Creativity, invention and innovation are the bedrock of any nation’s entrepreneurial development and success. Attempt a reasoned and logical explanation of the above assertion

Creativity, inventiveness and Innovativeness are
some of the most essential skills required to be successful as an entrepreneur.
In order to attempt a reasoned and logical explanation of the above assertion,
a proper explanation of each of these concepts can help in their clarification
as stated below:

Creativity
Creativity is marked by the ability to create,
bring into existence, to invent into a new form, to produce through imaginative
skill, to make to bring into existence something new. Creativity is not ability
to create out of nothing, but the ability to generate new ideas by combining,
changing, or reapplying existing ideas. Some creative ideas are astonishing and
brilliant, while others are just simple, good practical ideas that no one seems
to have thought, of yet.
Everyone has substantial creative ability including
you the reader. So you should count yourself and believe it that you are a
creative genius. All you need is to be reawakened and be highly committed to
creativity. I want you to start thinking now, in the process something new will
flow. Explore that something new today and you will be a different personality
tomorrow.
Creativity is also an attitude, the ability to
accept change and newness, a willingness to play with ideas and possibilities,
a flexibility of outlook, the habit of enjoying the good, while looking for
ways to improve it, we are socialized into accepting only a small number of
permissible or normal things, like chocolate-covered strawberries, for example.
The creative person realizes that there are other possibilities like peanut butter
and banana sandwiches, or chocolate-covered prunes.
Creativity
is also a process. Creative person work hard and continually to improve ideas
and solutions, by making gradual alterations and refinements to their works.
Contrary to the mythology surrounding creativity, very few of creative
excellence are produced with a single stroke of brilliance or in a frenzy of
rapid activity. Much closer to the real truth are the stories of companies
which had to take the invention away from the inventor in order to market it
because the inventor would have kept on tweaking it and fiddling with it,,
always trying to make it a little better.
Innovation              
Innovation
is the process of bringing the best ideas into reality, which triggers a
creative idea, which generates a series of innovative events. Innovation is the
creation of new value. Innovation is the process that transforms new ideas into
new value- turning an idea into value. You cannot innovate without creativity.
Innovation is the process that combines ideas and knowledge into new value.
Without innovation an enterprise and what it provides quickly become obsolete.
Innovation is the basis of all competition
advantages, the means of anticipating and meeting customer’s needs and the
method of utilization of technology. Innovation is fostered by information
gathered from new connections; from insights gained by journeys into other
disciplines or places; from active, collegial networks and fluid open
boundaries. Innovation arises from organizing circles of exchange, where
information is not just accumulated or stored, but created. Knowledge is
generated a new from connections that were not there before. Innovation
requires a fresh way of looking at things, an understanding of people, and an
entrepreneurial willingness to take risks and to work hard. An idea doesn’t
become an innovation until it is widely adopted and incorporated into people’s
daily lives.
Most people resist change, so a key part of
innovating is convincing other people that your idea is a good one – by
enlisting their help, and, in doing so, by helping them see the usefulness of
the idea- Art Fry. Enterprises throughout the world are experiencing what can
be legitimately described as a revolution: rising energy and material costs,
fierce international competition, new technologies, increasing use of
automation and computers. All these are major challenges, which demand a
positive response from the entrepreneur and management if the enterprise is to
survive and prosper. At a time when finance is expensive, the firm’s liquidity
is bordering on crisis, the need for creativity, and innovation is more
pressing than ever and as competitors fall by the way side, the rewards for
successful products and process are greater.
The
instigation of new development is the responsibility of the enterprises
themselves, which, through experience, are aware of the difficulties created
when undertaking innovative investments in a period of great uncertainty.
Innovation calls for special entrepreneurial and management skills, the
cooperation of a committed workforce, finance and a climate which will create
the optimum overall conditions to encourage success. The concept of innovation,
can be described as the use of an invention to create a new commercial product
or service, is the key force in creating new demand and thus new wealth.
Innovation creates new demand and entrepreneurs bring the innovations to the
market. This destroys the existing markets and creates new ones, which will in
turn be destroyed by even newer products or services.
Forms of innovation
In a
start-up, the entrepreneur is regarded as the key actor in developing a
business idea, marshalling resources, and creating an enterprise to bring a new
product or service to the market. In a competitive business environment, the
entrepreneur and the enterprise should continue to seek lout now opportunities
and make the necessary arrangement to convert them into new goods and services.
Innovation should, therefore, impregnate the entire enterprise for the creation
and invention of competitive edge and relevancy in the market place.
Innovation
can take several forms:
i.           
Innovation in processes, including changes and improvement to methods.
These contribute to increases in productivity. This lowers cost and helps to
increase demand.
ii.           
Innovation in products or services. While progressive Innovation is
predominant, radical innovation opens up new markets. These lead to increases
in effective demand which encourages increases in investment and employment.
iii.           
Innovation in management and work organization, and the exploitation of
human resources, together with the capacity to anticipate techniques.
Innovation centres on people, culture, structure,
process and technology. Innovation is the process through which the
entrepreneur converts market opportunities into workable, profitable, and
marketable ideas. Innovation is an application of something creative that has a
significant impact on an organization, industry or society. Entrepreneurship is
the continuing generation of Innovation in response to perceived opportunities
in the business environment. In this approach, entrepreneurship is therefore
concerned with newness: new ideas, products, services or combinations of
