Positive Pressure = Successful Innovation…In order for Small business organisationes to compete in the Global Competitive Business Marketplace, Innovation is imperative. One factor affecting Innovation is Pressure. Pressure from the Competition urges Small Businesses to with success innovate and adapt. Also, innovation can be encouraged from within a company as employees need a certain amount of pressure to jump start the originative process. Positive and constructive pressure from the top of a company stimulates your people to creatively think outside the box.
The real conundrum is converting the creative ideas into a business practice and a solid Business Plan. This is when and where your employees need the most encouragement and positive reinforcement. As CEO you must demonstrate as much interest and commitment in new product development as you are in existing product lines. Innovation isn’t only producing new ideas but adapting new product versions from your inventory of highly-developed creative ideas. We must foster environments which applies creative imagination to problems and then finding excellent solutions to those problems.
As CEO you can foster innovation in your Company by:
- Reorganizing Individual Contribution
- Providing a Bonus Incentive Program to reward Individual and Group innovation contribution
Innovation is mastered by being an Expert in your particular field. Technology leadership or a commitment to know more about your field than any other company is very important toward closing the Innovation Gap. Joint Ventures, Strategic Alliances or Partnerships can’t close the gap on their own. It is your core competency, with the added synergism of a JV, Strategic Alliance or Partnership, which makes Innovation real successful. The best way to beat the competition is to sell products with technology they can’t match. It is only through innovation and successful implementation of that innovation which allows a company to achieve true competitive advantage in the global market place. However, this innovative product must be:
- Cost effective enough to earn Big Margins of 50% or more
- Beat the heck out of your competition
- Save your customers crucial money
Profit Margins must be big enough to allow for product investments to sustain your competitive advantage. You need to be continually reinventing yourself in order to produce innovative products which are Basically better- you need to effectively obsolete your existing products to truly compete. Having a well developed Strategic Plan will analyze the profit potential and determine if sustainable and realistic.
Innovation takes years to develop, yet you must bring products quickly to market to compete. Therefore, stream lined corporate systems must be in place, so as your company structure grows, and you don’t lose the ability to innovate and subsequently market the product in a market leading fashion. Your Marketing Plan has to be continuous as you develop innovative products so when it hits the market, it quickly sells and adds pressure to the competition, grabbing market share. Then once in the market, you must aggressively protect the proprietary nature of that “edge” product by making aggressive utilization of Trade Marks and Intellectual Property Rights.
About the Writer – Frank Goley with ABC Business Consulting
Frank Goley is a business consultant, business turnaround consultant and business plan consultant for ABC Business Consulting. He has been helping companies to succeed for many years. Frank wrote his first business plan over twenty years ago. He is an expert in developing business plans, marketing plans, funding plans, strategic plans, turnaround plans, web marketing strategies, and programme specific business plans. Frank is also a business coach and a web development, web marketing and web seo consultant. Frank is the author of a business plan book, The Comprehensive Business Plan Workbook – A Step by Step Guide to Effective Business Planning, and he has over 50 published articles and e-books on business success strategies. He also writes the Business Success Strategies Blog.
