Innovate, differentiate, stand out!
Looking to explore new ideas, ramp up your operations and seize new opportunities to boost your profits? If you can do so through innovation, the rewards will be greater still.
Innovation opens new markets, makes us more efficient and harnesses our creativity to make us more productive. Without it we’re treading water; not developing, capitalising on opportunities or preparing for tomorrow.
But even if we know our businesses should be innovative, the idea of ‘innovation’ often seems somewhat vague. What is it exactly? Why is it so important, and how can we achieve it?
The simplest definition of innovation is this: a new or creative way of doing something differently. An innovation isn’t an idea per se, it’s an idea that has been successfully implemented. This might be a technological advancement, a more efficient process, a new commercial model, an improvement in customer service or a new price position. It could be a new type of product or service, or a faster or more flexible way of bringing an existing product to market.
The why: differentiation
In each case, the benefit that innovation ultimately delivers is differentiation. It sets your business apart, in what it does, what it provides and how it engages with its customers. For small and mid-sized businesses, this is vitally important. By differentiating ourselves from the bigger players, we create reasons (better products, better prices, better service) for customers to deal with us.
It’s also possible to argue that without innovation, while your business might (just) grow, it can’t truly develop. Eventually, as competitors go first-to-market with better and cheaper products and services, your business will lag behind, relying on outmoded paradigms while being held back by higher costs.
Mid market businesses who can innovate, however, can expect increased efficiencies, access to new markets, competitive advantages and, most importantly, improvements to their bottom line.
How to innovate
While innovation’s benefits are appealing, the big question is how to go about it. The good news is that, in this regard, small and medium businesses have a real advantage.
While large corporations and Government departments like to spruik their innovation credentials, in fact their size and governance structures often present significant barriers. For one, they’ve often got only a small appetite for risk. But they’re also less agile, with too many processes, committees and signs-offs before anything can get done. They’re also likely to demand examples showing where similar innovations have been implemented elsewhere.
By contrast, mid market businesses are much better placed. Most of us are early adopters by nature, and our smaller and more flexible structures mean we’re quicker to adapt and more open to new ideas.
Got something to say? Join the small business forum here at DynamicBusiness.com.au.
