In the dynamic and competitive business environment, out-innovating your competitors is not just a strategy; it is a necessity. We explore five actionable tips to help your business thrive!

 

Today’s businesses have several tech tools in their arsenal: artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, robotics, automation, and cloud technology, to name just a few. At the same time, business has become even more competitive, and across many industries and sectors, the competition is no longer local but is becoming increasingly global. As a result, it is even more difficult for an organisation to distinguish itself from the pack.

Historically, if a business wanted to have a competitive advantage, it would do one or more of the following: reduce its prices; create innovative and distinctive products and services to set the business apart; focus on a specific niche; and implement unique business methods and approaches to differentiate its operations from others in the market. However, with rising customer expectations and the fast-paced of today’s markets, these approaches may work for a time and eventually, continuing along that path can become a race to the bottom.

Although innovation is among the approaches that can be employed, it is often overlooked or not given serious consideration. But in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, being innovative is the key to survival. We thus offer five tips businesses can employ to foster a culture of innovation and consistently outpace their competitors.

 

1.  Go beyond your customer

We all know the adage, “The customer is always right”. Although there may be some truth to that, especially regarding customers’ spending power, it is also true that most customers do not know what they want until they experience it. In other words, they didn’t know they needed a particular item or service until they had an opportunity to use it.

For an innovative business, it thus means that it needs to see beyond its customers’ current wants and needs. Run-of-the-mill customer surveys and research are not enough. Anticipating future needs, analysing industry shifts and keeping abreast of emerging technologies must also be done.

 

2. Foster a culture of innovation

Although many organisations say that they foster a culture of innovation, in practice, all too often, that is not the case. The sad truth is that it is easier said than done, especially in the Caribbean region where resources are often limited, and there is an inherent and pervasive fear of failure.

However, it is only through experimentation that innovation can thrive, and failure is fundamental to, and a core part of almost every stage of the innovation process. A huge mind shift is thus crucial to empower employees to innovate, to encourage risk-taking and the exploration of new ideas, and to reward individuals and teams should they develop innovative solutions.

 

3.  Emancipate your mind and that of your teams

We all talk about ‘thinking outside the box’, but it takes conscientious and sustained effort to do so as we often do not realise how constrained our thinking and reasoning have become. Hence to break those shackles, it is vital that we are not afraid to question the status quo, challenge every assumption, and explore unconventional approaches.

Further, it is easy to focus our attention almost exclusively on our field or industry, which can limit our perspective and sources of inspiration, essentially locking us in the existing ‘box’, so to speak. When trying to think outside the box, we need to be looking outside the box – to see and learn what might be happening in other areas or fields, which in turn we may be able to apply in our own business.

 

4. Embrace and leverage technology

Although this point might seem like a no-brainer, most organisations are half-hearted about technology and how they use it. To varying degrees, they are not prepared to invest in technology and often make do with using free services that are not fully aligned with their needs, which in turn hampers productivity, efficiency and effectiveness.

To counteract this, organisations need to stay informed of new and emerging technologies that can disrupt their industry. They also need to invest in and use technology to streamline processes, gather useful data, and improve customer experiences. The more aware businesses are of emerging technology and are using technology to maximise their operations, they will be in a better position to understand how to capitalise on emerging opportunities and to use technology strategically going forward.

 

5. Iterate, iterate, iterate

Finally, following from the earlier point on experimentation, this point emphasises the importance of trial and error. Innovation is not a destination, it is a journey, but many organisations do not have the necessary systems in place – or the tenacity – to achieve positive and meaningful outcomes.

Setbacks are part of the process and are crucial to refine ideas or even to go back to the drawing board. However, it is useful to be systematic by clearly documenting ideas and processes, measuring and tracking progress and the impact of tweaks that are made. It is often through the iteration process that breakthroughs are made.

 

 

Image credit:  Gerd Altmann (Pixabay)