Creativity Innovation and

Entrepreneurship, Barriers to
Creativity
A case study of Entrepreneurs
Introduction
• How to become creative or more creative as an entrepreneur? One way to
do it is by understanding the current barriers to
creativity in entrepreneurship.
• Believe You have amazing creative abilities and skills, you have to learn
how to overcome barriers to become as creative.
• Let’s discuss those 10 barriers to creativity in entrepreneurship with
solutions one by one.
1.Lack of Freedom as a Barrier to Creativity in Entrepreneurship
2.Not Having a Plan as a Barrier to Creativity in Entrepreneurship
3.Fear of Failures as a Barriers to Creativity in Entrepreneurship
1.Lack of Resources as a Barriers to Creativity in Entrepreneurship
2.Adapting to the Situation as a Barrier to Creativity in Entrepreneurshi
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3.Not Thinking Proactively as a Barrier to Creativity in Entrepreneurship
4.Leadership and Management Barrier to Creativity in Entrepreneurship
5.Imitating Competitor's Barrier to Creativity in Entrepreneurship
6.Making time to be creative as a Barrier to Creativity in Entrepreneursh
ip
7.External Environmental Factors as a Barriers to Creativity in Entrepre
neurship
1. Lack of Freedom as a Barrier to Creativity
in Entrepreneurship
• Freedom is an important aspect of creativity. It gives people a space to think differently and
implement differently. But most of the time organizations create tight work schedules, and stressful
environments, making them pressured, and expecting their optimum level without considering their
employee’s situations.
• Most of the studies show that those who feel more separate control over how they work are more
motivated, more effective, and more creative.
• Solution; This barrier can be fixed by reducing employees’ workload, giving them authority to make
a decision, and giving employees the to deliver their suggestions. To flourish creatively, your team
needs the freedom to decide how they want to deliver within your predetermined borders.
• Also, offer flexible schedules. Allow people to work where they’re most comfortable, don’t limit
them to working in the office. Make your employee feel better with enhancers like relaxation music
or abstract art.
2. Not Having a Plan as a Barrier to Creativity in Entrepreneurship

• One of the most frustrating barriers to creativity is not having a plan. As an entrepreneur, you need
to have a bigger picture of what path are you going and what obstacles you are going to overcome.
You need to communicate that bigger picture to your workers as well.
• Not having a plan means you start your race without starting line, finish line, or even not having a
track to play. Businesses should supply their teams with clearly stated expectations, key
performance indicators they can use to measure success along the way, and the desired outcome.
• Solution; So, create a plan and take it to happen. Provide your employees with considerable
opportunities for sharing and evaluating suggestions and ideas. Then you can spark creativity.
Then administrators can have the possibility to interject with direction as needed.
3. Fear of Failures as a Barriers to Creativity in Entrepreneurship

• Fear of failure is one of the foremost common barriers to creativity in entrepreneurship. It comes
when entrepreneurs don’t have self believes, not have a gut feeling to face a new challenge and
overcome it.
• Resistance can be described as fear. The degree of fear correlates to the strength of Resistance.
Therefore, the more fear we feel about our company, the more confident we need to develop the
company.
• Fear of failure will go out when we build our competitiveness and risk-taking ability. When we do
proper environmental analysis and implement new competitive strategies, we can become a
creative firm.
Case Study of Technopreneurship

