An entrepreneur is someone who starts and runs a business or startup, using their own ideas, time, and resources, taking on financial risk to bring products or services to market and earn a profit. Entrepreneurship is the dynamic process of identifying opportunities, taking initiative, and organizing resources (capital, labor, technology) to launch and manage a new venture. It involves managing risks to turn innovative ideas into profitable products or services, driving economic growth and societal value. It is a fundamental agent of change and innovation. This year Kesmonds International University’s student’s beauty pageant event was held under the theme “EMPOWERING ENTREPRENEURSHIP: BEAUTY BEYOND BORDERS.” MBOH KELLY OROCK was elected Miss Kesmonds 2026 and Nyam Octave Philippe was elected Mister Kesmonds 2026.
Miss KESMONDS 2026 highlights contestants who are both beauty queens and future business leaders, with many, already involved in small startups through the University’s incubator projects. The 2026 Miss KESMONDS competition emphasizes the blend of entrepreneurship, of intelligence, beauty, and business, with contestants using their platforms to create, manage, and drive social change. Beautypreneurs (a portmanteau of “beauty” and “entrepreneur”) are business owners and innovators operating within the beauty, wellness, and personal care sectors. This term encompasses a wide range of professionals, including salon owners, independent makeup artists, skincare formulators, and founders of global cosmetic brands.
Entrepreneurship is increasingly central to Miss KESMONDS, with recent pageants focusing on “Training and Socio-Professional Empowerment,” highlighting beauty with a purpose. Candidates in 2025-2026, including winners like Orock Kelly are expected to lead in businesses, digital marketing, social initiatives and be the face of KESMONDS in 2026. Entrepreneurship in the beauty industry—often called “beautypreneurship“—combines creativity with business acumen to launch brands, salons, or products. The sector is rapidly expanding, with the global beauty market expected to surpass $430 billion by 2028, driven by social media, niche services, and high demand for personalized or sustainable products. This sector empowers entrepreneurs—particularly women—through business creation in skincare, cosmetics, and services, offering strong, positive correlations between industry expertise and startup success.
SPEECH OF MISS KESMONDS 2026
“I am MBOH KELLY OROCK, a second-year student in the Department of Business and Management Sciences at Kesmonds International University. It is with great honor and deep gratitude that I stand before you all today as Miss Kesmonds 2026. This event is meant to celebrate youth within the school community under the theme “Empowering Entrepreneurship: Beauty Beyond Borders.” Being a candidate in this competition is an opportunity for me to prove to you all that a young woman can be not only beautiful but also talented, bold, visionary, enterprising, inspiring, and a great leader. As the Miss Kesmonds 2026, I pledge to fight for all these values that we all hold dear, to be the voice of the voiceless, an ambassador of peace and unity within the institution and beyond, and the female figure who will worthily represent this prestigious institution regionally, nationally, and internationally. A dream, a crown, beauty beyond borders, an engagement for transformation and entrepreneurship. MY VISION is MY MISSION”
Key aspects of Empowering Entrepreneurship: Beauty Beyond Borders. within the KESMONDS community include:
- Beauty with a Purpose (BWAP): Projects often focus on sustainable development, such as
- Empowerment Initiatives: Candidates are creating, launching, and managing businesses aimed at social impact ” for women’s entrepreneurship and Cameroon’s fashion academy.
- Post-Pageant Success: Former titleholders 2025 are groomed to translate their pageant experience into successful careers.
- Focus on Empowerment: The 2nd edition of Miss KESMONDS (2026) emphasized women’s training, with contestants showcasing projects on entrepreneurship and professional development.
- Skill Development: Pageants often feature workshops on business planning, financial management, and marketing. KESMONDS aims to transform contestants from beauty queens into agents of social change and economic growth.
- Business Ideas: Popular ventures include makeup artistry, skincare lines, salon ownership, beauty blogging, and e-commerce reselling.
- Success Factors: Success requires developing a strong brand identity, leveraging social media (Instagram/TikTok) for marketing, and focusing on exceptional customer service.
- Key Skills: Beyond technical beauty skills, entrepreneurs need to understand financial management, market research, and supply chain logistics.
- Empowerment: Beauty entrepreneurship serves as a significant driver for economic independence, particularly for women, by fostering professional growth and financial stability.
- Focus on Niche: Standing out in a crowded market requires specializing, such as eco-friendly products or specialized treatments.
- Transition from Side-Hustle: To scale, entrepreneurs must move from treating their business as a hobby to implementing structured, strategic planning.
- Networking: Building connections with suppliers, industry professionals, and peers is crucial for growth.
WHO IS AN ENTREPRENEUR?
