vladimirgrebenar 
Many people may wonder what entrepreneurship has to do with faith. Thinking superficially, it seems that these are two concepts that are not close. However, if we think a little about entrepreneurship from the perspective of the philosophy of entrepreneurship, we will realize how much the Bible is focused on human labor and creativity and how much the Holy Word is focused on work and creation, or how the characteristics of a successful entrepreneur are in accordance with evangelical values and behavior.
The scientific discipline of entrepreneurship has long proven that entrepreneurs are not born, but made. Moreover, it has been proven that “non-entrepreneurs” such as retirees, soldiers, teachers, housewives etc. show entrepreneurial behaviors when they are exposed to the same pressures as entrepreneurs.
In other words, research has confirmed that anyone can be an entrepreneur and that we all behave like entrepreneurs by nature, that we are entrepreneurs in some way, because regardless of the job, we all have to survive from our work and we all create. This important realization is a confirmation of the importance of the message of the Holy Scriptures, and that part that is common to monotheistic religions (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) that it is the nature of every man to create.
Entrepreneurship is creativity, but in the literature of modern management and entrepreneurship, the outcome of this creation has an exact term, and it is a newly created value. Added value or newly created value is the difference between the value of all input resources in the process of creation (labor and material resources) and the output produced (product or service). Thus, the difference in the value of the final product or service and the resources with which it is produced is newly created value or added value.
Hence the name value added tax, where the entrepreneur pays tax to the state only on added value (the difference between liability and input tax). An individual or an organization would go bankrupt if they produced a product that had less value than the resources of production. Creation must be useful. The product must necessarily have a higher value than the invested resources for entrepreneurship to be sustainable, and the task of human creativity, i.e. entrepreneurship, is to add greater value to the product.
So, the difference between production and creation is clear. It is a simple econometric and logical proof that man as an individual or in a group must create in such a way that works that he creates are of greater values than invested resources, otherwise we cannot talk about creation and entrepreneurship.
According to the Bible, God creates man in “his own image.” We all wonder when we hear it or read what kind of image it is, whether it is some physical face of man or it is about man’s purpose? Our God has been constantly creating from the first letter of the Bible. Jesus says of His Father to His accusers: “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work” (John 5:17). The creation of heaven and earth is recorded in the beginning of the Bible.
It is fascinating that the very first sentence of the Bible speaks of God creating: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). God is immediately revealed as the Creator so clearly and unambiguously. The first two accounts on the first page of the Bible are also called: a) The First Creation Account, and b) The Second Creation Account. Both accounts see man as the crown of creation who has the purpose of being in the “image of his Creator.”
Creation is certainly an important feature of our Father whom we call the “Creator” in the Creed. English Credo (Belief) calls God “Creator.” If we go further, we wonder if God did not create from dead matter (empty earth, abyss, earthly dust) and created the living world.
If man is called to be in the image of the Creator, shouldn’t man create in a similar way? Indeed, the human race does something very similar in its work. This ability belongs only to man as a creature. No other creature has this ability and it is proof that we are special because God so willed.
The Latin word “creativus” (creative) and the English word “creator” are the root of the word and meaning of creativity. The meaning of creativity in the terminology of entrepreneurship occupies the most important place with the word innovation when describing the characteristics of successful entrepreneurs.
Creativity refers to the ability of an entrepreneur to create a good business idea from which to start a new business venture, and innovation refers to creating a product (or service) from a creative idea that is completely new or some existing one that is significantly improved.
However, the psychology of work and the psychology of entrepreneurship concisely interpret that creative and innovative individuals are such because they are proactive. Proactivity is a constant creation, inner curiosity and a motive to constantly create always better solutions. Every man has a greater or lesser degree of proactivity in himself and we all love new or substantially improved things. I often ask students who has a cell phone with keys and a video recorder in their house.
We all want better products and services like better food, health services, public transportation, clerical services, more economical and safer cars etc., but only creative and innovative entrepreneurs and business organizations can create such products of superior value.
The second account of the creation of the world says that after creating man, God gave man a purpose in preserving and cultivating the newly created world, but with specific rules that must not be broken. Man’s work in Eden happened according to certain God’s “procedures” of creation. Man knew exactly what was allowed and what was forbidden. The first man was indeed employed by the best employer, everything was subject to him and no one interfered in his work.
God has left man so much space for creativity and creation, complete and independent taking of the initiative in creating and managing all the processes of the creative world. The Creator also told his most important creature that everything belongs to him and that he can benefit from everything. Interestingly, there is no possibility of falling into this creation and the threat that man “by some mere chance” will fail. God has guaranteed man success in everything. Perfect harmony could not be disturbed except by man’s transgression of the rules. Man has broken harmony by desiring what belongs to the Creator and has lost his place in Paradise.
The consequence of man’s sin is that he has lost his place in God’s eternal living space and the ability to create for eternity. The consequence of sin is the punishment that came by man’s choice, not by God’s will: “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground” (Gen. 3:19). Man’s birth, growth, maturity, old age and dying has become a new reality. The whole harmony was disturbed and everything created became time-limited.
In entrepreneurial management there is a theory of the life cycle of the company, and the focus of the theory is the question of how to extend the life of the company so that it does not disappear from the market. Our God is immensely proactive, creative and innovative and soon offered man something new through Moses: “if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments (…), The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee” (Deut. 28:1-8). God promises us a blessing in entrepreneurship (“the work of your hand”) if we keep the commandments He has given us. Didn’t God promise that to Adam in Paradise? God’s economy is unaware of the frustrating hopeless bankruptcies and economic recessions that are tearing everything in front of it, and for which many blame others, not even seeing their responsibility in these processes.
Many people think that man’s prayer is the fulfillment of all the requirements of faith and God’s will for man, but this is not the case. Prayer is only one act by which we know the will of God and through prayer we receive inspiration to create according to God’s laws. God who is the Creator expects much more from us in terms of creation, not just prayer. In other words, prayer is for the sake of creation that should be the pledge of our salvation, not an act that is an end in itself. God wants us to create in a way that believes that even small ideas can be big ventures. God’s pedagogy sometimes allows a fall for new and greater growth (Jesus fell three times while carrying His cross). It can only be created by the virtues of perseverance and patience. We need to share the things created with others. Our work should be with others for the common good, so the blessing in work and creation means that we allow others to be realized through their work.
Scientific research on the characteristics of behavior and values that successful entrepreneurs have in the global world confirms that successful entrepreneurs have evangelical values and behaviors. It is a feature of successful entrepreneurs that business downturns have been a precious experience for them. Successful entrepreneurs are very sensitive to injustice and share profits with employees. They have the ability to react quickly, but when necessary, extreme persistence and patience. Successful entrepreneurs are very aware of social responsibility and the need to contribute to the community.
An entrepreneur is made only, and prayer is a great way to achieve successful entrepreneurship.[1]
[1] The article was published with minor changes in: Veritas. Glasnik sv. Antuna Padovanskog. Croatian Province of St. Jerome of the Franciscan Conventuals. Zagreb. Sveti Duh 31. No. 2. February 2019. P. 22.