Innovative entrepreneurship is one of the key drivers of economic development particularly for less developed economies where the economic growth is at the forefront of policymakers’ agenda as the practice of establishing creating new business ideas intending to generate profit, assist their community and accomplish company goals. It’s the ability to identify a gap in the market and create something that fills that gap, or to find a better way of doing something that’s already being done. It’s what sets entrepreneurs apart from others and drives their success. Innovative entrepreneurs develop business models to identify to meet the needs of an organization and improve their competitiveness in the market. Most entrepreneurs use innovative ideas to help create these business models or make upgrades to their current model. They can use this motivation to design innovative strategies for business success.

INNOVATION

Innovation is often thought of as the lifeblood of entrepreneurship. Without it, companies would quickly become stale and irrelevant in an ever-changing world. The ability to implement new ideas, strategies, and thought processes with a vision to introduce or improve the present with a focus on newness, improvement, and the spread of ideas and technologies. Innovation plays a crucial role in promoting growth, enabling organizations to adapt to evolving market trends, and ultimately driving profitability. While innovation can involve the creation of entirely new concepts, it also includes improvements and enhancements to existing products, services, or ideas. It disrupts the status quo and encourages a departure from the traditional approach. Innovation requires fresh thinking, creativity, and the ability to identify opportunities for change and improvement. To be able to innovate, it involves new combinations of knowledge, sometimes combining old and new knowledge, or crossing boundaries between areas of expertise or between sectors. It also requires knowledge of what has gone before and the ability to learn from it, as well as an appreciation of the present, to understand the available choices. It should be noted that innovation is distinct from invention, as it does not necessarily entail the creation of something entirely new. Instead, it focuses on introducing novel ideas or enhancing existing ones to meet the needs of customers, industry demands, and societal changes. Innovation is a vital means for organizations to remain relevant, competitive, and responsive in their respective industries, and it does not inherently involve risk.

ENTREPRENEUR

Entrepreneurship encompasses the willingness of individuals or groups to take risks and capitalize on business opportunities in a dynamic market. Business entrepreneurs play crucial roles as leaders, innovators, pioneers, and inventors, driving economic, technological, and social advancements within their industries. They possess the ability to identify and transform great ideas into viable business ventures by embracing risk. In doing so, they add value and creativity to the innovations they pursue. Entrepreneurship involves the recognition and assessment of opportunities and is often the bridge between creativity and innovation. This is because the entrepreneur is involved in what can be described as the dance of two questions – what is needed and what is possible – and the interplay of these two questions is an ongoing process. Responses are shaped by changing knowledge of the external environment, by social and business networks, by changes in the legal system, by changes in the competitive environment and by market forces. Entrepreneurs are not limited to a single type of innovation but actively seek out diverse sources of innovation. Once they identify a promising opportunity, they establish and manage profitable businesses around it. To succeed, entrepreneurs must embody traits such as risk-taking, motivation, leadership, management skills, decision-making abilities, and effective planning. Successful entrepreneurship is the outcome of combining these qualities with dedication and hard work. EDD identifies three (3) types innovative business entrepreneurs, which include (1) social entrepreneurs aim at solving community problems with their product or services; (2) startup entrepreneurs – innovate a single product or service that’s unique to an industry and (3) enterprise entrepreneurs – that use innovation to develop new ideas for corporations that have been in business for many years. EDD researchers seek to make a major contribution to the development of unique capabilities which will contribute to the sustainable competitive advantage of developing countries businesses. The work will offer unique insights to policymakers interested in promoting innovative entrepreneurship and to entrepreneurs and investors seeking to establish and support innovative ventures. The research will also address this issue by developing a multilevel framework that explains how entrepreneurial competencies attenuate the negative impact of innovation barriers.