7 Ways To Spark Innovation In Your Business
Leaders innovate. Followers follow. Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, was quoted as once saying, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” And he should know, right? But it’s true! As an aspiring entrepreneur, you’ll have business ideas that come and go, probably on a daily basis. It’s the hallmark of being an entrepreneur. But if you never take the risk and pursue those ideas, you will never be a leader. And to be a successful entrepreneur, you can’t sit around being a follower!
1. Innovation Power
Don’t take ideas for granted. If you’re having ideas, you’re part of a very small part of the population who does. If you act on those ideas you’re part of an even smaller part of the population, a part we refer to as, “Successful entrepreneurs.” When you get a business idea that you think is great and you can make work, you need to seize the opportunity to do just that! That’s how businesses and success is born—through action. Don’t put the idea out of your head, or worse, let someone else convince you it’s a “hair brained scheme.” Believe me, you will know the difference between the ones that are pipe dreams and the ones that really have some grit. The ones that can take you somewhere are those ideas that really move you. The more you think about them the more things fall into place and the more you want to get started and just get going! So don’t wait. When you get bit by an idea get started.
If you’ve ignored ideas, or haven’t done anything with them, no matter how long you’ve been in business, you may be in a rut. You’ve ignored ideas, now they’re ignoring you. You just need to get back to the possibilities party. Being in a dry funk is not a problem. There are things you can do to reawaken your idea generator, including:
2. Talk to the quiet ones. Find those people in your life that are usually quiet, yet observant, and have a chat about what they think about your idea. Introverts tend to mull things over in their minds more than most. They notice things that are overlooked and often have some of the most helpful feedback!
3. Take it to the masses. If there is something that you want to get off your chest or you want to get some feedback from peers, send it out to the masses online. Don’t put your innovative ideas on there, but just offer general information and seek feedback. You can post it on chat boards, in trade groups, or even blog about it. A dialogue will likely get started that will get you thinking and working through the possibilities.
4. Expand your horizons. Up until now, you’ve probably been kind of a homebody, focused more on what’s happening your geographic location rather than outside your circles. Try casting a bigger net and see what happens. With the Internet, you can reach people across the country or around the world. See what other people in your industry, especially in other countries, are doing. You can research, get ideas, and further your own!
5. Seek out success. As an innovator it’s important to surround yourself other successful and more successful people. As the old saying goes, “Iron sharpens Iron.” By associating with more powerful and successful people in your own industry, you’ll end up feeding off their energy and enthusiasm as well as expose yourself to their cutting edge ideas, which may spark ideas in you. Whatever you do, avoid surrounding yourself with those who are negative or who have failed at business. Their attitude will also be contagious, and when striving to be an innovator, it is the last thing you need.
6. See things differently. Reality is perception, perception is reality. While you know the way things are, always be open to seeing things in a different way. One of the most critical ways lawyers learn to be great lawyers is by practicing defending and attacking all sides of a case. It forces them to see things that prejudice towards one point of view tends to blind them to. Business owners can do the same thing; indeed, many ideas for new products and services came out of seeing things from a vendor or client’s perspective. Purposely putting procedures in a different light can help give you new insight and ideas. So every once in awhile, turn things on their head, shake things up, and see what settles. You just may be pleasantly surprised!
7. Taking the Lead. At one time everyone from Albert Einstein to Bill Gates sat where you are, and I mean in a cheap chair in a poorly decorated office, wondering how they were going to pay the rent, or in a bedroom wondering how to convince their parents dropping out of college to play with computers was a good thing. The point is, they had an idea, or more likely, quite a few of them. But they didn’t dismiss them as nonsense or say that they could never make it work. Instead, they asked how they could make it work, and focused on ensuring it would work, armed with an amazing idea, a dream, and the fearlessness necessary to be a leader.
So stop saying no and quite pushing those innovative ideas aside. Now is your time to show the world you are a leader.
