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Posts Tagged ‘Innovation’

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No Right Brain Left Behind Fosters Innovation

February 7th, 2011 ::

By Rieva Lesonsky

There’s a creativity crisis happening in U.S. schools—and that matters to small business because, if tomorrow’s graduates don’t know how to think creatively, our businesses will be left without an important source of innovation.

What can you do to help solve the problem? Stopp Inc., an international digital creative agency, is sponsoring a challenge called No Right Brain Left Behind (NRBLB) in collaboration with Social Media Week (February 7-11), the program’s goal is to address the creativity crisis in U.S. schools by tapping into the power of businesspeople in creative industries.

NRBLB challenges the creative industry to come up with ideas that will foster and nurture creativity in the school curriculum. “While the power of ideas and creativity is undisputed, the current school curriculum is all about standardized testing, deemphasizing the importance of right brain skills like creativity, inventiveness, empathy and other soft skills,” Stopp Inc. explained in announcing the challenge.

Teams from across the creative community are invited to participate in the five-day challenge, which begins today. Participants will be briefed today at Social Media Week in New York City, and can submit ideas online for the rest of the week. (You don’t have to attend Social Media Week to participate—you can find out more about the program online by viewing the NRBLB presentation, then sign up and submit ideas at the NRBLB site.

An expert panel will judge submissions and select three winning ideas that will be featured online, with the goal to implement the ideas as pilot programs in the 2012 school year.

“This collaboration will demonstrate the ability of our leading creative minds to develop innovative and thoughtful solutions where conventional thinking falls short,” notes Viktor Venson, Creative Director of Stopp LA and creator of the NRBLB initiative.  “It is not about creating more artists. It’s about giving teachers and students tools to efficiently and creatively approach today’s problems.”

Inspiring student creativity is not only a noble goal, it’s a key step in keeping U.S. businesses competitive in the world of global innovation. I hope you’ll check out the NRBLB program and participate!

Image by Flickr user Yepy Rustam (Creative Commons)

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Posted in Innovation | No Comments »

Intuit 2020 Report: 20 Trends That Will Shape the Next Decade

January 3rd, 2011 ::

By Rieva Lesonsky

As we head into 2011, one way to help ensure business success is to stay on top of trends. Trendwatching doesn’t just mean paying attention to today’s fads—it means looking far ahead into the future. To help, Intuit recently released its Intuit 2020 Report: 20 Trends That Will Shape the Next Decade. The report, based on several years of research from the Institute for the Future and Emergent Research, is a broad overview of trends affecting business in the next decade.

“Effects of the Great Recession will continue to reverberate globally, with slower growth, less credit and greater uncertainty churning the marketplace,” the report states. “Yet, in spite of this turbulence, a new economy will grow, one that holds promise for businesses large and small, and consumers around the world.”

Here are some of the key trends:

Big and small businesses will collaborate. Big companies will get even bigger, but they’ll also reach out to small ones in new ways. “Small firms will contribute innovative practices with market agility and customer knowledge that big firms can’t easily achieve. Big firms will offer small businesses marketing and distribution power, enabling them to penetrate broader markets more effectively.”

Small businesses will become more flexible. Credit shortages will continue to affect small businesses, but they’ll be able to work around and find cheaper methods of operating, including “enhanced cloud services, a broader contingent workforce and greater options for plug-and-play manufacturing. Small businesses will rely on variable cost business models to adapt, respond and adjust.”

Niche businesses will rise. As niche businesses become more prevalent, “Small businesses will proliferate,” the authors write. “The Web and mobile technologies will become the great equalizer of big and small, with customers no longer knowing – or even caring – about the size of the firm that provides their goods and services.”

Business and life will go mobile. “As technology prices fall, highly sophisticated mobile technologies will become pervasive,” the report predicts. “Smartphones and other mobile devices will emerge as the new standard for everyday computing, often replacing or completely bypassing desktop and laptop computing.” Not only will your business be able to take advantage of smartphone and mobile computing power, but you’ll also need to adapt to the many ways your customers—whether businesses or consumers—are using mobile in their lives.

Innovation will increase. With equipment and technology costs dropping, it will become easier and cheaper to test new ideas, launch new products or expand your business into new markets.

Read the full Intuit report for much, much more.

Image by Flickr user Steve Dean (Creative Commons)

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Posted in Innovation, Small Business | 2 Comments »

Business Lessons From This Season’s Hot Holiday Toy

December 10th, 2010 ::

By Rieva Lesonsky

It’s becoming rarer these days to hear of a small business triumphing over the giants. That’s why I was delighted to read this New York Times story about Squinkies, a hot kids’ collectible that’s taking the holiday shopping season by storm.

