Introduction. The entrepreneur is one of the main pawns of a competitive market economy, as he creates and develops organizations, thereby contributing decisively to the strengthening of the small and medium enterprises sector in contemporary economies.
Aim of the study. This paper aims to addresses important issues regarding the economic dimension of the entrepreneurial phenomenon, showing that entrepreneurship also manifests itself in other spheres of human activity such as education, social interaction, culture, politics, etc. The paper summarizes the main coordinates that define the conceptual framework of the entrepreneur and, at the same time, it exposes and analyzes some of the most important qualities that an entrepreneur should have in order to cope with the current business environment successfully.
Keywords: entrepreneur, SMEs, entrepreneurial phenomenon, entrepreneurial environment.
JEL Classification: L26, M10, M21, O10.