The Fuel Of A Good Small Business Is Innovation
The key to a small business is innovation. Each business is equipped with its own entrepreneurial talent, and development depends on creative solutions. But how to identify this coursing stream of creativity and cleverness? How to be innovative?
Isadore Sharp, founder, chairman and CEO of the world famous Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, centers his business on a unique philosophy: in order to create a home-away-from-home atmosphere, every single employee needs to be actively engaged with and care about the goal. In marketing parlance, this is called “internal/employee strategic integration.”
Joe Abraham is a small business consultant with expertise in all the key areas of small business growth including business startup, business development, traffic generation, sales development, marketing and succession planning. Joe has actually built several successful small businesses from the ground up, so he knows what he is talking about.
Without dedicated and engaged employees, creativity slows, progress is hindered, and growth secedes. And yet, many businesses treat their employees like so many robots, which not only hampers business development, but rubs against the grain of basic human respect.
What about posting fliers, or buying banner ads? In other words, are you still stuck in a rut? Using resources such as YouTube, many businesses have tapped into new customer bases and found new ways to get their message out to the public with incredible results, as in the case of Blendtec, a blender manufacturer. Successful small businesses and small business consultants should use Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia, and other social media sites to spread news and engage customers.
Dull marketing vernacular reduces this essential selling point to the term, “Unique Selling Proposition,” or USP. In real-life terms, it means, “The product or service which knocks the socks off a customer.” In business, startup depends on the quality of the USP. Despite this, many businesses mistakenly ignore it, and merely think about the competition.
Let’s be honest. The only sound business strategy is to take a stand, and make a difference, just like Apple. Apple’s 1997-2002 slogan exemplifies its push-the-boundaries style: “Think different.”
Inspiration is an individual thing. So how can a business encourage its innovation? By listening to dreams. For a little inspiration, study and learn from successful corporations.