If you don’t have any kids on your gift list, here’s a quick rundown of Squinkies: The tiny, plastic characters, packaged in plastic bubbles, sell for $10 for a pack of 16—making them an affordable gift for cash-strapped parents. If you do have kids who love Beanz, Polly Pockets or other tiny toys, you can clearly see the appeal.

There are several lessons any growing business that’s trying to launch a consumer product can draw from the Squinkies story.

  1. Stay on top of trends. Squinkies creator Bill Nichols’ 8-year-old company, Blip Toys, has only 16 employees but has had hits with several novelty toys in the past. Nichols was trying to get an idea for a low-cost toy, so he strolled the aisles at Toys R Us to see what small toys existed. He saw there wasn’t a lot that was new (Polly Pocket, a main competitor, has been around for a while).
  2. Know what your target customers like. Nichols learned from connections in Wal-Mart’s Japanese division that vending machine toys are popular there. He also saw they were popular at malls, amusement parks and elsewhere in the U.S., so he decided to package Squinkies in a plastic bubble, just like vending-machine toys—creating instant familiarity for kids.
  3. Fit the product to the need. There are still plenty of high-priced toys out there, but parents watching their budgets are desperate for affordable items that still pack enough punch to be exciting. At $10 for 16 Squinkies, the product fits the bill.
  4. Spur desire for more. Squinkies are collectible—each one is different—so no kid is going to want to stop at that first pack of 16. Like Bandz (those rubber wristbands that come in different shapes) Squinkies are a cheap way to satisfy kids’ urge for more, more, more.
  5. Use influencers to spread the word. Before the product hit shelves in August, Nichols targeted influential “mommy bloggers” by sending them test product. He garnered tons of reviews that helped spread the word.

End result? Squinkies are in such high demand that stores are already running out and were nominated for a Toy of the Year award.

Image by Flickr user Alan Cleaver (Creative Commons)

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6 Steps to Spotting Trends Your Business Can Profit From

December 6th, 2010 ::

By Rieva Lesonsky

As a small business owner, you may not think of yourself as a trend-watcher. Truth be told, spotting trends is a key ability small business owners must possess. Whether you’re starting a new business or growing your existing one, you need to know what products and services are hot (and becoming more so), what kinds of customers have money to spend and what industries are growing…or declining. Tracking trends can keep you on top of all of these things.

Try these 6 tips to boost your trend-spotting skills.

  1. Keep up with industry news. The first step to trend-watching is keeping on top of your industry news. Read the major trade publications and websites; sign up to get e-mail newsletters or RSS feeds on topics of interest.
  2. Stay in the loop. Join industry-related social networking groups, whether on Facebook, LinkedIn or more industry-specific sites. By regularly chatting about what others in your industry are doing, you’ll stay on top of trends.
  3. Think like your target market. Next step: Expand beyond your industry to learn to think like your target customers do. If you market to moms, read mommy blogs and parenting magazines. Find out what magazines, websites, social networks, TV shows and radio stations your customers are into, and learn from them.
  4. Think outside the office. You can read, e-mail and tweet all you want, but there’s no substitute for getting out in the real world. Make it a point to regularly go where your target customers hang out, whether that’s a downtown business area, a local mall or a hip restaurant row. Sit and observe; listen in if you can. Take note of what types of products, fashions, gadgets and foods you see.
  5. Think city. Let’s face it – most trends don’t start in Des Moines; they start in big urban areas. Pay attention to what’s going on in New York City, Los Angeles and Miami. Also think further afield. Tokyo, Paris, London and other key cities abroad are places to watch for new ideas. It’s easier than ever to find out what’s going on worldwide by regularly checking global websites.
  6. Mix it up. No matter what your business or industry, it’s important to introduce an element of freshness into your thinking. Check out hip, edgy or youth-oriented websites and magazines from time to time. Even if you sell office copier products to corporate purchasing agents, you just might get a smart idea on how to redesign your company’s website or repackage your products from reading a surfer magazine.

Image by Flickr user Dan Quieroz (Creative Commons)

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Are You an Entrepreneur, or a Small Business Owner?

April 7th, 2010 ::

Orange and gray gears

fpsurgeon/Flickr

Innovation is the wheel that keeps the business world turning.  Without it, we’d be living in energy inefficient homes, driving cars that run on leaded gasoline, and wearing parkas that don’t really block wind or keep us dry in a downpour.  Innovation is that little—and sometimes big—something that separates entrepreneurs from small business owners.

