Business innovation is the process of generating, evaluating and implementing commercially viable new business ideas. They don’t need to be restricted to products and services but can cover every aspect of your business from its overall vision and strategies to its operations and administration processes.Businesses who can act upon these opportunities and possibilities for change through innovation in our current uncertain commercial world will not only survive; they will successfully compete in the face of ever moving goals and uncertain global economic conditions.
Here we highlight seven areas of your business where innovation could impact dramatically on your business growth, efficiency and profitability.
1.Business Model: your business model is simply the way your business operates to provide its products or services. This includes the face that you portray to the outside world as well as the key internal elements that you must get right. Some of the world’s biggest companies achieved renewed success by changing business models that then revolutionised their industries and generated huge growth and wealth. When did you last take a good look at your business model?
2.Customer Value Proposition: customers don’t just buy products and services, but to fulfil a specific need, want or desire and to relieve their pains and produce gains. This choice of product or service and of provider is rarely as simple as specification, price and availability. There are many less tangible factors that are often equally as important to customers such as being associated with a brand which chines with their own thinking and shows them in a good light. When did you last review what you deliver?
3.Market Channels: your business will have existing channels to its market for communication. This ranges from the way that you undertake your marketing activities to make them aware of what you offer, to how they then get to touch, feel and try the product. Having decided to make a purchase, the options for this transaction plus ways of delivery are many. And lastly, how do you use the intelligence gained to stay in touch for the future? With the advent of the internet and social media, there are ever more options than before in all these areas. When did you last consider new innovative ways of managing your channels?
4.Competitive Strategies: there are two types of strategies ‘optimisation’ and ‘competitive’. Competitive strategies are those which are unique to your business and give you a clear competitive edge over your competition. The majority of business don’t have any truly competitive strategies and therefore rely on competing on a like for like basis with competitors. Can you improve and innovate the way that you compete?
5.Supply Chain: you will already buy in goods and services as best as you can, but your supply chain can also offer real opportunities for partnering, inward or outward diversification (bringing in-house or outsourcing), off shoring or value chain management. Working with suppliers or customers, even competitors can often open new horizons. How innovative have you been in managing your supply chain and could it be further developed and exploited?
6.Business Culture: a business’s culture can be described as “the way we do things around here”. Very few businesses proactively manage their culture, it simply evolves. But the culture can be developed to encourage innovation, rather than to hold it back. This might be by sharing the vision clearly, empowering people come up with their own solutions, making it clear that failure is an accepted part of life or forming new teams to learn from one another. Have you ever thought about your culture and whether it could it be flexed to support innovation more?
7.Market Positioning: is the mapping of your business’s market position relative to that of your competitors based on key parameters such as target market segments, customer profile, price, products & services. Market positioning can apply to the business as a whole or its individual products or services. Reviewing your market positioning will highlight gaps or reveal new opportunities which have higher growth potential, are more profitable or less competitive. When did you last consider innovating your market position?
The innovate2succeed programme provides tailored support through a bespoke package of modules to help you to become more innovative resulting in your company growing and becoming more profitable.
For FREE advice and support with maximising these and other innovation opportunities within your business, please contact Enterprise Europe Network in the Midlands at CUE
E: innovation@cad.coventry.ac.uk
T: 02476 236236
W: www.enterprise-europe.co.uk