TEN SUCCESS-BOOSTING INNOVATIVE TIPS FOR YOUR BUSINESS - Mike Anderson , NSBC Founder and CEO
- Get your team on board. Have them involved in the entire innovation process, such as solving problems during a meeting and providing a suggestion box. Reward innovation and celebrate success. Appropriate incentives can play a significant role in encouraging staff to think creatively.
- Make innovation a routine. Schedule an hour or so each week to brainstorm and exercise your and your team’s creativity and establish goals that encourage you to improve your business.
- Encourage suggestions. Ask or survey your employees, customers and even your suppliers, if they have any suggestions on how you can improve your business.
- Create a supportive atmosphere in which people feel free to express their ideas without risk of criticism.
- Encourage risk- taking and experimentation-don’t penalise people who try new ideas that fail. Remember, fear destroys innovation.
- Stress that people at all levels of the business share responsibility for innovation, so everybody feels involved in taking the business forward. The fewer the layers of decision-making in your business, the more people feel their ideas matter.
- Look for imagination and creativity when recruiting new employees. Remember that innovative thinkers aren’t always those with the most impressive list of qualifications.
- You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Keep innovation simple by improving your existing products or services, trying out a new marketing strategy, or finding a supplier that is offering you a better rate.
- Invest in innovation. Purchase technology and equipment that can improve your business operations. Also, invest in developing new products and services.
- Educate yourself. Continue to learn new skills or information by attending workshops, webinars, conferences, local industry events, and reading everything from blog posts to books.
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