WE have now entered an age where creativity is not just desirable, but vital. The hallmark of entrepreneurship is making a difference through innovation and value creation. Innovation-driven Entrepreneurship (IDE) is moving from ideation to implementation and from conceptualisation to commercialisation. The creatives are the primary workers in the conceptual age. The creative worker, in order to survive in this age, will have to know how to ride the innovation wave that is just beginning to crest. You will need to become the creator of ideas and not just the consumer or manager of them.
On the one extreme, entrepreneurship is about undertaking responsibilities. On the other extreme, entrepreneurship is about overtaking possibilities. The “Central Nervous System” (CNS) of qualitative (innovative) entrepreneurship is made up of three components. They are as follows:
Creativity
Necessity
Sustainability
Creativity (idea/concept)
Create something!
Albert Shapero (1975) – Entrepreneurs take initiative, accept risk of failure and have an internal locus of control.
Entrepreneurship is a spirit, leadership is its soul while society is its body. Without the spirit, the body is dead! The entrepreneurial spirit which is otherwise known as the spirit of creativity and innovation is the building block of the economy. Without creativity, society will be lifeless and without the force of innovation, the economy will be stagnated. Creativity is the spark that drives the development of new products or services or ways to do business. It is the push for innovation and improvement. It is continuous learning, questioning and thinking outside of prescribed formulas. Creativity is the lowest level of innovation-driven entrepreneurship. It is the gateway to discoveries which often leads to intellectual property (IP) acquisition. Entrepreneurship of creativity is “micro-entrepreneurship”; it has little or no economic implications. An idea is the smallest unit of creativity. An idea may look creative but not qualify as a lucrative opportunity. In the same vein, that an idea is presentable (organically packaged), or patentable (legally packaged), doesn’t mean it will put food on the table. Patentability doesn’t confer economic value or benefits on a creative idea, necessity does.
Necessity (product/service)
Create value!
Joseph Schumpeter (1934) – Entrepreneurs are innovators who use a process of shattering the status quo of the existing products and services, to set up new products, new services.
Necessity is the mother of invention. Innovation is the ability to apply creative solutions to problems and opportunities to enhance or to enrich people’s lives. Unlike a creative idea which is borne out of the producer’s discoveries, necessity is borne out of consumers’ desires. Taking creativity from indoors into industry and connecting desires to discoveries is the essence of entrepreneurship of necessity. Entrepreneurial success (Es) occurs when opportunity meets necessity and the entrepreneur’s preparation. Es = O+N+E (Es = 1).
Innovation is the specific function of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship on the other hand is a function of the entrepreneur. E = f (e)
Entrepreneurial success = Opportunity + Necessity + Entrepreneurship
Necessity is the push for improvement. Improvement, not innovation or invention magnetises fortune. Adding value to a “lucreative” idea through time, efforts, money, technology, etc, turns an intellectual property into a business opportunity. Instead of productivity, I would rather coin the word “pro-necessity” which simply means the “production of necessity.” Productivity is over rated; an entrepreneur must be a producer of necessity. Patentability (newness and genuineness of an invention) doesn’t lead to profitability, “pro-necessity” does. Productivity doesn’t lead to patentability, “pro-necessity” does.
Economist, Joseph Schumpeter (1883-1950) stated that the role of the entrepreneur in the economy is “creative destruction.” According to Schumpeter, an entrepreneur is willing and able to convert a new idea or innovation into a successful innovation. Entrepreneurship employs what Schumpeter called “the gale of creative destruction” to replace in whole or in part inferior offerings across markets and industries while simultaneously creating new products and new business models. For Schumpeter, entrepreneurship resulted in new industries and in new combinations of currently existing inputs. Schumpeter’s initial example of this was the combination of a steam engine and then current wagon-making technologies to produce the horseless carriage. In this case, the innovation (i.e. the car) was transformational but did not require the development of dramatic new technology. It did not immediately replace the horse-drawn carriage, but in time, incremental improvements reduced the cost and improved the technology, leading to the modern auto industry. Again, for Schumpeter, the changes and “dynamic disequilibrium brought on by the innovating entrepreneur are the ‘norm’ of a healthy economy.” The scarcity of necessity can either be a sign of mediocrity or maturity. “Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery. The largest room in the world is the room for improvement.
Sustainability (impact/footprint)
Create value, not dilemma!
Peter Drucker (1964) – An entrepreneur searches for change, responds to it and exploits opportunities. Innovation is a specific tool of an entrepreneur hence an effective entrepreneur converts a source into a resource.
Entrepreneurship of sustainability is the highest level of innovation-driven entrepreneurship. It is essentially about sustainable practices and development. Entrepreneurship is about meeting people’s needs. Sustainable entrepreneurship is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Sustainable development is an issue of global interest. It borders on entrepreneurial practices (value chain), environmental policies (regulations) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In their quest to exploit business opportunities, entrepreneurs must be mindful of their environment. Entrepreneurs must respect and protect the social, environmental and cultural values while solving problems, innovating, creating solutions and exploiting opportunities. Solving a problem should not lead to another one, creating a dilemma. Entrepreneurial efforts should be geared towards partnership for the sustainable development goals which give us a blueprint to advance and enhance our world. Sustainability entrepreneurship acts at the interface of politics, business and civil society to mobilise new resources and aim at a structural change towards socially and environmentally sound economic activities.
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