Innovation doesn’t have to be disruptive. All it takes is one small advancement to make a major difference in whether you are going to increase revenue, enhance customer service, or minimize cost. In 2017, it is more important than ever to ignite innovation as a way to help propel your business forward. To help you along the way, here are a few ways you can begin igniting innovation in your business.
Identify problem areas
The first thing you have to do is identify any problems in your business. You cannot begin to solve a problem until you know what the problem is in the first place. As soon as you know what the problem is, you can work on solving it. Solving problems within your organization requires a team of individuals who have engaging minds. By joining together to solve the problem, you will invigorate innovation and change within your business.
Find the right team of professionals
Companies need more than one person who is innovative if they are going to succeed. While society wants you to conform to what they think is the standard, that doesn’t mean it is going to be in your best interest. You should be different. Stand out in a crowd and command attention. You need people who can embrace the trend and think outside of the box. You need innovative thinkers, even though society may say you shouldn’t be innovative.
As a business owner, you can only do a few different things: create, maintain or destroy. If you are going to be innovative, you have to ask yourself whether your team members are helping you create something or whether they are destroying something. If they are destroying your business model, you need to find new employees. When you understand what it is that you are dealing with, you can begin innovating more efficiently and moving your business model forward.
Spend time focusing on your core business model
For a business to grow, it has to look for and identify areas of growth. To do this, spend time searching within your core business model to see where you are now and what you can hope to gain. However, you cannot stray away from your core business model. You want to maintain your current foundation and build upon it. After all, it is all about what your customers want and need. You can only make money when your customers are able to see the true value in what your service or product has to offer.
Be willing to change
Innovation is all about being willing to change at a moment’s notice. You have to be ready to jump on the next big idea and go with it. Continuously define your roadmap to success and focus on sustaining your leadership in an ever-changing market.
By signing up and attending a BNI meeting, you can witness firsthand how to grow and improve your business. At BNI, we have a trusted network of professionals that are dedicated to helping other businesses succeed. Our philosophy, Givers Gain®, is centered around the premise of by giving business to others, you will get business in return.
