8 Ways To Generate New Ideas

The only purpose of a business is to bring in a customer;
and there are really only two ways to do it - through
marketing or innovation.

New ideas are the lifeblood of any business so it is important
to encourage creativity and to be truly innovative. But creativity
and innovation are not the same. Creativity is all about coming
up with new ideas, whereas innovation involves putting new ideas
into action.

New ideas can be very difficult to find. When you do find them
and put them into action, they can provide a powerful marketing
edge and become a license to print money.

Here are 8 ways to help generate new ideas:

1. Ask For Opinions

We get so close to what we are doing, that often we can't see
another way of doing things. To overcome this problem you
could hire consultants or simply seek opinions from someone
who knows absolutely nothing about your business. There are
times when we need to step outside our own environment,
because sometimes ideas used in one trade can be adapted to
another.

For example, which came first the ball-point pen or the roll-on
deodorant? They both use the same ingenious principle.

2. Encourage Staff Creativity
If you employ staff, encourage them to think up new ideas and get
them to suggest changes. You will need to be open-minded and
encourage their input. You'll need to be tolerant when their ideas
don't work. And you'll probably need to reward them in some way,
although you'll probably find that the satisfaction of "seeing their
ideas in action" may be reward enough.

3. Brain Storm
One of the best ways to tap into new ideas is through brainstorming.
This could involve family, friends, staff, customers and even other
business owners. The key with any brainstorming session is to
disallow any negative comments and to only analyse or develop
ideas once the session is over. The purpose of a brainstorming
session is to produce a quantity of ideas. It's quantity not quality.
Refining the ideas comes later.

4. Re-educate The Mind
There is an old saying, "you never stop learning" and it's true.
If you are willing to make a personal commitment to perpetual
re-education you'll reap the rewards. Allocate an annual budget
(maybe 1% of your turnover) for personal and staff re-education.
Consider training courses, seminars, workshops, audiotape
programs etc.

5. Become A Case Study
Consider approaching a local college or polytechnic that runs
business courses. Offer your business as a case study in return
for feedback from the students.

6. Become A Surfer
There is a wealth of information on the Internet and most of it
is free. Search other areas of business rather than just your
own as you might be able to adapt a totally unrelated idea.

7. Read And Subscribe
You can often find ideas in the most unlikely places. Business,
fashion and trade magazines are all worth a browse. These days
it's easy to subscribe to any number of overseas publications.

8. Travel
Opens your eyes visit similar (or even unrelated) businesses
overseas. You'll be surprised at how freely many of them share
their knowledge; after all you are not a threat to them. In my
travels I have made it a point to visit factories that make the
strangest things, huge shopping malls, numerous small businesses
and international marketing companies. I must work, because
each time I seem to come home buzzing with ideas.