Is Entrepreneur Still A Dirty Word?

Back when I wrote the Selling to Small Business column for BNET.com, one of my articles was about how “entrepreneur” could be a dirty word in certain parts of the world, especially Europe. 

Here in the United States we associate “entrepreneur” with startups and innovators — outsiders who buck the existing business establishment. To us the word “entrepreneur” is all that is dynamic and good and vibrant in business.

But in parts of Europe, the word “entrepreneur” is actually a negative.  It is associated with the Old Guard.

Professor Edmund S. Phelps, the 2006 Nobel Prize winner in Economics, wrote about this very topic in an October 2006  Wall Street Journal opinion piece (open access).  Professor Phelps wrote:

Why, then, … is capitalism so reviled in Western Continental Europe? It may be that elements of capitalism are seen by some in Europe as morally wrong in the same way that birth control or nuclear power or sweatshops are seen by some as simply wrong in spite of the consequences of barring them. And it appears that the recent street protesters associate business with established wealth; in their minds, giving greater latitude to businesses would increase the privileges of old wealth. By an “entrepreneur” they appear to mean a rich owner of a bank or factory, while for [others] it meant a newcomer, a parvenu who is an outsider. A tremendous confusion is created by associating “capitalism” with entrenched wealth and power.

At the time I wrote my article, my point was that if you are marketing globally, be careful about using the word ”entrepreneur” because of the negative connotations.

However, that was back in October 2006.  Now there’s more to the story.

Interestingly, Paul Elosegui, a European entrepreneur, picked up the topic and ran with it.  He wrote:  “Cultural change is inevitable though; American trained entrepreneurs are spreading all over the world, and rattling European cages.”

Change is coming not just from outside.  It is also coming from within Europe.  Witness the recent election of Nicolas Sarkozy as President of France. 

It was through Paul’s blog that I learned that Loic Le Meur, the famous French blogging entrepreneur (and one of the first business bloggers I ever read), backed Sarkozy.  Why?  Sarkozy was the only candidate who pledged to return France to a “nation of entrepreneurs.”

I’m beginning to think I may need to revise my view on the word “entrepreneur.”  It may not be destined to be such a dirty word in Europe forever – at least not in France.

Still, change may take a while.  Until then, be careful how you use the word “entrepreneur” in a global marketing context.