The Characteristics of Entrepreneurial Knowledge (IV)

Entrepreneurial knowledge: such knowledge is essentially creative. As we will see, it has two facets, which are like two sides of the same coin: the creative facet and the coordinating facet. What do we mean when we say entrepreneurial knowledge is essentially creative? Well, I’ll say it again: we’re dealing with something astonishing and awe-inspiring. Indeed, today we will be discovering one amazing thing after another. For to exercise entrepreneurship, we do not need to have any means at our disposal. An act of pure entrepreneurship does not involve any cost at all. In this sense, entrepreneurship is especially creative. The very discovery of a profit opportunity involves an implicit profit. For example, it could be Mr. A who suddenly comes to a realization: “Hey, Ms. B is right there. She’s very close by, and she has just what I need.” Or it could be Ms. B who says to herself: “Hey, I’m squandering this resource, when Mr. A needs it.” It could also be a third party. To help us visualize and illustrate the argument, let’s suppose it is a third party, Mr. C. Let’s suppose it is Mr. C, or Ms. C, and that the entrepreneurial act simply consists of discovering, recognizing, or perceiving something that only a fraction of a second before had gone unnoticed, namely that there is a profit opportunity. We’ll represent this discovery as a bulb that lights up. “Eureka! Look at that! In my specific circumstances of time and place, and for whatever reason, I have realized that one person here is wasting resource R, which she throws out, while another person here needs it desperately.” Right there, in that creative act, lies an implicit, pure entrepreneurial profit, and the exercise of creative entrepreneurship does not require us to have any means at our disposal. It only requires us to be alert, to have that sharp gaze that enables us to see what is going to happen.