The Benefits of Creativity Support Systems for Entrepreneurs: An Exploratory Study

Successful start-ups require a range of organizational and systematic activities. Not only do the acquisition and the successful use of resources play a decisive role in the success of a start-up, but also the development of a business idea. Creativity is an essential part in this context and both creativity techniques and creativity support systems prove to be fundamental to the success of the start-up. In this paper, we present the results of an exploratory study with 105 entrepreneurs, to deeper understand the impact of creativity techniques and creativity supporting information technology (IT). With a literature review and the results of our study, we furthermore highlight the importance of knowledge and teaching about creativity enhancing methods and the right application of creativity supporting IT. Additionally, we show the influence and environmental factors of creativity within the different stages of entrepreneurship