Tag: innovation

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Why can’t you start your own business this year?

Kawaii cell phone pouch tutorial

With all the gloomy news around, negative talk and depressing thoughts one can easily and quickly slide into a blue funk and not recognise the opportunities that others don’t see.

It would be foolish to open a business in the eye of an economic storm. But recessionary times do provide opportunities that others may not see.

I’m not saying you have to be hard on yourself or anything like that. Force yourself to come up with ideas to start a new business. No, not at all. But it may be an opportune time to look around, see where others are making mistakes or serve customers better than they are presently being catered for. Continue reading “Why can’t you start your own business this year?”

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The secret lies in your wallet

myLIFTER
myLIFTER is a garage pulley system that raises and lowers objects through the use of a mobile device.

Entrepreneurs have come up with a new product called myLIFTER, a smart variation of the garage pulley system that raises and lowers objects through the use of a mobile device.

The entrepreneurs needed to raise $50,000 through their Kickstarter campaign. Only after a few days they had already been 165% funded with $82,698 pledged for the new product idea. The originators of the new product said that they needed the funding as an indication of the orders required to manufacture at a competitive price level. Continue reading “The secret lies in your wallet”

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Looking for opportunities? Finding them on a farm in Africa

ZOO Bratislava - African Lion (Panthera leo kr...
African Lion (Panthera leo krugeri) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

All four of us went into the lion cage. My daughter was enthralled by the amazing experience of stroking a lion cub just over three months old. Even at this age the lion cubs – there were three of them in the cage – make a sort of grunting, growly sound. When any of us got around the back of them, they would immediately growl because this would make them sense danger.

After playing with the lions in the cage in the hot Free State sun, we went on a game drive to view the adult lions many of which are white lions which have been bred on this farm for other game farms. The adult lions are different. They may come to the electrified fence and view you with curiosity. Then suddenly they will come towards you even though there is a fence in between and roar while opening their jaws wide. These lions are kept in a huge fenced area on a hillside.

Continue reading “Looking for opportunities? Finding them on a farm in Africa”

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Do you always have to be right?

English: From the series Lateral Thinking
From the series Lateral Thinking (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I knew this guy once who was always right about everything. I’m not trying to pick on him but use his attitude as an example. When you were having a conversation with him, he would tell you what was the best car, the superior whiskey, and even the best place to buy clothes.

In his need to always be right, you couldn’t get a word in edge ways or persuade him to an alternative or different point of view. It’s interesting that he still ekes out a living in some backwater, barely scraping enough money together to keep his rigid lifestyle going.

This may be an extreme example of someone who is set in their ideas and ways. But it illustrates the dangers of the need to be right: it shuts out progress. Continue reading “Do you always have to be right?”

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Leadership and innovation in your start-up

English: Weather Report performing in 1980
Weather Report performing (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It’s okay if you are a solopreneur and only need to lead one person – yourself. Whether you like it or not, when you take on even one employee you will need to be deliberate about your leadership style or approach because it will affect the climate in your start-up as well as its performance.

What exactly is leadership? Management is about managing people and resources – maintaining the status quo. Leadership is different because a leader brings about change. Almost by definition the start-up needs to be innovative so it’s not going to succeed on management alone.

Continue reading “Leadership and innovation in your start-up”

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One secret to how innovators come up with brilliant ideas

Sound Ideas
Sound Ideas (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A study of innovators – people who come up with brilliant, game-changing ideas – found that the skills of associating, questioning, observing, experimenting and discovering makes the difference. Although it’s implied in questioning and perhaps observing, I would add listening as a key skill.

Innovators put together ideas and information in unique combinations. They connect or link information and observation in new ways.

They act differently which means that they observe actively, make contact with people they wouldn’t normally talk to and improve their questioning skills. Continue reading “One secret to how innovators come up with brilliant ideas”

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How many of your ideas do you follow through with detailed action plans?

Fish & Chips shot at Palm Resorts, Karachi.
Fish & Chips shot at Palm Resorts, Karachi. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Someone I know came up with an idea for a new business selling fish and chips and other seafoods done in the traditional seafarers’ way. The idea for this restaurant excited the individual and he spoke a lot about it to family and friends. But this gourmet seafood takeaway still waits to be born.

Do you get a high when you come up with new business ideas? It’s almost as if the excitement of the idea feels like you’ve actually accomplished it already. It’s like the high you get from a top motivational speaker, pumping you up with inspiration till it’s pouring out your ears. But a day later you’ve forgotten it all and put nothing into practice. A new business idea for products and services is often a picture of the end result. But an idea doesn’t come with a plan for its implementation. Continue reading “How many of your ideas do you follow through with detailed action plans?”

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In this economy return on insight (ROI) means unlocking innovation in your business

The sun sets over a set of "Big Eyes"...
Return on insight (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I went to a meeting with a diverse group of business owners and consultants the other evening. The only thing we all had in common was that we were graduates of the same business school in Scotland. Yet the quest for better business understanding and practice bound us together in common interest.

One of the participants invests in small- to medium-size companies. I asked him what’s most important when he takes a sizeable stake in businesses. His number one criteria is the quality of the management. He’s found through experience that management will decide the fate of capital invested, whether the company will be successful or run into trouble (as many have in this economy).

Continue reading “In this economy return on insight (ROI) means unlocking innovation in your business”

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Are you a victim of a crisis of the imagination?

Imagination!
Imagination! (Photo credit: Stephh922)

I was at a small event the other evening where the conversation was about the environment, economics and imagining futures better than the one at present.

One of the speakers mentioned that the reason why it is difficult to envision or create new futures is because of a crisis of imagination.

The problem is that we are stuck in traditional thinking ruts, we respond to change in predictable ways and we have not learned to re-imagine ourselves and the world around us. Continue reading “Are you a victim of a crisis of the imagination?”

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The secret ingredient in a new venture is you

Barber Shop and Computer Service, Joe Slovo Park, Cape Town, South Africa (Source: Wiki media commons- Vgrigas)
Barber Shop and Computer Service, Joe Slovo Park, Cape Town, South Africa (Source: Wiki media commons- Vgrigas)

A small business owner in a town sells pet food and accessories. The business has been running for a number of years, raking in a comfortable income.

Do you think this business person needs new ideas and innovation to bring in higher sales?

It depends. But in most cases the town-based main street business chugs along perhaps supporting him or herself and in rare instances enables his/her partner not to work.

Continue reading “The secret ingredient in a new venture is you”