The Ingredients for Innovation
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If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, you have to be a consistent innovator. Innovation isn’t just about technology; to stay fresh and relevant in the marketplace, you must innovate in all aspects of your business. Here’s a tried and tested formula you can use to ensure you keep offering the market something new while keeping your customers happy and engaged.
Avoid ‘shiny object syndrome’
New is always exciting, and we want that excitement in business. However, sometimes new is nothing more than a sugar high: it’s sickly sweet and you can crash and burn really quickly afterwards! True innovation isn’t just about getting distracted or caught up in something new, it’s about making sure you commit to and then finish what you start. Unfortunately, many businesses and lives will always be ‘fixer-uppers’ because people like the movement of the new but they never finish anything. Finishing is key.
Innovate your fundamentals
You should always be working to enhance the core fundamentals of your business. Whether it’s in sales, marketing, customer service, product development or another area, study the marketplace to see who’s doing it really well and then consider how you can innovate and do the same. The key to success is that any innovation has to be connected to the core of your business and service. As Jim Rohn once said, “Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of applying basic fundamentals.”
Focus on synergy, feedback and creativity
- Synergize outside your space: Sometimes you have to go outside of your own space to get a fresh take. If you’re in real estate, you could take a look at who’s successful in health care, for example. Study what they’re doing well and why it works and then figure out how that success can be translated to innovate your own business.
- Get feedback from staff and key customers: If you want to improve, you have to seek honest feedback. Ask your team and your customers for input. How can you get better? What’s working well? What needs improvement? Remember, there’s no such thing as failure, only feedback!
- Nurture creativity: The best way to innovate and get really creative is to go off-site to a different environment. Assemble everything you need and then find a conducive and supportive space where you can let the ideas really flow!
True innovation isn’t just about technology – it must be at the heart of all aspects of a successful business. To learn more, listen to the latest episode of “It’s a Good Life”.
