Innovation and Your Business

May 10, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Steve Jobs shows off the white iPhone 4 at the...

Steve Jobs shows off the white iPhone 4 at the 2010 Worldwide Developers Conference Español: Presentación del iPhone 4 por Steve Jobs en la Worldwide Developers Conference del año 2010 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Peter Drucker once said, “Business has only two functions — marketing and innovation.” If this is true (and I think it is) there should be more time and energy spent on these two subjects than anything else in business life.

But, if you are like most businesses who do spend time on these two subjects, you might well be making a mistake that made Steve Jobs cringe. That mistake (especially in the area of innovation) is to consider the customer ahead of your own thoughts.

“Steve Jobs avoids most focus groups like the plague,” says tech analyst Rob Enderle. “It comes down to the very real fact that most customers don’t know what they want in a new product.”

Carmine Gallo, who wrote “The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs” said about this thought, “Sure, “listen” to your customers and ask them for feedback. Apple does that all the time. But when it comes to breakthrough success at Apple, Jobs and his team are the company’s best focus group.”

So, as you are thinking about the innovation that is going to make your company special in the market place, don’t count yourself short. Make your thinking more important than your customers because, as Henry Ford once said, “If I’d have asked my customers what they wanted, they would have told me ‘A faster horse.’”

How innovative are you? How much time do you spend creating the next great thing your company is going to introduce?

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Filed Under: Designing Success, Small Business Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

A New Business Model

January 28, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I have been doing a lot of reading lately and considering the things I have read very carefully. As I have read, my mind has been drawn to two ideas that seem to dominate the conversation today around the concepts of money, life, and freedom.

The two ideas that have pressed my thinking so are:

A 1914 half-sovereign minted in Sydney

Image via Wikipedia

  1. Money (and the pursuit of it) is the most important thing in life.
  2. Money, for the most part, is a necessary evil and anyone who wants it in excessive amounts is clearly evil as well. (Hence the “99 percenters”.)

For me, an unabashed capitalist, I find both views quite disturbing, reckless, and potentially dangerous.

Those whose lives represents the first idea seem to become heartless and cold, only considering the value of a thing in terms of monetary gain. Those whose lives represent the second idea seem to feel that they alone have an understanding of how much is enough and how everyone should think in regard to money, wealth, and possessions.

As for my thoughts, I think that real freedom affords everyone the opportunity to reach whatever height of success they define and are willing to work for. I think that great care must be given in the gaining of that wealth so as to not impinge on the rights of others or to do irreparable damage to the planet that we all must share. I also think that the fortunate should consider the less fortunate around us and offer opportunities for those less fortunate to make better use of the opportunities presented them. I do not feel that, except in cases of greatest need, that the government should mandate or manage this kind effort.

What to do …. what to do? Now, that is the trillion dollar question isn’t it! My personal answer is to develop a whole new business model. One in which I am able to secure a reasonable living for my family (reasonable to be defined my me) and then to work for the benefit of society with what ever else comes my way. This model is not really new, it has just been lost under the rubble of generations of greed and self-orientation.

This new business model would again spark the invention and innovation that made this country great. It would also allow American to live up to the concept that “America is great because America is good”

. Isn’t it time we take a hard look and make ourselves consider what is really happening. Isn’t it time we stop trying to “divide and conquer” and instead try to “unite and prosper!”

As the owner of The Doulos Group, I can only commit myself and my company to the fight. Will you join in? Will you establish a business model that provides both for the benefit of your families and for the community at large? Will you make an effort to look outside the box you have built for yourself and reach out to help those still struggling?

If you will, let’s join together and spark an adoption of this new business model throughout our local business communities!

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Quick Site Update

November 28, 2011 by Leave a Comment

I just wanted to post a quick site update, because I am incredibly excited with the activity over the past week. At the beginning of last week my efforts were to quietly update the site throughout the month of December and then launch it in its new configuration and with its new mission on January 1, 2012. (This is still my ultimate goal, but it has been modified just a bit!)

