How Can Innovation Help a Business - 3 Practical Tips

An important question for any leader is how can innovation help the business. You frequently see innovation as the answer to the key challenges in business, but also you have to pay attention in startup management of business. However, the why, what and how of innovation are sometimes only described in soft terms. So, let’s get clear on the reality of innovation: what are the long term outcomes and what is the time and money that is involved.

Let’s start with an immutable and basic truth: no matter whether you’re in a large or small business: the products and services the business sell need to result in a profit. Part of your business strategy is to create a profit. Almost all businesses find themselves in a competitive marketplace (if you’re not: congratulations – and beware, because someone might copy your business model).

Participants in a competitive marketplace try to find ways to offer a better product or service to the customers. Since many ideas have been tried before, this ‘better’ often means coming up with new products and ideas. And this is exactly the point where innovative ideas come into play. They are a way to stay ahead of the competition and in they are essential to stay alive.

But being innovative is not just a defensive move – it can actually be one of the smartest parts of your strategy. Here’s why:

Innovation Improves Sales and Client Relationships

Your customers expect innovative products and services. But don’t see the customers merely as them beneficiaries of your innovation – involve them into your process. Seek their feedback regularly about your products, your services and about their experience and the relationships they have with you. If you have an innovation team, ask your key customers if they are willing to join this team. The first benefit in how innovation can help a business: top line growth.

(A quick side comment about customer feedback: suggestions from customers are usually not helpful. They usually don’t know enough about you your processes and possibly the product or service to make a meaningful suggestion. Instead, find out from them what the pain points and challenges are.)

Improve efficiencies, reduce cost, save time

Innovation does not just affect products and services. Just as important is the innovation we apply to our internal operations. This can be tougher than product innovation, because it affects our daily work habits and our personal routines that we be attached to.

If you want to drive innovation in this area – and find ways to save time and money – you need to nurture a culture of innovation, where established patterns are constantly challenged (not in the form of a perennial gripe but in a socially acceptable way), where conflict is seen as an opportunity and where good is not good enough. The second benefit in how innovation can help a business: bottom-line growth.

Employee engagement

Last not least, an innovative workplace is stimulating and invigorating for everyone. It’s good – but not enough – when your employees take pride in the vision, work results or products and company. What is even better is when they are also very clear about their irreplaceable role in improving everything you do.

This leads not just to pride in the company, but it aligns personal pride with a greater good. This is an indication that you have a great culture. What do you get for it: longer retention and better ability to attract critical talent. The third benefit in how innovation can help a business: greater productivity and reduced workplace turnover. Gathering more information like the 5 Laws Anyone Working in New Ford Transit Custom Lease Should Know can end up helping you make your business grow and attract more customers.

Take the Next Step

No matter whether you are a business owner, a program manager, a team lead or an individual contributor. You can drive innovation in all the three benefit areas. Here are ways to do it:

#1 Ask one of your customers about their issues with your current offerings and with how they experience you (Yes, it takes chutzpa to have this conversation and not get defensive. The more you shut up and listen, the more you grow the relationship with your customer)

#2 Do a work process differently. Try it out. Experiment. See what happens.

#3 At the end of a team meeting, take five minutes and ask everyone how we can improve the meeting. Many people are reluctant to speak up. You need to ask at more just one meeting. Great teams ask this question at the end of every meeting.