Back in the 1970s US author Gifford Pinchot came up with the term 'intrapreneur' to describe the people tasked with making innovation happen. Now these intrepreneurs have become the mainstay of a number of successful businesses, ranging from companies like Microsoft all the way down to relatively small ones like FreshMinds Talent.

So why has this business model become so popular since the turn of the millennium?

For business, the argument is simple. As companies grow, it's easy for them to lose track of the entrepreneurial spirit that originally made them great. Intrapreneurs – Pichot's 'inside entrepreneurs' – can help to recreate that special something. And it can have some Benefits.

Intrapreneurs created the Post-It note for 3M, the Java programming language for Sun Microsystems, and even Yahoo's Search offering.

There are also a number of fantastic intrepreneurial role models in global industry. Google, for example, actively encourage their technical staff to spend one day a week on new projects. The result? According to Google vice president Marissa Mayer, that one day a week has accounted for half of the company’s new product launches over the last few years, including Gmail, Google News, Orkut and AdSence.

Being an intrapreneur can give you a sense of how much you'll enjoy being an entrepreneur. But the two roles are also very different, in some cases in very crucial respects. You don't really get first-hand experience of managing risk (the stock-in-trade for entrepreneurs) because it's almost certainly not your own money at stake.

Equally, if you're attracted to entrepreneurship because you want to be in control of your own destiny, you might find intrapreneur roles a bit frustrating. Ultimately someone else will be making the decisions, signing the cheques, and probably reaping the majority of the reward. Essentially, it might not make you rich quick, and even the best laid plans can flounder if the culture of the company is not receptive to new ideas.

On the other hand, intrapreneurship can equip you with one of the most vital skills in the business world: the ability to turn a good idea into a fully-fledged operational venture. It puts you closer to the front line of business, which you may not get if you're buried away in a strategy unit somewhere. And it also gets you into good habits.

In future you'll know how easy it is to make a difference with a great idea, whatever the title on your business card.

And that is the nature of all entrepreneurial activities – whether it’s internalised or not. Some businesses succeed, some fail. Yet the more experience you have, the more will fall into the former category. Just ask our co-founders, serial entrepreneurs Charlie Osmond and Caroline Plumb.

So if you want to develop some enterprise skills that will stand you in good stead wherever you end up, give some serious thought to intrapreneurship. Even if that means being proactive and pitching an idea to your senior management team. You never know, you could end up creating the next big innovation in your industry.