... MAKES ... (c) Pavel ... what ... doe
INNOVATION MAKES LEADERS
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copyright (c) Pavel Lenshin
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Basically what innovation does is making your business
unique and often more progressive in its development.
Looking deeper at positive influence of innovation allows us
to notice clear tendency from business stagnation to rapid
development depending on what level of innovation takes
place in business management and planning.
The logic behind is simple if your business is a clone in
its product and business structure, it will more likely to
experience difficulties in reaching set goals in comparison
with more innovative and therefore flexible competitive
predecessor. New and well-grounded approaches greatly raise
chances of any legal entity to take the lead over
competitors, because one cannot beat competition doing the
same things competitor does. It takes implementation of the
new progressive vision and steps in business development.
Business innovation is an organizational and behavioral
strategy any part of running business should be based on. In
other words, it is an alternative way of thinking and doing
business. There are times where conservative attitude allows
securing reached results and accumulating resources for
taking next step, still conservatism in Internet
surroundings is to be exception rather than rule.
Human is a conservative creature by nature, especially at a
mature age. We agree to face any evolutionism when we start
private business or under unordinary circumstances (yet 80%
of all people don't even want to take a risk of starting
their own businesses) but once all problems have been
settled, the need for "another angle of viewpoint" vanishes,
making us highly vulnerable in the face of external changes
and environment.
I used the word "risk" on purpose, as we know, any
innovation is a risk. Doing what others do may be a wise
strategy for slow moving - low profit development and it may
be good for big corporation where gross income in several
hundreds million dollars can "leverage" their reluctance for
adopting innovative measures.
Small business owner does not have such privilege. For
him/her it is usually a matter of survival to be innovative
or not.
Innovation is a feature and integral part of starting,
running and developing business, especially Internet
business nowadays. I laid stress on Internet business for
the unique competitive surrounding it possesses. While
competition in offline business world may "forgive" some
"imperfections" in plans, services, products or marketing
due to inability of instantly offering a good alternative,
business online instantly presents any visitor with
thousands of similar choices that can be reached with a
click of a mouse.
For every offline business owner having several direct
competitors on the same street is a nightmare, demanding
taking unordinary steps in order to "keep afloat".
For every online business owner hundreds, if not tens of
thousands, direct competitors "on the same street" are a
usual and inevitable feature of running online business from
the very beginning. Crucial part of making a difference here
is to implement innovative-based business tactics on a
constant basis.
There are many strategies of unique marketing measures that
brought success. I have personally emphasized the importance
of creating USP (Unique Selling Proposition), but all of
these advices are nothing more than a way of innovation
implementation.
Whether you are creating a new product, choosing a
web-design, setting up customer support or developing
marketing plan - be innovative and unique in your
approaches.
Every starting solo professional on the net experiences
shortage in everything but probably a desire to succeed, so
there is no point in reinventing the wheel.
Often we are forced to make a compromise. If we speak about
marketing strategy your next move may be well-known,
widely-used and, therefore, customer-response-depleted or,
on the other hand, innovative, unique and fresh, generating
exposure you have never anticipated. Unfortinately many of
us go the "conservative" way and that is why are doomed to
read success stories of others, trying to reproduce what
thousands marketers do vainly.
We are given proven tools that work - USP, time management,
branding, viral marketing, affiliate programs etc. they
represent the invented axe - a proven tool - with help of
which we need to cross the "Internet business ocean" and
reach desired point "B", but it is for us to decide how
wisely to use given axe.
The first one decided to throw it away and swim across, the
second built a raft, the third added oars, while the forth
one in addition set a sail with a steering-wheel. What are
you going to do? Rationalism teaches you to go the
best-known forth way, while innovation - set a second sail
or invent a steam engine!