Finding Your Innovation Inspiration

Innovation is the driving force behind business. For many people it’s the reason they started a company altogether. There’s a thrill in thinking up the next big idea, and breathing life into a product or service that revolutionizes the way we think and live. Then again, innovation doesn’t always have to be HUGE, as long as you’re solving a problem or meeting a need in a new way it still counts.

No matter how you define it, innovation begins with the germ of an idea. Genius is not required, rather all you need do is drop your pre-conceived notions, and open yourself up to new experiences. Here are a few ideas to get your brain matter sparking:

1) Start with yourself. Keep a notepad in your pocket and make a note of everyday products or tasks that either frustrate you, or take up an absorbent amount of time. If it’s causing you headaches, chances are you’re not alone.

2) Look to your hobbies. Look and the tools used and products you buy for your hobbies. Why do you like them? What makes them better then the ones you don’t buy? Can they modified and applied to a different industry?

An Overview of Using Surveys for Market Research

Using Surveys for Market Research

Most of us, at one point in our life, have been asked to complete a survey. I know I have certainly been asked to complete surveys - most recently by a PhD student I encountered at the local Starbucks! Having personally never relied upon large scale surveys to guide new product design, I wanted to explore the role surveys could play in launching new ventures. Here’s what I have found.

From a pedagogical level, a survey is a short or long questionnaire designed to solicit feedback on a product or service. They are typically used to assess customer satisfaction, conduct customer segmentation studies, evaluate product usage, and, among other things, understand the perceptions consumers have of a business brand. The data gained through survey information are also descriptive; they are expressed in percentages terms and frequency counts, and sometimes cross-tabulated for the purpose of comparison. And while the aforementioned definition and uses of surveys are simplistic and intuitive, their execution is not. Just like business forecasting, it is part art and part science. And just like business forecasting, garbage in yields garbage out.

An Overview of Market Research For Entrepreneurs

Validating a product idea through market research is a critical step in launching new products.  But what exactly is market research, and how does an entrepreneur or established small business owner conduct such research?  In my attempt to answer these questions I turned to Wikipedia and then Google.   Interestingly enough, the most comprehensive definition I encountered came not from the web, but from Edward F. McQuarrie’s book, “The Market Research Toolbox: A Concise Guide for Beginners.”

McQuarrie defines market research as any effort to gather information about markets or customers.   These efforts include utilizing secondary research, visiting potential and existing customers, conducting focus groups, running surveys, and conducting conjoint analysis.

The Process of Identifying and Launching New Products & Companies

The process of launching  a new product or company  is a discipline that anyone can learn and through repetition excel at.  There is a method to the madness.  As entrepreneurs and business owners, developing a competency in the process is one of our primary job functions.   If we want our respective companies to grow and withstand the tests of time, we must systematically build this discipline into our organizations.

There are two approaches to launching new products and companies. The first approach identifies an idea, validates the idea through market research, and then creates a business plan to make the idea a reality.  The entire process is “idea centric.”  The second approach (the one smbZen favors), begins with self-awareness.  It asks: (a) what are our, or our company’s traits and abilities, (b) our combined expertise and training, (c) who do we collectively know, and (d)  as a consequence of these three questions, what can we do?  This approach is entirely “people-centric.”

Nurturing Innovation Within Your Small to Medium Sized Business

Innovation is the lifeblood a company.  As such, small business owners and executive managers at larger companies spend considerable time searching for the next big thing, the next product or service that will propel growth.  While this particular role is assigned to a few individuals within the company, a decentralized approach might yield more innovative opportunities.  Instead of searching for innovations, perhaps a company’s top management should instead search for individuals within the company who may be innovative.

In this month’s edition of the Harvard Business Review, Jeffery Cohn, a leadership assessment and succession planning expert at Spencer Stuart, and Jon Katzenback and Guz Vlac, partners consulting firm Katzenback Partners, discuss the systematic search for innovators in their article Finding and Grooming Breakthrough Innovators.  The article is a byproduct of their study on the innovative strategies employed by 25 organizations across multiple industry.  Key findings are that successful companies have established policies to support innovation and that these policies typically involve four steps.

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