• Technopreneurship is a business term that refers to entrepreneurs who

specialize in the area of information technology. According to the
Handbook of research on Technopreneurship, it is defined as the
entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial activities of both existing and nascent
companies operating in technology-intensive environments. It simply means
the acquisition of knowledge in the field of technology. And the application of
that knowledge to the formulation of any venture that brings significant
economic benefits to societies. Examples, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark
Zuckerberg, Kevin Systrom, Sergey Brin, and Larry Page are examples of
these sorts of Technopreneurs.
• Basically, the most innovative and creative ideas expand the commercialization potential. They
can further be developed by Technopreneurs who are skilled and qualified, and they are capable of
bringing the concept to the market. Technopreneurs are different from usual entrepreneurs. We can
identify Technopreneurship as a new breed of entrepreneurship in this digital era. This is because
technology plays a critical role in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
• Already technopreneurship solved many problems in the current context. Social media platforms,
e-commerce platforms, digital trading, digital money, electric energy, robotics, e-learning, artificial
intelligence and digital automation are some examples of technoprenerial answers to current
problems. These developments prove every entrepreneur needs to have technoprenerial skills in
today’s digital context.
History of technopreneurs
• From 1970 to today communication and technology were capable of bringing human existence to
a level closer. The term “Technopreneurship” was created by combining the words “Technology”
and “Entrepreneurship.” The word “Technopreneurship” was first used in 1987. It is conceivable
that the word “Technopreneurship” was more widely known when the Internet burst in April.
• Technopreneurship term isn’t born at once. It has interesting development history. we can clarify
three generations of the historical development of technopreneurship. The first one is The Seed
Era of technopreneurship. It belongs from the year 1970 to the year 2000. Electronic devices were
start invented and developed in this era. Transistors, integrated circuits, Radios, televisions, stereos
and computers are examples of those inventions.
• The second generation is the Startup Era of
Technopreneurship. It belongs to the years 2001 to the
year 2015. In this era, internet technology growth
happened. As a result of internet technology new digital
technologies, such as open source, social media
platforms, mobile, LTE, and cloud computing were
invented.
• The third and last era is the expansion era of
technopreneurship. It started in the year 2016. In this era,
digitalization introducing into every aspect of people’s
lives. Artificial intelligence, Big data handling and
robotics play a critical part in this era. Result of those
developments, today we can see technopreneurship
influencing every industry.
Problems with Technopreneurship

• In this dynamic economy, the launching of a tech startup is easy, but if people fail to understand the
changes, then it will bring down the business sooner than we expect. The foundational concept of
technology-based companies makes them the most dynamic. Any technopreneur knows that the
continual concern of running slower than the competition or being slower than the competitors is a
significant danger. Because prior to someone else taking over, you have a very small window of
opportunity to pitch your sales. Also, technology changes in the blink of an eye. It has a speedy huge
growth in a shorter period. It is typical for technopreneurs to take setbacks or losses excessively
seriously if they did not focus on the goals and objectives.
• There are other problems as well for the field of technopreneurship. There are not many regulatory
frameworks and standards for the area of technopreneurship. So, we need to build new regulatory
frameworks and standards for technopreneurship. If we build new regulatory frameworks and
standards still we have to face regulatory enforcement challenges for technopreneurship. This is
because of the dynamic situation in the field of technopreneurship.
• Also, we can identify institutional and transboundary challenges, cyber security issues and cyber
risks, human capacity development problems, and infrastructure and government policy problems
related to the field of technopreneurship. There are wide skill gaps in field technopreneurship. It
means that there are so many employment opportunities in the technopreneurship sector as well.
The rise of robotics affecting technopreneurship and regaining trust also problems for
technopreneurship.
1. Amazon
• Amazon.com is a platform that introduces selling and buying books online. They identified an
opportunity to sell books online and they applied e-business technology to deliver a solution that
enabled people to do that. At that time, it changes the buying patterns and habits of many
consumers and also, presented a very good example of Technopreneurship.
2. Facebook
• Mark Zuckerberg developed the most popular social networking application of Facebook. He is a
technical programmer who started doing technical things during his school days. Zuckerberg created
Facebook when he was at Harvard University along with his friends Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz
, and Chris Hughes. Initially, he created Facebook for university fellows’ internal communication, which
now has become a popular social media network worldwide.
• Mark Zuckerberg became the world’s youngest billionaire and technopreneur at the age of 23. He
entered the world’s wealthiest people list and is the youngest entrepreneur in the top 20 billionaires list.
3. Microsoft
• Bill Gates is the founder of Microsoft. He created software and sold it to the first personal computer
company. Bill Gates is a very well-known technopreneur and one of the world’s richest persons.
Microsoft grew quickly in size scale and value. it made its first $1 million in 1978. Microsoft was quite
diversified now. but just not in the normal sense. Since its founding days, Microsoft has acquired over
190 companies to date. This is another good example of Technopreneurship.
4. Lack of Resources as a Barriers to Creativity in Entrepreneurship