resources aimed at meeting the needs of consumers more efficiently.
Entrepreneurship has been described in terms of the ability to create something
from practically nothing. It is initiating… and building an enterprise rather
than … watching one. It is the knack for sensing opportunities where others see
chaos, contradiction and confusion. It is the ability to build a “founding
team” to complement your own skills and talents. It is know –how to find,
marshal and control resources. Finally, it is a willingness to take calculated
risk.
Invention
Innovative new products are the fuel for the most
powerful growth engine you can connect to. You can grow without new products
sold essentially the same telephones for decades while becoming the world’s
largest telecommunications concern–but most small companies will find it difficult
to grow at all, much less rapidly, without a constant stream of new products
that meet customer needs. New product development can be described as a
five-stage process, beginning with generating ideas and progressing to
marketing completed products.
Following are details on each stage:
1. Generating ideas. This stage consists of two parts: creating an idea
and developing it for commercial sale. There are many good techniques for idea
creation, including brainstorming, random association and even daydreaming. You
may want to generate a long list of ideas and then whittle them down to a very
few that appear to have commercial appeal.
2. Evaluating and screening product ideas. Everybody likes their own ideas, but that doesn’t
mean others will. When you’re evaluating ideas for their potential, it’s
important to get objective opinions. For help with technical issues, many
companies take their ideas to testing laboratories, engineering consultants,
product development firms, and university and college technical testing
services. When it comes to evaluating an idea’s commercial potential, many
entrepreneurs use the Preliminary Innovation Evaluation System (PIES)
technique. This is a formal methodology for assessing the commercial potential
of inventions and innovations.
3. Protecting your ideas. If you think you’ve come up with a valuable idea
for a new product, you should take steps to protect it. Most people who want to
protect ideas think first of patents. There are good reasons for this. For one
thing, you will find it difficult to license your idea to other companies,
should you wish to do so, without patent protection. However, getting a patent
is a lengthy, complicated process, and one you shouldn’t embark on without
professional help; this makes the process expensive. If you wish to pursue a
patent for your ideas, contact a registered patent attorney or patent agent.
4. Research and development (R&D). Both tasks are necessary for refining most designs
for new products and services. If you’re already the owner of a growing
company, you’re in a good position when it comes to this stage–most
independent inventors don’t have the resources to pay for this costly and often
protracted stage of product introduction. But that’s not to say if you don’t
have a business, you can’t find the resources to undertake this task. There are
plenty of ways to get the job done cheaply.
5. Promoting and marketing your product. Now that you have a ready-for-sale product, it’s
time to promote, market and distribute it. Many of the rules that apply to
existing products also apply to promoting, marketing and distributing new
products. However, new products have some additional wrinkles. For instance,
your promotion will probably consist of a larger amount of customer education,
since you will be offering them something they have never seen before. Your
marketing may have to be broader than the niche efforts you’ve used in the past
because, odds are, you’ll be a little unsure about the actual market out there.
Finally, you may need to test some completely new distribution channels until
you find the right place to sell your product.
Creativity, invention and Innovation in entrepreneurial development and
success
Development and success  in entrepreneurship cannot be sustained
without additional creativity, inventiveness and innovations (usually in the
product or services or in its marketing) with additional innovations, firms
become “glamorous” Introducing new products is usually seen as part of the
process of innovation, which is itself seen as the engine driving continued
growth and development.
Successful businesses will each employ their own
strategy, they achieve completive advantage through acts of innovation.
Learning and problem-solving are common activities in many working environments
today, but some people believe that true entrepreneurship occurs when
individuals ignore the established ways of thinking and acting and seek novel
ideas and solutions that can meet customers’ needs
Entrepreneurship is, therefore, the innovatory
process involved in the creation of an economic enterprise based on a new
product or service which differs significantly from products or services
offered by other suppliers in content or in the way its production is organized
nor in its marketing. It has been argued that small businesses have a greater
proclivity to innovate than their large counterparts and are, therefore,
crucial in helping a country respond to myriad changes in the economic,
technological and social environment.
To grow and prosper, most enterprises need to
constantly improve their existing products and services through continuously
innovating needed changes: and for survival of the enterprise, must also need
to create new products and services to meet yet unfulfilled needs. Enterprises
that rely exclusively on innovation will prosper until their products and
services “ran out of gases and become obsolete and non-competitive. On the
other hand, enterprise that are totally creative will have their new products and
services ready to launch, but often too few current products sufficiently
up-to-date and competitive to generate the cash needed to fund their
creativity.
Changes
are that the very successful leaders of the future will be more likely to make
creativity and innovation a strategic priority in their organization. In
today’s environment where competition requires business enterprises to be
distinct and meet customer needs with better or never products and organization
becomes in critical necessity
References
Bridges S. O’Neill K. and Cromie, S. (2013)
Understanding Enterprises: Entrepreneurship and Small Business. New York:
Palgrava MacMillan.
Chakravorti B. (2009) ‘The New Rules for Bringing
Innovations to Markets”. Harvard Business Review, March. Creativity at Work;
Articles and Tips. http:www.creativity@work.com/articles content/whatis.htn.
Drucker P.F. (2012) Management Challenges for the
21st Century. London: Butter Worth Heinemann.
Okpara F.O. (2010) Entrepreneurship: Text and
Cases. Enugu: Precision Printers and publishers.
Okpara F. O. (2014) The Practice of
Entrepreneurship. Enugu: precision Publishers Ltd.

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