How Important Is Innovation To Your Business?
I have said this on several different occasions and I’ll say it again. Innovation is the key to growth. Innovation is the path to the future.
Most small business owners are usually satisfied if they are doing reasonably well and not in any danger of going bust. They are happy with a steady, if slow, growth rate and the comfortable monetary returns. R & D is encouraged but such owners usually refrain from trying out something ‘new’ on a day to day basis. A new thing could be a new marketing strategy, a new approach to a nagging problem, maybe a new concept for a product or service. It doesn’t matter which aspect of your business is going to benefit with a new idea. What matters is to keep those ideas flowing. Constant encouragement of innovation in all fields is crucial to creating a dynamic business model which is beneficial to the company. Innovation tends to have a domino effect. Often one bright idea leads to several others (related ones) and this encourages the cycle of growth. Of course, new ideas also means new problems but that is something that you have to take into your stride and learn to deal with if you want all the benefits that just a new idea can bring you. One of the best things about this is that it requires no investment really. Some research and study, an instinctive feel of the business and market and good old common sense is all it takes to come up with that great idea. One of the biggest resources a business has are it’s employees. They can be the richest source of new ideas which can lead to tremendous growth. Innovation can be encouraged by regularly brainstorming with all the employees, taking everybody’s points of view into account when you think of implementing a new idea, listening to their feedback after the implementation etc.Record everything that transpires during these sessions and analyze them, introspect and you will hit upon something.
In the beginning you may have to make an effort to develop the ‘innovation culture’ in your office. However after a passage of time, it will become a part of everybody’s routine and will come naturally to all concerened.A word of caution though, for every great new idea that you think up and are dying to try, research about it’s success rate and feasibility is a must.
