The myth of entrepreneurship as a tool: reorienting business venturing as a goal in itself in a post-growth society

An enduring myth is of entrepreneurship as the means to the goal of economic growth. With a growing realization that perpetual economic growth and firm growth are not sustainable and violate the planet’s biophysical limits, entrepreneurship should focus on contributing to a post-growth society. However, in this paper, we argue that the problems with this are twofold: one, the notions of a post-growth society are not at present compatible with entrepreneurship, and two, such an orientation continues to consider entrepreneurship as a means to a goal – in other words as a tool to fix the problems caused by excessive economic growth. In this light, we call for a de-emphasis on entrepreneurship as a means to economic growth and for more research and policies towards business venturing as a goal. Such a reorientation may also provide a basis for conceptualizing entrepreneurship in a post-growth society.