Six Ways to Build Innovation in Your Business

Written by Judy W Bell on January 12, 2011. Posted in Innovation

In order to have innovation in our professional or personal lives, we must intentionally build habits into our days that make innovation ripe for the pickin’.

Here are 6 Ways to build innovation in your business:

Ask questions: Either out loud to others or at least to yourself quietly. Be curious!
Never stop learning: Ask questions (see above), read, take courses, study.
Utilize business mentors: Have a group of friends with whom you regularly eat lunch or dinner, share insight and data, and discuss problems and opportunities.
Think “outside” of your industry: Look for parallels. There are similarities in all industries. If you constantly look inside your industry, “group think” will likely occur.
Break out of old customer patterns: Customer retention is almost always paramount! But some customers should be culled. This is when they are no longer a productive customer and are not in alignment with where your company is going. Look for some new customers who are eager to succeed.
Look for under served markets: There are literally hundreds of thousands of markets (people, communities, small businesses, and large corporations) that have a need that no one is filling. Find that niche.