In this, the final of a three part series based on a conversation I had with CPA and small business consultant Jason Howell, I share with you Jason’s thoughts on entrepreneurship, which are in turn based on Peter Drucker’s writings and thoughts.    

For those of you who are only vaguely familiar with Peter Drucker’s name, he was a writer, management consultant, and self-described “social ecologist.” (He passed away in November 2005.)  I’ll let Wikipedia take over from here: “He…explored how humans are organized across the business, government, and the nonprofit sectors of society.  His writings have predicted many of the major developments of the late twentieth century, including privatization and decentralization; the rise of Japan to economic world power; the decisive importance of marketing, and the emergence of the information society with its necessity of lifelong learning.  In 1959, Drucker coined the term “knowledge worker” and later in his life considered knowledge work productivity to be the next frontier of management”.  (The hyperlinks were supplied by Wikipedia, too.)

Peter Drucker described an entrepreneur as someone who innovates.  He or she looks at a product or service in a different way and reinvents it to offer something new.  A small business owner, on the other hand, is simply someone who owns a business and replicates what others have done. 

As Jason pointed out, entrepreneurs make a difference in the community, the country, the industry, and/or the world.  There was already light, but Thomas Edison transformed our concept and use of light when he invented the light bulb.  There was already a process in place to build a car, but Henry Ford took it to a whole new level when he invented the assembly line.  Everyone who gets into business does so to make a difference on some level. Maybe that difference is not as life-changing as inventing, say, the microchip, but one that makes a difference nonetheless.

“If someone laughs at your idea, it’s probably a new one.”  Jason couldn’t remember who said it, but I think it’s a great quote.  Even though there’s a fear of innovation and the change it will bring, innovation attracts people.  Think about big, innovative companies who have truly changed the way we live or do things.  Microsoft, Google, and Apple immediately spring to mind, probably because I use their products/services on a daily basis.

But there are lots of smaller companies out there that have changed how things are traditionally done in their industry too.  Check out Wexley School for Girls, which is not a school, is not for girls, and was not founded by someone named Wexley.  It’s a very different kind of ad agency based in Seattle, WA that has one of the funniest, coolest, hippest, wow-est, and most irreverent websites I have ever visited.  I don’t even know them, but I love them.

If you’re company does things differently, find those first adopters, those people who will appreciate and embrace your different-ness, who will love your new product or service.   You never know how being innovative could change your life—or the world.

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Posted in Entrepreneurs, Innovation, small business | 6 Comments »

Marketing, the Small Business Success Index, and You

March 19th, 2010 ::

Network Solutions and the Center for Excellence in Service at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business released the findings of their Small Business Success Index survey on February 16.  The index is designed to track the competitive health of the small business sector over time, and the results are always interesting.  Scores in 6 categories are graded; marketing and innovation got a C-.  Let’s see why: 

From celestehodges on Flickr[S]mall businesses perceive themselves at a disadvantage in marketing and innovation.

That statement surprised me, because one of the key findings of the survey was that small business owners have embraced social media: social media usage has increased from 12% to 24% in just 12 months.  Since social media is widely seen as an excellent tool to level the playing field between big, multi-national companies and small, me-myself-and-I businesses, it would seem to me that the small business owners who are using Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn (the most popular social media sites) are doing something right with their marketing strategy. 

But then I read this: 

Common marketing methods for reaching potential customers include print advertising (37%), email marketing (24%), social media marketing (19%), telephone sales (18%), direct mail (17%) and broadcast advertising (14%).

I honestly do not understand why so many small businesses still use print and broadcast advertising.  I considered advertising in a local magazine for business women last year.  But then I realized how tiny the chance was that potential customers would not only see my ad but remember it, too.  I’d have to invest a lot of money to run that ad every month. Think about it: what if your potential customers don’t have time to read that newspaper issue, or listen to the radio that week because they’re on vacation, or watch TV because they lost cable during a big snowstorm?   You just spent all that money, and what kind of leads did it generate?  If you’re getting a great ROI using traditional advertising methods, good for you, but if you’re not, time to talk to a marketing strategist, who will save you time and money (in the long run).

Back to social media:

The majority of small business owners who use social media (58%) feel the medium has so far ‘met expectations.’  Another 12% feel it has ‘exceeded expectations’ but twice as many, 26%, feel it has ‘fallen short of expectations.’ 