An entrepreneur is a person who spots an opportunity and takes the initiative to build a new business or startup. Entrepreneurs bring together ideas, people, and resources to grow their business, but often start by putting their own time, money, and effort on the line to make it happen. Entrepreneurship isn’t just about starting a company. While there are plenty of tales about rags-to-riches innovators, entrepreneurs focusing on solving problems, creating value, and building something that lasts have the most success. Understanding what entrepreneurs do, the challenges they face, and the types of businesses they create can help you see how they shape the economy and inspire future innovation.
Key Takeaways
- A person who undertakes the risk of starting a new business venture is called an entrepreneur.
- An entrepreneur creates a firm to realize their idea, known as entrepreneurship, which aggregates capital and labor in order to Aproduce goods or services for profit.
- Entrepreneurship is highly risky but also can be highly rewarding, as it serves to generate economic wealth, growth, and innovation.
- Ensuring funding is key for entrepreneurs: Financing resources include Small Business Administration loans and crowdfunding.
- The way entrepreneurs file and pay taxes will depend on how the business is set up in terms of structure.
WHY ARE ENTREPRENEURS IMPORTANT?
- Entrepreneurs are essential drivers of economic growth. They combine the resources of land, labor, and capitalto create goods and services, often taking on significant personal and financial risk. When they succeed, they generate profits, create jobs, and boost productivity.
- Entrepreneurs also spark innovation. By introducing new ideas, technologies, and business models, they push industries forward and challenge established players to adapt. This competition leads to better products and more choices for consumers.
- Finally, successful entrepreneurs create ripple effects that extend far beyond their own four walls. New businesses bring demand for suppliers, contractors, and service providers, strengthen local economies, and contribute to tax revenue that funds public projects and services.
WHAT ARE DIFFERENT TYPES OF ENTREPRENEURS?
Not every entrepreneur is the same and not all have the same goals. Here are a few types of entrepreneurs:
Builder: Builders seek to create scalable businesses within a short time frame. Builders typically pass $5 million in revenue in the first two to four years and continue to build up until $100 million or beyond. These individuals seek to build out a strong infrastructure by hiring the best talent and seeking the best investors. Sometimes, they have temperamental personalities that are suited to the fast growth they desire but may make personal and business relationships difficult.
Opportunist: Opportunistic entrepreneurs are optimistic individuals with the ability to pick out financial opportunities, get in at the right time, stay on board during the time of growth, and exit when a business hits its peak. These types of entrepreneurs are concerned with profits and the wealth they will build, so they are attracted to ideas where they can create residual or renewal income. Because they are looking to find well-timed opportunities, opportunistic entrepreneurs can be impulsive.
Innovator: Innovators are those rare individuals who come up with a great idea or product that no one has thought of before. Think of Thomas Edison, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg. These individuals worked on what they loved and found business opportunities through their vision and ideas. Rather than focusing on money, innovators tend to care more about the impact that their products and services have on society. These individuals are not the best at running a business, as they are idea-generating individuals, so they often leave the day-to-day operations to those more capable in that respect.
Specialist: These individuals are analytical and risk-averse. They have a strong skill set in a specific area obtained through education or apprenticeship. A specialist entrepreneur will build out their business through networking and referrals, sometimes resulting in slower growth than a builder entrepreneur.
4 TYPES OF ENTREPRENEURSHIPS
As there are different types of entrepreneurs, there are also different types of businesses and business structures they create. Below are the main different types of entrepreneurships;
Small Business: Small business entrepreneurship refers to opening a business without turning it into a large conglomerate or opening many chains. A single-location restaurant, a grocery shop, or a retail shop to sell goods or services would all be examples of small business entrepreneurship. These people usually invest their own money and succeed if their businesses turn a profit, which serves as their income. Sometimes, they don’t have outside investors and will only take a loan if it helps continue the business.
Scalable Startup: These are companies that start with a unique idea that can be built on a large scale—think Silicon Valley. The hopes are to innovate with a unique product or service and continue growing the company, continuously scaling up over time. These types of companies often require investors and large amounts of capital to grow their idea and expand into multiple markets.
Large Company: Large company entrepreneurship is a new business division created within an existing company. The existing company may be well placed to branch out into other sectors, or it may be positioned well to become involved in new technology. CEOs of these companies either foresee a new market for the company or individuals within the company generate ideas that they bring to senior management to start the process and development.
Social Entrepreneurship: The goal of social entrepreneurship is to create a benefit to society and humankind. This form of business focuses on helping communities or the environment through its products and services. They are not driven by profits but rather by helping the world around them.
Professor Atanga D. Funwie
President Kesmonds International University / Kesmonds Group Limited
