This article explores the role of innovation in small and medium sized firms, in relation to the firm''s success. After a discussion of the relationship between success, innovation and creativity, some possible backgrounds of creativity and innovation are presented. For one part these are of a personal nature, like the entrepreneur''s values, attitudes and level of education. For another part they concern institutional aspects of the firm.
After the development of a number of hypotheses these are empirically checked with data from a survey among 200 entrepreneurs in six countries. In the appendices some details of the data and variables may be found.