The fact that 70% of small businesses are finding new customers, engaging with current customers, and generating awareness with social media is encouraging, as it proves that integrating social media into your marketing efforts is worthwhile.   

Half of users, though, said social media has used up more time than expected.  Yes, it does take time, but it is time well-spent.  Being able to so easily connect with people who want, need, and/or use your company’s product or service is an amazing opportunity that was not possible just a few years ago.  Embrace technology, don’t run from it.     

I am active on Facebook (professionally only—I do not use it for my “regular” life), Twitter, and LinkedIn, and I write blog posts for Grow Smart Business.  You need not be active on a handful of sites, though.  Pick one or two and stick with them.  There are lots of guides, white papers, and articles online that contain valuable information on how to use social media effectively.  Spend an hour or two on research, and either put together a new marketing strategy yourself or, like I said above, hire an expert to help you.

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Posted in Marketing, Small Business Success Index, social media | 10 Comments »

Innovate or Perish. Small Businesses are Having a Tough Time Innovating.

March 8th, 2010 ::

Network Solutions and the Center for Excellence in Service at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business released the findings of their Small Business Success Index survey on February 16.  The index is designed to track the competitive health of the small business sector over time, and the results are always interesting.  Scores in 6 categories are graded; innovation got a C-.  Let’s see why:

Innovation is Not Just About Creating a Cooler Widget. It is about Business Innovation Overall.

When many people hear the word innovation they immediately think of products like the iPhone that change the landscape and innovate an industry. While not every business can create a product like the iPhone, they can innovate. Slightly less than half of small businesses are successful in innovation. This is around the areas business process innovation, which includes coming up with new ideas before competitors and finding ideas to increase revenue.

The most recent SBSI wave examined marketing and innovation in greater detail, including the methods used by small businesses to attract new customers. When asked about six common categories used to obtain new business, the most common method – relied on by over a third of small businesses – is traditional print advertising such as newspapers, trade journals, and magazines. After this, email marketing is the second most common method used by a quarter of small businesses, and social media marketing which is used by a fifth. Half of small businesses do not use any of the six standard categories for marketing leads, but the majority of these “other” channels consists of reliance on referrals and word of mouth; this includes direct referrals, leads that come to the business because of its general reputation, or referrals by other businesses. Besides referrals, “other” types of marketing methods tend to be idiosyncratic methods related to the business such as:

  • Walk- in traffic
  • Outdoor advertising such as signs and vehicles
  • Farm markets, craft shows, etc.
  • Conferences, trade shows, and meetings (e.g., the Chamber of Commerce)
  • Agricultural commodities markets
  • Directories (print and online)
  • Personal selling and cold calling
  • The GSA Schedule for federal government business
  • Volunteering in the community

The Economy has Been an Innovation Catalyst

An interesting thing I saw in the SBSI is that the economy has a silver lining in a dark cloud. The recession has had some positive effects on small business innovation, including leading them to:

  • Find more efficient ways to operate (72 percent)
  • Find new products and services to meet customer needs (47 percent)
  • Become a better team (43 percent)
  • Reduce inefficient or unnecessary staff (31 percent)

The Economy: A silver lining in a dark cloud. The recession has had some positive effects onsmall businesses, including leading them to:· Find more efficient ways to operate (72 percent)· Find new products and services to meet customer needs (47 percent)· Become a better team (43 percent)· Reduce inefficient or unnecessary staff (31 percent)

The Bottom Line: Innovate or Perish

So you now know that innovation is not just for making newer cooler electronics or widget. It is about innovating with your processes, learning about how to go against your competitors and use tools like social media to stand out. To survive you must innovate or perish. That’s it. So what are you waiting for?

Download the SBSI Report Right Now

If you are reading this on the web site, GrowSmartBusiness.com, you should see a link to the report or if you don’t or a looking at this in a feed reader, you can get the report at http://growsmartbusiness.com/wp-content/files/SBSI_February_2010.pdf

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Posted in Innovation, small business, Small Business Success Index | 6 Comments »

Millennial Erica Douglass Shares Her Thoughts about the Small Business Success Index

April 15th, 2009 ::

The Small Business Success Index provides small business owners and entrepreneurs with best practices to improve their businesses. This is part of a series of interviews with small business owners, entrepreneurs and small business experts providing their insights about the index results.

erica_douglass2Erica Douglass started her own Internet-based business (a web hosting company) during the tech downturn and at the age of 20. She noticed that many large web hosting companies were going out of business and her customers wanted good web hosting company referrals.  Erica felt at that time she couldn’t find one. Despite having little or no concept of how to run a business, she started her own.

