Many small businesses rely on internal personnel to generate ideas and procedures to grow the business.  While internal people are critical to the success of any business, an innovative business will seek the ideas and input of individuals outside the company to accelerate the growth of the business.

Unfortunately, many business leaders fall into the trap of believing that the business founders and other business personnel are best suited to identify all ideas related to growth of the business.  In many situations, these business leaders fail to seek (or simply ignore) input from people outside the company.  However, people outside the company’s day-to-day operations typically have a different perspective.  They are not caught-up in the systems, procedures, and other activities that dominate the lives of individuals working within the company.  These outside people look at the business with a fresh view and don’t bring with them the “baggage” collected by working within the business.

I recently took this advice in my own business.  I worked with an outside business strategist, Jeanette Cates, to look at my existing business and give me new ideas.  Although she knew nothing about my business before we started, she gave me a long list of great ideas to take my business to the next level.  Being an outsider to my business, Jeanette was unaware of the internal workings of my company.  Instead, she approached the systems and products I had put in place and questioned those systems and started asking whether I had considered other approaches to expanding my business.  She shared her experiences with other companies in which different business procedures were successfully implemented.  I would probably not have come up with many of the ideas Jeanette proposed, because I do not have the same experiences or the same background.

This is true of any business.  Regardless of the expertise of the business’ leaders, there are always other people outside the business with different experiences and backgrounds.  Additionally, these outside people are not distracted by the internal workings of the business.  Instead, they can view the business as something brand new and begin questioning everything the business is doing (or not doing).  An outside person does not get stuck in the “this is how we have always done things” syndrome.  Often, in a short period of time, an outside individual can suggest improvements that otherwise would not have been discovered by people working “inside” the business.

If you are looking for new ways to accelerate your business, consider getting a fresh perspective from someone outside your business.  Please share your own experiences with outside individuals in the comments below.

Following business trends (both general trends and trends in your particular industry) is important to the health and long-term success of your business.  Staying aware of trends does not mean that you need to be on the “cutting edge” of every trend.  But, you need to watch those trends so that your business does not become obsolete as your competitors leverage those trends to their advantage.

There are many examples of businesses that failed, at least in part, because they did not recognize trends in their own industry.  Blockbuster Video is one example.  There are many stories and theories regarding the reasons for the downfall of Blockbuster.  But, most business analysts agree that the company waited too long to revise its business model of renting DVDs from retail stores.  By the time the company began offering DVDs by mail, the strongest competitor offering that service (Netflix) already had a big lead.  Netflix has gone on to offer instant downloads as well – following the trend of growing Internet access and increased download capacities.

There are many factors that cause a particular company to experience problems, but it appears that Blockbuster’s failure to take action on industry trends was a significant part of its current problems.

When was the last time you looked at trends in your own industry?  What about general trends, such as increased mobile phone usage, mobile advertising and point-of-sale purchases using mobile phones?

You do not need to be on the very leading edge of these trends, but you cannot ignore trends that affect your business.  Social media is a good example.  Certain groups of people rely heavily on social media as their primary means of communication.  If your customers are in these groups, you need to have a social media presence if you want to reach these customers.

Keep an eye on others in your industry to see how they are adjusting to certain trends.  Don’t just copy what they are doing.  Be innovative and develop your own procedures or systems that leverage those trends to strengthen your business.

Many trends move quickly – spend some time this week studying current trends and look for ways to leverage those trends to grow your business.

I’ve read many articles about small businesses using new techniques to attract new clients or customers.  Some of these techniques are relatively simple, but produce a significant boost to the business.  A simple innovation in your business can help distinguish your products and services from those of your competitors.

Here’s an example of a local restaurant in my town that’s offering a new service to expand its sales.  The restaurant is a family-style restaurant that, until recently, did not offer continue reading…

Implementing an innovation strategy in your business may seem overwhelming at first.  I talk with many business leaders who are unclear about how to leverage innovation in their company.  I often hear something like “We are not a technology company, innovation doesn’t apply to us.”  Nothing is further from the truth.  All companies can benefit from innovation, regardless of size, industry or location.

Many business leaders fail to implement an innovation strategy because they don’t know how to get started and believe that it must be a time-consuming process.  However, the innovation process can be separated into a series of small steps that continue reading…

An Innovation Strategy provides many opportunities to reduce your company’s expenses. Properly managed innovation can streamline internal procedures, enhance the product development process, and simplify manufacturing operations, all of which can reduce business costs.

Innovating internal procedures includes managing the flow of information and documents throughout the company, and managing the handling and prioritizing of internal tasks. In some situations, innovating an internal procedure eliminates several steps or bottlenecks in the existing procedures. The streamlining of manufacturing and development procedures can accelerate the manufacturing or development time and cost, which results in a cost savings to the business.

When evaluating a business procedure, look for steps in the procedure that are not necessary, and eliminate those steps.  I have worked with several clients that were preforming internal procedures that were unnecessary.  When asked why they were performing the procedures, a common answer was continue reading…

Innovation provides many ways to increase revenue in your business. Properly managed innovation can increase sales of products or services.  An increase in sales can result from new products or services, as well as the introduction of new features for existing products or services.

Increased business revenue can result from:

1. New customers that are attracted to the innovative products or new product features.
2. Existing customers that purchase more of the new products or purchase the new products in addition to the products they previously purchased.
3. Existing customers that purchase more frequently due to the new product innovations.

For example, certain individuals may not have purchased a particular type of electronic device due to perceived problems or confusion with operating the device.  However, when a version of the device with an innovative user interface is developed by a new company, these individuals purchase the product from the new company due to the ease of use.  In this example, the innovative product brings new customers into the market and increased revenue for that company.

When developing an Innovation Plan, be sure to consider opportunities to increase business revenue with both existing customers and new customers.  Also, consider how innovative products (and product features) can attract new customers who have not previously purchased products in your market.

Identifying and leveraging innovations in your business can provide benefits to any type of business.  Here are my seven favorite benefits to help you expand your business.

1. Increase Revenue – Innovations increase company revenue by creating new products or services that attract new customers and get your current customers to purchase more from you.  Innovative product features that become a “must have” feature increase sales.
2. Reduce Expenses – Innovating internal procedures can significantly reduce a company’s everyday operating expenses.  Innovative manufacturing procedures will reduce manufacturing expenses, which strengthens your business.
3. Provide A Competitive Edge – New continue reading…