Restrains on Modern Entrepreneurship
Innovation has built our modern world today, but are we slowing down the process of innovation itself with our own actions? This idea was something that really stood out to me while watching this week’s lecture. Entrepreneurs today are always facing market challenges and finding a way to develop new products or services. While there are systems to support entrepreneurs, there is also the challenge of working with regulations, satisfying today’s cultural preferences, and dismissing those who might think innovative ideas take away from traditional practices. All of these factors can really slow down entrepreneurial innovation and prevent the latest ideas from emerging into the marketplace.
Regulations vs Innovation
While regulations are created with good intentions, they can often make it become too hard for new businesses to get their foot in the door. While I don’t think that regulation should be completely removed, because it is necessary to maintain safety and for proper precautions to be taken. However, I do think that when rules start to become too complex or take a long time to get past, can stifle creativity for innovation to move forward. Some industries require entrepreneurs to have to go through piles of paperwork and approval just to even give their ideas a fair chance. When some of them do not have the time to do so. It can take years for a business or entrepreneur to get their product or service up and running, and by then the market may have already been filled in this area or moved on. This is especially concerning in this society when technology is advancing quicker than we can keep up with sometimes. If anything, it is almost ironic that with all this technology and resources, we have made it harder for those to innovate because of the barriers put in place.
Weak Links?
Another topic I really found interesting from the lecture was how humans have quite literally gotten weaker. A hundred years ago, they were preforming much more intense work in rough conditions with little to no safety regulations. Yet we were still producing innovations that have changed the world we know today. Today, this has changed tremendously, and people are more cautious, risk averse, and depend on stability. Which can decrease the forces of entrepreneurship, which makes me wonder have we really become that weak physically and mentally? Not in the sense that we aren’t able to perform in these conditions but have we slowed down our own rate of innovation. Just by becoming too comfortable in the world that we live in today. Because if we continue to do this innovation will only continue to decline, and we wont be able to endure setbacks from trying new things.
“No that’s silly”
Which brings me to the Machiavelli effect, even when better ideas arise, they are suppressed by society. It happens too often that someone with a new bold or even unconventional idea are dismissed before they have the chance to really research their ideas and try to make something out of them. This is especially big today in the media because people are quick to receive backlash in tech, climate, or even fashion for challenging traditional practices. Schools, corporations and even the government are more likely to go with these tradition options because they are safe and familiar. Risky innovative ideas are often ignored, or the credit is later given to bigger companies who have the resources to take advantage of these new ideas. It is interesting to think about how many ideas have been abandoned before they even got the chance to be looked into, simply because the person sharing them might not have the right credit talks or influence to further develop them.
Conclusion
Innovations downfall will be the immense number of restrictions we place on entrepreneurs, whether they be physical or figurative. Entrepreneurs need encouragement to experiment from a society willing to listen to their new ideas even in the initial stages. In order for innovation to truly thrive we need to stop thinking less about “canceling” someone or tearing down a simple idea. Instead, we need to start challenging these ideas and encourage them to really research further into them to see if there is any potential. To do so we must reduce some regulations, rebuild our society to think outside the box, and encourage the ideas that come from it. Innovation isn’t necessarily about entrepreneurs creating new products or services, but giving them the freedom to try and do so.