To succeed over a sustained period, it’s necessary to ensure that you are building innovation in your business. You need to be coming up with clever ideas all the time and encouraging your workforce to do the same.
Henry Ford, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, constantly thought of innovations to improve his business. Ford once said: “The air is full of ideas. They are knocking you in the head all the time. You only have to know what you want.” – a quotation that is as meaningful today as it was in the late 19th century.
1. Make innovation part of your business culture
People sometimes claim they’re ‘not an ideas person’ or see innovation as a painful process. Instead of placing it in a silo for someone else to worry about or to be conveniently forgotten, innovation needs investment – in time, space and resources. By making time for innovation and building it into the fabric of your business, you will become more skilful at dreaming up the ideas that will go on to help your enterprise flourish.
2. Ideas can come from anywhere
The seed of an idea could come from a comment made by a client or a suggestion from a supplier. It could be something you heard on the news or read in a social media post. If something strikes you as curious or exciting, note it immediately and consider how to turn it into an opportunity.
Time away from your business allows you the space to think, so make sure that you are taking those all-important breaks. Albert Einstein said he got his best ideas while shaving. Who knows what ideas will come to you when you are out for a run or walking the dog?
3. It’s OK to fail
Failure is part of the learning process. Innovation inevitably carries risk, but you will never move your business forward unless you’re willing to push the boundaries. If it takes half a dozen failures before you arrive at a solution that works, most entrepreneurs would claim that to be a success overall.
Linus Pauling, the American Nobel Prize-winning biochemist and author, claimed that ‘the best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas’. Oscar Wilde said: ‘An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.’
4. Get to the nitty-gritty
Don’t tackle the easy questions first – tackle the hard ones. Then you will have a much clearer sense of the true viability of your project. And if that means failure, at least you will fail fast. It can be tempting to skirt around the edges of difficult issues and convince yourself that they can be resolved further into the process. If these issues prove to be fundamental, you will have wasted time, money and emotional energy.
5. Test and test again
Wait until you believe everything is perfect before launching is a significant risk. Whether it’s your business, a new product or service, create a minimal viable product and test and test again. Let your customers tell you what’s good about it and what needs to be improved. As much as you think you can put yourself in your customer’s shoes, there is always an element of subjectivity. Getting customer feedback in focus groups and surveys is a fantastic way to reduce the risk.
Get in touch to arrange a free no, obligation consultation and discuss how Delphinium can help you to build innovation into your business.
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