At the ripe age of 27, Erica decided to “retire” and sold her business for $1.1 million. It grew to over $1 million per year in revenue without any investors and Erica spent less than $25,000 on marketing. She now provides insights about her business experience on her site Erica.biz.

IF YOU LIKE THE INTERVIEW YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ, YOU WILL LOVE THIS:

At the end of this month, Grow Smart Business – a new Network Solutions blog, resource hub, and home to the Small Business Success Index – hosts its first webinar hosted by Network Solutions CEO, Roy Dunbar

Learn from the risks taken, lessons learned, and success attained from a great webinar panel. Join entrepreneurs and business leaders for this free, live webcast. And get a chance to learn from their experience in securing capital and deciding their approach to marketing.

When: Thursday, April 30 from 2-3pm ET,

To register: Visit http://growsmartbusiness.eventbrite.com.

Network Solutions: What did the study reveal to you about the success of small businesses in 2008?
Erica: The study revealed that even though we tech folks consider the Internet to be “saturated” and no longer growing, there are clear opportunities for helping small businesses take advantage of online technologies. It fascinated me that the only technology more than half of the small businesses polled use is email. Clearly, there are ample opportunities for companies wanting to help more small businesses grow using the Internet.

Network Solutions: The study captured six dimensions for measuring success: Capital Access, Marketing and Innovation, Workforce, Customer Service, Computer Technology and Compliance. What do you think are the top priorities for making small businesses more competitive?
Erica: Marketing, to me, is really the key. Learning how to talk about your business in terms of what your customers want as opposed to what you offer is a key concept, yet many small business websites (and even business cards!) still say the same thing: My name ___; my company is ___; we do ___. There’s no acknowledgement of what customers actually want. As the old saying goes, you shouldn’t advertise that you sell drills; you should advertise that your customers will get their paintings hung with your help.

Network Solutions: According to the results, Capital Access and Marketing and Innovation were the two biggest inhibitors for success. Do you agree? Why or why not?
Erica: I definitely agree. Capital was a struggle for my company as well, and marketing is a challenge for nearly all small businesses.

Network Solutions: How does the current economic state affect Capital Access and Marketing and Innovation?
Erica: Capital access is becoming better with new 90%-guaranteed SBA loans, but many business owners should reconsider whether they need capital at all. Can you cut down your hours at work (something many employers may be happy to do in this environment anyway) and use that extra time to start your business? Instead of searching for capital first and developing a product second, entrepreneurs today have to create a product that people love first, and place capital-raising on the back burner.

Network Solutions: The results show that 1/3 of small businesses feel they are successful in building the profitability of the owner. What is your advice for entrepreneurs and small business owners in terms of increasing the value of their company?
Erica: The wisest thing you can do as a company owner is to find a niche and dominate it. In my former industry, web hosting, no acquirer wanted to buy a generic “web hosting” company that did everything. I ended up splitting my company into two pieces, selling one piece, reinvesting the capital earned, and then selling the second, larger piece later. “Web hosting” isn’t a niche. “Small business web hosting” isn’t a niche. But “dedicated servers for Silicon Valley’s hottest startups” is a great niche. (That was mine.) Another good niche I’ve seen more recently in web hosting is “Blog hosting, with WordPress pre-installed and all the plugins you need ready to go.” It’s a great idea that was long overdue.
I wrote about niches in my blog post “Why Your Business Isn’t Doing As Well As It Could Be.”

Network Solutions: According the study, “small businesses rely on a range of Internet business solutions and computer technologies to succeed.” What online services do you think best help entrepreneurs and small businesses? Why?
Erica: The best online services to help entrepreneurs will really be the businesses helping entrepreneurs figure out what services are most productive for them. Setting up Twitter and Facebook accounts, for instance, isn’t as productive as knowing how to use those services for maximum gain.

Network Solutions: In your opinion, how can entrepreneurs and small businesses use the SBSI to their advantage?
Erica: Knowing what other small businesses are struggling with will help you create a better product, especially if (like many small businesses) your target market is other small businesses. Make some phone calls to current or prospective customers and ask how you can best help them. As I like to say, pretty much every small business that’s even marginally profitable has a problem they would pay you $500/month to solve. Find this, make it a replicable product or service, and you have a gold mine of a business.

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Posted in Entrepreneurs, Interviews, small business | 4 Comments »

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