Nurture innovation to reap rewards
Innovative business owners are generally better at managing projects and people. When starting up, staying profitable, and growing your business, innovation can be a superpower.
When your business is innovative, you:
- keep communication channels open
- seek continuous improvement
- set up systems for new ideas
- examine ideas thoroughly
- research demand in the market
- foster and reward creativity
- let people experiment and sometimes fail.
Having the right mindset, and people with diverse life experiences and connections, is a great place to start.
Attitude towards innovation
Could you sum up how your business fosters innovation?
If one of your staff members was asked the same question, would their answer be the same as yours?
Does everyone in your business understand what it means to be innovative?
In innovative businesses, the lines of communication are truly open. Everyone is clear about the purpose and direction of the business, and what processes exist to foster innovation and creativity.
Open your business to new ideas
A business with systems in place to track new ideas is more likely to innovate and grow.
Think about how receptive you are to new ideas, especially those that have the potential to radically change the direction of your business.
It’s important to be open to new ideas when business is booming as well as when things are not going so well.
Harness the creativity of your staff and provide the right environment for them to unlock their full potential.
For example, you could:
- set up a process for brainstorming and evaluating new ideas – such as regular team meetings
- appoint an ideas champion
- create a system for tracking good ideas through to completion, along with action deadlines
- create a formal idea evaluation process, to assess and allocate the resources needed to bring ideas to fruition
- allocate staff weekly blocks of time to do relevant online research.
Rewarding creativity
Do your staff feel safe sharing new ideas directly with you, or do they have to go through layers of approval? If people feel their input will be ignored or claimed by someone else, they’ll stop sharing.
A culture where credit is fairly given is key to keeping ideas flowing.
Your everyday attitude – how you respond to ideas and who gets the credit – plays a big role in whether creativity thrives or dries up.
Great ideas don’t always come from big leaps.
Research into more than 500 innovations showed that small, steady improvements contribute significantly to the economic success of a business.
How many ideas has your team shared recently? If it’s not many, it might be time to rethink how you encourage and reward innovation.
Collaborating with others
Teaming up with other businesses can help strengthen your business and share resources, risks, and opportunities. The ideal partnership maximises your strengths while improving weaker areas of your business.
What's next
Business planning
Choosing the right business structure
Business and financial advice
Governance
Marketing strategy
Business strategy
Strategic finance
Building a brand
Doing business online
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