“Why is Innovation so difficult?
After starting a retail business, the next most risky thing to do is to develop a new product, process, market or service.
Why do things go wrong and how do you ensure success?
What is Innovation? It is NOT:
- Invention (think Mad inventor!)
- Blue sky thinking A Motivator (although innovative business are highly motivated)
- Discovery, new Science or anything to do with Technology
- Any “great new idea”
Creativity Innovation is the successful application of an idea new to the business that makes a significant difference to the business. i.e. Ideas successfully applied to the introduction of new methods, ideas or products.
We can all create changes that make a difference:
- Improve efficiency
- Access new markets
- Stand out from competitors
- Adapting to every changing customer requirements
- Solving everyday challenges
It is the DOING, SUCCESSFULLY that is important
It’s easy – we can all do it every day
- Need wide angle vision, lateral thinking
- Challenge everything
- Plea for originality,
- Be different – don’t be the same as everyone else
Friends of Innovation:
- Disgruntled customers
- Rogue employees
- Off the scope competitors
- Friendly suppliers
They identify problems, create the ideas and solutions and help in the implementation.
Innovation needs:
- Originality – Passion – Guts – Daring You see these by the sparkle and enthusiasm in your employees eyes.
The following is from various videos by Tom Peters from YouTube:
Don’t be the same as everyone else – Do the unusual. Good companies have NOTHING in common – they did something remarkably different.
Have an Innovation Business Strategy – it contains 3 words – “We do things”
Punish mediocre success. “The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that we aim too low and reach it” – Michelangelo
Think of the Board as the bottleneck at the top of the bottle containing good things that want to come out.
Here are 2 FREE ideas for you to think about, see if there are any opportunities for your business:
1. Target Women (>70% of decisions are made by women).
2. Target the over 55’s (Over 45% of population are over 55)
To be successful at Innovation, there are 2 things that have to be in place and they both involve FAT. If a business is too lean, it will survive but fail at innovation. The fat has 2 components:
- Time – you must free up time to allow the development & implementation of any idea without affecting normal business.
- Money – Whatever your idea, it will cost money that is always in short supply If you ignore these, you will spend time that should be spent on day to day running of the business and spend the cash that is needed to survive – both will lead to the failure not only of your idea, but potentially the whole business.
To be a successful Innovator, you have to put your ideas through the “Innovation Process” to research and evaluate them for practicality and commercial success.
The above was a recent presentation by Michael Huxley of the Hive at the No Nonsense just Networking Business Group. Michael is currently running the ‘ Proof-of-Concept’ programme covering the above subject and much more, to ensure your new business or new product or service is not only innovative but successful!
To find out more, download the information Pack at www.ntu.ac.uk/hivestart-to-innovate or call 01623 600829 or email mansfieldhive@ntu.ac.uk It’s FREE if you are based in the districts of Ashfield, Bassetlaw, Bolsover, chesterfield or Mansfield. To ensure successful Innovation – Call us today.
