As the economic environment continues getting worse on a daily basis, I can’t stress enough how badly the entrepreneurial community needs to embrace innovation. I’m not saying that we need to invent entirely new sectors of the economy. What we do need to do is take what we already have and make it better. Thomas Friedman said it perfectly in his article, While Detroit Slept.  If we want to get out of this economic mess we can’t sit back and dump our investment dollars into a non-viable business model while somebody else is out there inventing the next big thing.  We only have a limited amount of capital and we have to use it wisely.

The federal government however doesn’t seem to realize this.  Instead of buying antibiotics to fight our economic infection, we keep buying band-aids.  If the government continues to squander money, the power to fix this mess belongs solely to innovative companies and entrepreneurs.

If it is up to us to build a better mousetrap, I suggest we start now.  Credit may still be tight but the massive layoffs mean there is a vast amount of highly trained human capital.  I know its tough to work without pay but if you can utilize your talent and the talent of those around you to solve some of our problems, you just created some important new jobs.  Pour your sweat equity into fixing this and the credit will come.

In reality, it all comes down to problem solving.  If you have bills to pay and you are looking for a job, show your prospective employers that you can solve some of their hardest problems.  As bad as things are, I want to have faith in America, entrepreneurship, and innovation.

I’m going to stop now because frankly, I have some innovating to do.  Good luck guys.

-Aaron Klemow