While there are many principles and concepts that entrepreneurs must use every day, such as marketing and consumer relations, the most important quality is to recognize where there is room to innovate.
Successful entrepreneurs readily recognize this, which is why they tend to be the people who develop new technologies and produce the small steps that move forward to become known as marvels of tomorrow done today.
The idea that entrepreneurs must innovate has existed a long time.
Even people during the Colonial era of the Americas had the same drive to create things that never existed before. This is what gave rise to things like interchangeable parts, the cotton gin and a myriad of other things still important today.
This same drive has persisted to this very day.
The most prominent examples of entrepreneurs vested heavily in the principle that innovation comes first include Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. While their careers have both dealt with technology and computers, the way they have gone about innovating is as different as day is to night.
Bill Gates founded Microsoft with a few people out of a garage. He acquired, developed and marketed the software that drives most modern computers used in the business world today. That’s why the most prominent computer operating systems are currently based on the Windows NT infrastructure, which is a direct derivative of the business-oriented flavors of Windows operating systems.
Steve Jobs, on the other hand, focused on the consumer market more than he did on a product that would allow businesses to function smoothly. Jobs focused on computer peripherals in the early days of Apple, which resulted in much-needed things such as the first commercially available computer mice.
The same focus on consumer innovation is likely to continue. That’s why Apple is currently known for things such as the iPod, iPhone and iPad. All of these products focus on improving the customer experience before anything else.
The biggest and most recent innovation of widespread entrepreneurial success likely lies in the creation of digital items like Facebook. Sites like it have shifted the Internet from merely being a network of connected devices to a true World Wide Web of interconnected people and businesses.
Networks like Facebook have even allowed businesses to hear the voices of their customers, which were largely silent until now.
Another practical example of where technology has been used by entrepreneurs to help make the lives of people better can be seen with entrepreneur Carl Freer. The development of multiple bandage products designed to ease the pain associated with first- and second-degree burns was an initiative pushed forth by Aluminaid, a group created by one entrepreneur with a vision.
The Need for Continued Innovation by Entrepreneurs
The drive to create new products and to devise more efficient methods is something that entrepreneurs have traditionally tackled first-hand. This same drive will be essential in ensuring that technology continues to advance, and that people as a whole will develop new ways to treat the problems that have forever plagued mankind.