• Lack of resources may be related to small enterprises as well as large-scale enterprises. This can be
the lack of human power needed to accomplish a task in a given timeframe, lack of technology, or
lack of expert knowledge.
• Possibly the most valuable resources- time and talent- are not unlimited. Inadequate resources can
serve as one of the barriers to creativity that can be corrected by your business’s leadership. If
leadership values creativity, creativity and innovation will be seen as essential tools for success.
• The best way to overcome this barrier is – don’t treat creativity like a nice-to-have, treat it as
decisions that need to be made. Always remember that a pipeline of significant ideas costs nothing
at all. At the bare minimum, you can always inspire innovation by setting that pipeline and
keeping it flowing at all times.
5. Adapting to the Situation as a Barrier to
Creativity in Entrepreneurship
• People like to stay in their comfort zone. This is a barrier to entrepreneurship and calls this
“homeostasis”. It means a deep subconscious wish to stay consistent with what you have done in
the previous.
• Your comfort zone, over a period, becomes a groove. If you stuck then all progression will stop.
This homeostatic impulse controls people back from becoming all they are competent of becoming
and from achieving success.
• Some people overcome this barrier after their failures by understanding. Some may not overcome
and they destroy their creative abilities by wasting their competitive advantages. A solution we can
suggest is to follow a proper business guide or business consultation.
Case study of Malaysian
entrepreneurs
• Doing Business Overview of Malaysia Entrepreneurship
• In the World Bank’s 2023 Doing Business report, Malaysia was ranked 12th out of 190 economies,
demonstrating that it provides an advantageous business environment for businesses. The time and
costs involved in opening a business, obtaining finance, and conducting foreign trade have
significantly decreased in this country.
1. A strategic location: Situated at the crossroads of Southeast Asia, Malaysia enjoys a
strategic location that provides entrepreneurs with numerous advantages. This geographical
positioning grants access to a large and expanding market within the region. Furthermore,
Malaysia’s network of international trade routes facilitates business opportunities and
connectivity with global markets, offering entrepreneurs the potential for greater reach and
market penetration.
• A helpful government: The Malaysian government actively encourages business
development. The government offers financial support, training opportunities, and aid with
business development to entrepreneurs through many programs and projects. This ecosystem
of support enables information sharing, promotes innovation, and aids entrepreneurs in
overcoming the difficulties associated with beginning and expanding a business.
• A vibrant startup ecosystem: Malaysia nurtures a dynamic and thriving startup ecosystem.
The presence of incubators, accelerators, and other support organizations creates an
environment conducive to entrepreneurial success. These entities offer mentorship,
networking opportunities, access to funding, and valuable resources to startups. Additionally,
Malaysia is home to successful startups that have gained international recognition, inspiring
and paving the way for aspiring entrepreneurs.
6. Not Thinking Proactively as a Barrier to Creativity in Entrepreneurship

• The next barrier to creativity in entrepreneurship is not thinking proactively. If you do

not frequently boost your mind with novel ideas and data, it loses its spirit and energy,
very much like a muscle that is not exercised.
• This type of person thinks like passively and automatically. A major reason for passive
thinking is working systematically. Most individuals get up at the same time each
morning, follow the exact practice at their jobs, associate with the same individuals in
their free time, and watch the same Tv programs.
• As an effect of not constantly challenging their minds, they become soft and arrogant.
They do not have new ideas generally. To overcome this barrier, people need to do some
changes to their daily routine and need to communicate with different new people.
7. Leadership and Management Barrier to Creativity in Entrepreneurship

