Each week the team at the North American Bancard shares tips and tricks on their blog to help entrepreneurs and small business owners grow and develop. In a recent post they took a closer look at how professional innovation is the key to long lasting success. A few tips are summarized below.
You Can Be Inspired By Anyone and Anything
Professional innovation can come from anyone, at any time, from anywhere in the world. Innovation often strikes at the least expected times—so welcome it with open arms when inspiration hits.
Focus Less on You, and More on the Consumer
When an idea for a new project or product comes to mind, new does not always mean innovative. To make an idea truly innovative, focus more on the end-user than anything else. Challenge yourself to make your initial idea 10 times better than it is to begin with, or to improve an existing process, procedure or product so that it stands out from the competition. It is this hyper-targeted focus that will help you to develop and create something truly fresh, new, and innovative. While you of course need to focus on technicalities and internal operations during the initial development, your end users should be the primary focus.
Prepare for Setbacks, and Prepare to Recover Quickly
The fact of the matter is, professional innovation is never smooth sailing. There will be unexpected glitches and factors that arise and it is the speed in which you recover that makes the difference. On top of that, be open and prepared to learn from your setbacks so that you are stronger, more prepared, and more informed in the future.