Innovation is the lifeblood of any successful business whatever its size and is especially important for SMEs. Deliver ‘me too’ products or service as an SME and you may not be around to see the error of your ways.
It would be wonderful to have a dedicated R&D department but for most SMEs this is a dream rather than the reality. However, there are ways you can encourage innovation within your business without a big budget.
Business Innovation & Skills – 12 Ways
1. Implement weekly brainstorms for all staff and encourage cross departmental communication.
2. Create an employee suggestion box and promote its use.
3. If applicable arrange regular competitor site visits – works well for retail/restaurants/hotels etc – Have a staff member report back to the group.
4. Give someone the responsibility to compile competitor analysis reports/summaries.
5. Take staff to hear business speakers or to industry workshops.
6. Organise a Company away day – a fresh environment often leads to fresh ideas.
7. Hold Stop, Start, Improve (SSI) meetings with staff – What should we stop doing? What should we start doing? What should we improve?
8. Create a positive and encouraging work environment. Flat structure with lots of positive energy and open-mindedness.
9. Consider a re-design of the workspace to make it more conducive to creativity and innovation.
10. Encourage thinking time as well as the normal implementation or ‘to do’ tasks.
11. At company meetings encourage discussion of companies that do innovation well such as Apple, Google and Facebook.
12. Encourage people to try and ‘allow failure’ –
‘I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.’ – Michael Jordan
We hope you found this information useful. Need help implementing? Give us a call on +44 845 2264 247 or email us via mail@marketingfundamentals.com and we will respond quickly.
Kindest regards,
Marketing Fundamentals Team
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