreneurship.

A cursory literature survey will reveal that there was not much of an economic progress in terms of living conditions or the quality of life till as late as 1750, as compared to the rapid strides of progress made thereafter. This economic growth that came about by changes in type of output and methods of production is a result of entrepreneurship.

This is the argument that is persuasively presented in the first article "Progress & Entrepreneurship". The author goes on to state that if economic analysis is to be used to understand how human welfare has improved over time, the entrepreneurial element must be factored in the analysis.

We all understand the value of planning in success, and the second article, "The Impact Of Planning On The Acquisition Of Start-Up Capital" confirms this through study of 78 small firms. Though having several limitations, the paper attempts to establish a relationship between pre-launch planning and (a) the size of initial capital, (b) Percentage of start up equity in the initial capital structure, (c) use of bootstrap financing and (d) difficulty of raising start-up capital.

The third paper, "The Use of Equity Ratchets in Entrepreneurial Finance" gives an overview of the equity ratchets. Not much has been published on equity ratchets and this article explores the how, when and why of their application.

The fourth article, "Entrepreneurial Failures - The Role of Inadequate Capital" highlights the importance of starting with adequate capital by tracing the perilous journey of a new venture that starts with inadequate capital. This is one of the few causes of failure that is under the control of the entrepreneur and with a little bit of planning and foresight, this hurdle can easily be overcome.

The last article on "Examining The Nature of Marketing Decision-making Competencies In SMEs Over Time" recognizes the basically ad hoc nature of marketing decision making in an SME and examines the underlying key competencies that are identified as knowledge, experience, communication, judgment, and networking and goes on to examine how they evolve over time.

Our regular features, including a book summary, research summary and entrepreneurial tidings etc. are also present to deliver a wider choice of reading.

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