Cooperative entrepreneurship

By definition an entrepreneur including cooperative entrepreneur is one who has the ability to see and assess business opportunities, gather resources needed to take advantage of it and take appropriate action to ensure success (Meredith, et al, 1984).

Entrepreneurs are people who have a cooperative attitude positive mental action-oriented and have high motivation in taking risks when pursuing its goals. But they are also people who are careful and calculating in making decisions about something that is going to do, every decision is not based on the method of trial and error, but learn each business opportunity to gather valuable information for decisions would be made.

Furthermore, according to Meredith (1984) entrepreneurs (including entrepreneurial cooperatives) have a different character traits and the individual most.
And character traits are explained as follows:

a. Having a strong belief in yourself.

b. Task-oriented and driven by kehutuhan bacilli to herprestasi, profit-oriented, have the perseverance and fortitude, determination mempunyni hard work, and have the energy initiative.

c. Having the ability to take risks and take decisions quickly and accurately.

d. Has the soul of leadership, sociable and like to respond to suggestions and criticism.

e. Think innovative, creative and diligent.

f. Oriented toward the future.

Entrepreneurial society is a positive mental attitude in a cooperative effort to take innovative initiatives and the courage to take risks and adhere to the principles of cooperative identity in creating fulfill real needs and increase mutual prosperity (Hendar and Kusnadi, 1999). And the definitions contained several elements that should be noted as described below.

Entrepreneurial society is a positive mental attitude in a co-operative effort. This means that entrepreneurial society (those who perform entrepreneurial society) should have the desire to develop co-operative organization, be it cooperative efforts and the efforts of its members. Efforts should be cooperative in the sense that every activity should be concerned with the needs of cooperative efforts of its members.
 
The main task of cooperative entrepreneurship is taking innovative initiatives, it means trying to search, discover and exploit the opportunities that exist for the sake of common interests (Drucker, 1988). Innovative acts not only done when starting a business but also at the business running, even when the cooperative effort was in decline. At the time of starting a business so that cooperatives can grow quickly and produce. Then when the cooperative efforts to walk, so the cooperative can retain at least the existence of cooperative effort that has been running smoothly. About the lehih important is an innovative action at the cooperative effort was in decline (stagnation). At the time necessary for cooperative entrepreneurial cooperatives are at a new life cycle.

Entrepreneurial cooperative must have the courage to take risks. Because the world is full of uncertainty, so things are expected sometimes does not match the reality on the ground. Therefore, in Such a situation required an entrepreneur who has the ability to take risks. Of course, risk-taking is done with careful calculations.

In the co-operative risks posed by the uncertainties slightly reduced by a more business orientation in the internal market. Internal market allows any business to be a burden because of the cooperative and its members are cooperatives owned by members. Therefore it is logically impossible to harm members of the cooperative. Even if there is a loss in operations, then the risk will be borne jointly, so the risk per member to be relatively small.

But if the orientation of the cooperative efforts more to external markets such as the KUD (Village Cooperative Unit), then the risks posed by the uncertainty will have equal weight with the risks faced by its competitors. In these conditions the task of cooperative entrepreneurship is more severe than many entrepreneurs cooperative lehih orilentasinya in the internal market.

Entrepreneurial activities of the cooperative must hold fast to the principles of cooperative identity, namely as a member of the owner and, as well as customers. Members' interests should be paramount so that members will participate actively to the cooperative. Therefore entrepreneurs in charge of cooperatives improve services by providing various needs of its members.

The main purpose of each cooperative entrepreneurship are the real needs of cooperative members and improve the common welfare. The task of a cooperative entrepreneurship actually quite heavy because many interested parties in cooperative environments, such as members, cooperative enterprise, employees, surrounding communities, and others. A cooperative entrepreneurship are sometimes faced with the problem of conflict of interest between each party. If he is more concerned with cooperative efforts, he automatically should be oriented in the external market and this means reducing the value of services to members. Conversely, if the orientation in the internal market by giving priority to the interests of members, then the victim is cooperative growth.

Entrepreneurship in a cooperative can be done by the members, managers, bureaucrats who play a role in the development of cooperatives and the catalyst, ie people who care about the development of cooperatives. The four types of cooperative entrepreneurship is certainly has the freedom of action and different incentives which in turn determines the level of effectiveness are different also.

So hopefully useful