How to Create Your Business Innovation Strategy

In the quest to stabilize a business and become profitable, it’s easy for business leaders to forget one crucial thing: innovation. Don’t wait until you have to innovate. It is often too late. 

Innovation is not a one size fits all. It’s vital to identify the approach that suits your business. Different companies and industries approach innovation differently. 

The Visionary 

We have proactive innovators with a strong research orientation and a need to gain the first-mover advantage. An excellent example of visionary innovators would be industry disruptors like Tesla. 

The Industry Leader 

Another category is the active innovators who improve their existing technologies with in-house research and a keen eye on market trends. Active innovators include corporations like Microsoft and British Airways. 

The Optimizer

Conversely, we have reactive innovators focused on streamlining their operations. They take a wait and see approach and innovate once the market leader has succeeded with a strategy. 

The Traditionalist

The last but not least category is the passive innovators who only innovate when the market and customers demand a change. 

None of these approaches to innovation is wrong or right. You need to understand what it takes to implement each method and decide if your business is willing to find or put aside the funds to facilitate the strategy. 

Creating an Innovative Culture

Your innovation strategy should be specific to your organizational goals and objectives. In a thought-provoking piece in the Harvard Business Review, we see that a clear cut innovation strategy allows you to define what culture and projects make sense for your business. 

It starts at the top. The best predictor of innovation is your company culture. To ensure sustainability and longevity, create an enabling environment that encourages your team to explore. 

As the business leader, you should create open communication, provide a clear sense of direction, and instil ownership. After that, follow up with consistent rewards, recognition, and a high tolerance for failure.  As your team keeps learning, eliminate the processes and products that don’t work to reinforce your commitment to innovation. 

In Africa, innovation is crucial in solving some of our biggest problems. For example, business owners can solve persistent challenges like supply chain management if they intentionally work towards partnerships and processes that streamline trade for everyone. The age-old issue of access and equality persists because of a lack of intentional action to empower underserved groups like women.

Taking the Next Step

COVID brought a shake-up in the business arena that ensures things never remain the same. Those who come together strategically will win—one collaboration and strategy at a time. The first step is in understanding the current market needs and aligning your business to meet those needs. Download AWEC’s guide to using customer insights to grow your business and get started today!