It’s Hard to Constantly Innovate
As a small business running a generally small operation, with only a bare-bones team of 9, it’s hard to squeeze innovation into the equation, when everyone’s running at 110% focused strictly on their core competencies. Sure, we each get the occasional ‘light bulb’ idea, that seems like it will be a game-changer in our space, but how can we possibly find the time to implement and execute this new and exciting concept?
There are always issues with innovation, which usually starts with the failure to fully configure exciting new ideas. We’ve tried things such as scheduling weekly meetings to brainstorm new ways to innovate with our businesses on the product side, the technology end, even on the marketing front, and with quite possibly five-to-ten awesome new ideas each week, even having three might be a bit much because at the next weekly meeting we might realize that we weren’t even able to fully execute on two whole concepts.
Businesses are never, ever short on creative ideas for pivots and improvements. What they’re mostly short on is resources both in human capital and money, which limits their ability to constantly innovate because a lot of efforts are spent on constantly maintaining what they already have.
Moving forward though, we’re pledging to innovate more often, allocating a little more time each week in each department to try something new for the betterment of the business because after 16 months in business, we realize that the only sin a business can commit is by being static, and even if things are going fine without any changes, things can’t really get any better and as a startup, we’re looking to constantly improve because staying the same is nothing short of failure.
Danny Wong is the Brand Manager for Blank Label Group, working with the startups Blank Label, Thread Tradition and RE:custom. Danny also blogs at HuffingtonPost, TheNextWeb and ReadWriteWeb.
March 9th, 2011 at 1:56 am
What about hiring interns to help with implementing plans or assisting key employees, freeing up more time for trying new things? The interns get valuable training and experience out of the deal.
March 9th, 2011 at 2:01 am
That could work, but our track record with hiring interns is awful. See my post on HuffPo about that:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/danny-wong/lessons-learned-from-mana_b_682860.html
We would hire more paid employees to support us because they can increase efficiencies, but generally, hiring great talent is very hard and sometimes it makes more sense to find personal efficiencies which would free up more time.
March 10th, 2011 at 1:45 am
I think that innovation is not about new ideas as there’s nothing new; everything you see these days are old ideas that underwent a major overhaul. The real question is: Who will come up with that revamped idea - first? This is what will separate innovators from those who simply dream big things. I’d have to agree with you on being static; there’s no such thing as a final product as your customers will reshape it with their demands and needs. Cheers!
March 12th, 2011 at 11:47 pm
So true. Great post!
March 15th, 2011 at 1:43 pm
Hi Danny,
I have a suggestion for you to increase innovation, and grow your bank account to be able to make those changes you need. Check out Business Breakthrough Summit, coming up live on April 2 & 3. If you want to send yourself or one of your employees, and get back with me as soon as possible, I still have tickets left for this event near the San Francisco airport. You will get a complimentary VIP pass from me, a $497 value. I guess I want to pay it forward and give someone else a chance. The woman who founded it, Caterina Rando is nothing short of amazing, and has been helping folks like you for 15 years. Don’t know where you are located, but you may call me at 510-814-8325 if you are interested. It is my last free ticket. If anyone else is interested and needs to grow their business over one weekend, April 2 & 3, 2011 go to the website to register. http://www.bizbreakthrough.com good luck everyone, and remember, always pay it forward and you will see success.
March 16th, 2011 at 6:14 pm
It’s too bad the interns didn’t work out, but I can see how managing them could drain your time. Thanks for sharing!