Class 11 Entrepreneurship Notes · CBSE

Risk Taking and Technology in Business

Risk Taking and Technology in Business — understanding business risk types (insurable/non-insurable, internal/external) and how the digital revolution creates new entrepreneurial opportunities. CBSE Class 11 Entrepreneurship notes with real-world examples.

Last updated: 10 Sep 2026

Notes

Business Risk — Definition and Types

Business Risk

Business risk means the possibility of some unfavourable occurrence. According to B. O. Wheeler, ‘Risk is the chance of loss. It is the possibility of some adverse occurrence.’ There is always a possibility of loss in business even though the businessman exposed to it may not be aware of it.

Insurable Risks

Can be covered through different types of insurance policies. Probability can be determined or forecasted.

Examples: Life and property against fire, theft, riots.

Non-Insurable Risks

Probability cannot be determined; cannot be insured against.

Examples: Fluctuations in price and demand.

Internal Risks — arise from within the business

External Risks — arise from outside the business

Phoenix Lesson

Business risk takes a variety of forms. In order to face such risks successfully, every businessman should understand the nature and causes of these risks as well as the measures to minimise them. Like a phoenix bird which rises from its own ashes, every entrepreneur is sure to come out successfully facing all these risks.

A day in the life of a chai stall

Your neighbourhood chai stall faces every type of risk in one week: milk prices jump (economic), the monsoon floods the road (natural), a new café opens next door (taste and competition), and the helper leaves mid-season (human). The stall owner can insure the stove and stock against fire (insurable) — but no insurance policy covers customers switching to cold coffee (non-insurable). So he does what all good entrepreneurs do: he adapts, and adds cold coffee to the menu.

The Digital Revolution

Overview

Over the past 25 years, the digital revolution has changed the way we work and play almost beyond recognition. Yet the smart, interconnected world we live in now is still neither as smart, nor as connected, as we would like it to be. Consumers want more powerful devices and applications, while businesses seek more cost-effective technology to cope with increasingly complex challenges.

Entrepreneurs must know the customer in detail — age, regularity of customer to the shop, preference of purchase — to understand taste and preference so they can serve better.

Businesses will compete on analytics. The growing number of embedded sensors and social networks will generate immense quantities of information. IDC suggests digital information will increase to 35 trillion gigabytes by 2020, requiring 44 times more data storage than in 2009.

Telemetric applications, similar to GPS, allow organizations to send, receive and store information via telecommunications while controlling remote objects. Used in automotive, medical informatics, health care.

The digital revolution in one day

You wake up to a UPI payment for your tiffin service (cloud + mobility), check Zomato ratingsfor lunch (social media + analytics), and your cousin's kirana store sends offers on WhatsApp Business (social listening). Every one of those services is a business built on the digital revolution — and each one created new entrepreneurs in its wake.