• Leadership and management are key aspects of firms’ creativity. They make guides to the lower-
level staff to think creatively and do creative. If they do not creative enough or do not promote
creativity in a suitable environment, the firm’s overall creativity attitude will be affected.
• People need to feel confident in their ideas and as a management crew, you need to be welcomed
their ideas and thoughts. So it is a key part of your business strategy to provide a space where your
team feels free to express themselves creatively.
• Also, leadership is important for setup creative strategy. After setting up strategies, the leadership
group needs to be creative enough to implement those strategies. Furthermore, today firms need to
have the ability to face lot more obstacles. Creativity is a lot more helpful for making effective
decisions by using those challenges as opportunities.
• Solution; First, you need to rank your leadership and management creativity. According to that data,
you can prepare workshop programs to increase your firm’s creativity. If you understand you may lack
creativity skills in your management staff, then you can fill up that by hiring suitable employees.
8. Imitating Competitor’s Barrier to Creativity in Entrepreneurship
• We know that today firms have highly complex competition. As a result, organizations try to imitate
their competitors. Firms nearly looking at their competitors by what strategies and what new
implementation they are going to execute in the future.
• The biggest mistake firms doing is imitating their competitor’s moves without considering their
abilities. This will damage your creative ability as well as your competitive advantage. Firms which
adopt this passive philosophy are reluctant to launch creative projects, which harness their unique
resources. But, some firms examine what works for other organizations, but also creatively acclimate
these aspects to apply them in their way. This process is called benchmarking and it is a creative tool.
• The best way to overcome this challenge is not to hurry to imitate your competitors. First, analyze
your resources and competitive advantages. Then think of creative ways to challenge competitors’
new movements. After all these processes try to implement your new strategy with full of confidence.
8. Making time to be creative as a Barrier to Creativity in Entrepreneurship
• Creativity takes time. It is not a quick process. To be creative entrepreneurs or firms need creative
skills, need industry experience, need well-trained minds, as well as the right environment.
•
Pressure to provide quick results can restrict firms’ creative ability. When your firm environment
thinks like time is money and budgets are tight. This can push you to consider only short-term issues
and make you lose your view of the larger picture. It can also make you sense like you’ve not got the
time to execute all of your stunning ideas.
• Tips to overcome this barrier to creativity in entrepreneurship: first you need to establish long-term targets along with
short-term in your strategic business plan. Be patient to achieve success. Develop your skills in-between periods. Thinking
about how you manage your time what space you have and what work you need to cut off. You can save time by dropping
administrative work. The more you are free more you have time to think creatively and analyze new things.
9. External Environmental Factors as a Barriers to Creativity in Entrepreneurship
• Not only the inside but also the external environmental factors are working as a barrier to creativity in entrepreneurship.
For example, the global pandemic affects the firm’s creative projects. Companies lost many sales during that period and
they reduced their research and development expenditures to reduce their cost.
• Also sometimes government policies, regulations, and limitations effecting to entrepreneurial firms’ creativity. And we
can’t control environmental disasters, economic instability, and social changes. We need to produce new strategies and new
solutions to overcome these external factors. But there are some advantages as well for overcoming external barriers. If one
door was closed new door will open or we can create a new door. Think like that: every obstacle or barrier in the external
environment creates a new opportunity to implement a new creative idea. As an entrepreneurial firm, you need to do proper
environmental analysis and prepare a proper short and long-term strategic plan to overcome these external barriers.
Conclusion
• In this article, we discussed 10 barriers that affect creativity in
entrepreneurship. Those barriers can be summaries as Lack of Freedom,
Not Having a Plan, Fear of Failure, Lack of Resources, Adapting to the
Situation, Not Thinking Proactively, Leadership and Management Barriers,
Imitating Competitors, Making time to be creative, and finally the External
Environmental Factors as a Barrier to Creativity in Entrepreneurship.
• But we think these barriers are new doors for entrepreneurs like you to
come up with new solutions or improve your entrepreneurial skills to
move this world forward.