- Believing innovation is too costly: Innovation does not need to be a complicated, time-consuming activity. Learning a system for identifying and developing innovative ideas takes a bit of time, but it can create huge returns in the form of new products or features.
- Waiting to get bigger: Waiting until your business reaches a particular size is a common mistake. Small businesses can often innovate better and faster than larger companies. This speed and flexibility allows small businesses to get new products to market faster and position themselves as a market leader.
- Thinking that innovation is not relevant to their industry: Many people have the mistaken belief that innovation is just for technology-based companies. This is just not the case. Businesses in any industry can apply innovative ideas to grow their revenue and develop a strong position in their market.
- Failing to involve the entire team: Every person in your organization has unique experiences and perspectives on different aspects of the business. However, many business leaders limit the company’s innovation activities to a few people, such as product developers or founders. People outside the product development area have an advantage when developing ideas, because they are not limited by “the way things have always been done.”
- No system for identifying innovative ideas: Successful businesses have a system for identifying creative ideas. Since many innovations solve problems or fill market gaps, the innovation process starts by finding opportunities to develop creative solutions. Many new ideas are incremental changes, not revolutionary new products.
- Not evaluating ideas thoroughly before making decisions: Identifying new ideas is an important activity. But, you must evaluate the ideas and take action to implement the best ones that allow your business to grow.
- Failing to celebrate innovation: Innovation does not have to be boring! If you have not worked with an innovative company, you may not understand that creativity can be fun, and that the more you celebrate creativity the more innovative your company will become. Reward creative thinking and celebrate those who submit great ideas that help the business grow.
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