4 key ways to innovate in your business
Companies need to innovate. Innovate their processes, procedures, products and marketing. But how is this done, where can this happen.
We look at the 4 different categories of innovation that will give you a reference to work from in your business.
The four categories are:
Market Pull Innovation: A problem exists and is identified in a system or market. People get together to address this problem. This is solved either by using new technology or by reinventing the current processes or products. This results in a new solution that can be implemented and sold.
Technology Push Innovation: After much research and development a new technology breakthrough is achieved. This brings a new concept product offering to the market. The problem it solves is then identified to the market sectors and the product sold to address this new found problem.
Frugal Innovation: With a current system or process, the question is asked about improvement and how to do more with less. This results in cost saving, a positive environmental impact, and improved efficiency.
Marketing Innovation: The marketing for a product or service needs to reach a new breakthrough for either a new or existing product. The marketing is developed to address the market in a new and innovative manner resulting in deeper market penetration and improved sales.
What can your business do to be innovative in your current processes, procedures or new product ideas?
How Innovative are you?
Innovation comes in two forms. Either you are looking for new ideas that address and solve problems that don’t yet exist in the public realm or you are looking at way to redo things that already exist.
New innovation requires a lot more work, money and effort to get a new concept to market. The length of return on investment and issues of going through prototype designs, market research and market penetration requires a huge effort. This is required to move the world forward into new technologies and concepts that create progress for society and mankind.
The second type of innovation occurs when we look at the status quo and decide that it is not good enough and needs improvement. This could be related to an existing business or services or even a product. Looking for new ways to do old things in a new exciting way that offers better convenience at a cheaper rate is always welcome to the market.
Watch this week’s episode of Bruce on Business and begin your journey of innovation into the future of sustainable business.
Looking for Funding – Seed Afrika
Seed Afrika was established to help promising entrepreneurs in the Southern Africa region connect with seed stage capital and mentorship from Silicon Valley.
Seed Afrika work with the political and business networks within key verticals in Southern Africa to source vetted seed level deals for early-stage investors looking to find sustainable, profit-based investment return opportunities in Africa. Simultaneously Seed Afrika expose top African entrepreneurs to the networks they need to build pipelines to wealth and job creation for their own local communities.
Call for Entrepreneurs
Seed Afrika is currently looking for applicants for the 2016 funding round. Qualifying businesses will be matched to investors based on their profiles and investment needs. Both investors and businesses owners will meet together in Cape Town in October 2016 for a final round of discussion and pitching. During this time investment deals will be offered to those businesses that are accepted.
Seed Afrika is currently looking for businesses with the following criteria:
- Legally registered with CIPC
- Tax clearance certificate from SARS
- Available annual financial statements
- Operate within the Energy, Water (sanitation, management), Healthcare and finance/financial transactions sectors
- Have a minimum viable product (MVP)
- Reached Proof of Concept (POC) with paying clients
- Defined pipeline of customers
- Scalable business model
Funding deals range from $25k to $5m for either seed or series A funding rounds. Applications for Seed Afrika can be done through their local Cape Town based partner: Entrepreneur and Management Solutions.
Interested businesses should contact Bruce Wade directly on bruce@em-solutions for a detailed application form and initial assessment process.
Entrepreneur and Management Solutions will conduct an initial assessment and due diligence before advancing applications to Seed Afrika for consideration.
Is it time to say Sorry?
When was the last time you said sorry? As a leader of anything the word sorry os one that needs to be used both strategically and sympathetically at all times.
We see two types of leaders who misuse the word Sorry. The first are those who seem to start each sentence or communication with a Sorry. “Sorry to interrupt bu….”. “Sorry I am late…”. “Sorry I have an opinion…”.
Too many low self-esteem leaders have this learnt behaviour of using Sorry as a filler word just to begin speaking and add their opinion to the conversation. This is not the way to lead people. It creates a low image of the person in the eyes of others in the room and in return a sense of doubt.
The other side of the spectrum are those leaders who never say sorry. Those who in their own eyes are never wrong and have the need to apologise. These individuals are people who seem to live above the law both legally and do not do anything wrong.
In this short video we expand on both these types of leaders and look at their reasons for their behaviour.
We would love to hear some of your comments and thoughts.
How Should Leaders Reflect?
This weekend was my birthday, not anything special, but a birthday nonetheless. Each year at this time a few things happen that have been designed to allow me to reflect and pause a while in response to the year that has gone by:
I get an email from the FutureMe app. This email is from myself, written a year ago to my future self, now, the present day self. I have been doing this for 8 years now and each year it is a difficult email to read. I am never easy on myself and set huge expectations for my personal self, relationship and business goals. The email normally outlines the expectations and dreams I had for the year as well as giving hope and encouragement. But listening to yourself from a year ago is a strange and unnerving experience.
I then get to write another email, this time to the future self 12 months from now. How difficult it is to predict the future and hope for certain achievements and goals. We do not know where we will be unless we set our sites on the future and aim high. But this year seems just that little harder than before. There is so many uncertainty issues that hold the cards to my future, personally, in relationships and in business. I am also very focused on some health issues. So what does one say to the future?
I also get to celebrate this day with friends and family in the now. Time spent chatting, celebrating and living in the moment. The best time we have as we cannot begin to change the past or predict the future, we can only enjoy the moment we are in now.
Some interesting leadership themes here that I will allow you to unpack and marinate in your own time as I do. I can only trust that the future will be and that the present is and all that I do will be sufficient for both.