What are the types of Rural Entrepreneurs?

Rural entrepreneurs represent a complex heterogeneous social structure with a wide variability. Broadly, they fall into the following categories:

Farm Entrepreneurs:

Farm entrepreneurs are those persons whose primary occupation and main source of livelihood is farming. Persons who have no land of their own or other farming resources but are willing to take up an enterprise in the village that will aid agriculture, can be known as farm entrepreneurs.

Artisan Entrepreneurs:

Skilled persons in the rural areas are coming under this category. Such skills are either acquired through professional training or through inheritance or refined in association with their kinship. Examples of such entrepreneurs are blacksmith, carpentry, masonry, art board painting etc.

Tribal Entrepreneurs:

Tribal entrepreneurs are those who originate in the tribal communities of India. They are regarded as an entrepreneurial class of their own. They mainly operate in the tribal villages and undertake any suitable pursuit for the tribal community.

Merchant and Traders:

This group of entrepreneurs are primarily businessmen operating in rural areas. They commercialise in various products mainly needed by the local people. These people are seen as traditionally exploitative class and play the role of middleman.

Other Categories of Entrepreneurs:

Besides the above four categories of rural entrepreneurs, there are some other categories of entrepreneurs found in the rural areas. They are educated unemployed, high school drop-outs, landless labourers, wage earners, persons of schedule castes etc.