To my shock, last week several people actually joined the site as members! There are eight of us total (and one “practice” member) as of this writing. Eight doesn’t seem like much, but seven of the eight came “by accident” (I was here on purpose)! I am so thrilled that folks both found the site and that they saw enough value to “join.”

So, for those of you who have joined in this “pre-launch” period, I need your help. I would like you to act as a sounding board for ideas that I have for the site. Please take time as often as you can to read these December posts that will lay out the ideas that will guide us here and will set the course for the new year.

Comment on what you read, give me feedback, additional thoughts, and your thoughts on both the direction of the site and how to accomplish the goals I will lay out in my December posts. As long as you are here early (which I count an incredible blessing) let me know what you think!

If you know some other Boomers who could bring some really cool thoughts to the table, invite them to join us as well!

I look forward to hearing from you and to gaining insight that will help me do the most good for the greatest number of Boomers!

Thanks for being here – Dave

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Slow times will come …

April 19, 2011 by 2 Comments

Everything in life is cyclical. There are times when things move quickly and times when things do not! Busy times are always more exciting and keep the adrenaline flowing, but the slow times also have great benefit. So, don’t let these times discourage you because in business, as in all of life, slow times will come.

The question that needs to be asked and answered is, “What do I do when the slow times come?”

1. Take time to breathe. In other words, when the slow times come, use them to relax and recuperate. Everything that has life needs down time. Make the slow time valuable to you by using it to bring down the stress, getting more rest, and letting life slow down to a natural pace.

2. Take time to evaluate. In the slow times, you have more time to evaluate business/life in a way that the busy times don’t allow. Take advantage of this extra time to think, plan, and tweak your existing strategy for greater future successes.

3. Take time to explore. Peter Drucker said that all business is about marketing and innovation. The slow times that will surly come are perfect times to explore opportunities to make your business unique in your market. Look for ways to make changes that provide more information, new products and services, and more value for both current and potential new customers. This time of exploration will make your business stronger in the long run.

Every business owner knows that slow times will come. The difference between successful businesses and those that just survive is what business owners do during the slow times!

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The Innovation of Being Yourself

March 29, 2011 by 1 Comment

I have been reading lots of blogs over the past few days. In all that reading I have come to a conclusion. If someone is going to be unique as a business owner, they need to be innovative and that innovation needs to be the innovation of being yourself.

So much of what I read has to do with my specialties (social media and inbound marketing) and, to be honest, most of the posts I read are reworked versions of all the other posts. I know that there are basic truths that make any business model work, but the most important part of your business success is innovation not understanding business basics.

I just saw a twitter post a few minutes ago that quoted Seth Godin. The post said, “Excellence means you are indispensable. At least right now, in this moment, there’s no one else I would choose but you.” (#linchpin) You see my twitter friend as we as Seth believe that you and your abilities are what make you indispensable (I agree with them both!).

All things being equal, you make your business unique, your continued growth in both knowledge and skills lead you to innovative changes that keep you the “thought leader” for you and your clients or customers.

So, as I have read all weekend long, be yourself. Make your business about how you can uniquely and innovatively provide your clients/customers what they cannot find anywhere but with you! This is what the innovation of being yourself really means.

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Success Traits of Baby Boom Entrepreneurs – Part 4

March 4, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Today we are going to look at the third success trait that are found among baby boom entrepreneurs. That trait is innovation.

Peter Drucker, the father of modern management, said that all business is about two things: Marketing and Innovation. That said, we boomers are arguably the most innovative generation in history. From muscle cars to mini-vans, from vacuum tube electronics to solid circuit, from bulky, slow desk-top computers to the new tablets and smart phones, the boomer generation’s fingerprints are all over modern innovation.

This ability to find new and dynamic ways of doing things makes us uniquely capable of being successful in any “second career” we choose. Not only will we be able to find points of difference that will separate us from the competition, but we will also be able to continue to innovate so that our businesses will never be seen as a “me too” kind of business.

Now let me make something clear, being innovative does not mean abandoning the basic truths of business success, but rather it takes those basic truths and wraps them in unique and innovative packaging that best fits your dreams/goals as well as serving your customers in ways that are best for them as well.

Boomers understand that innovation does not mean being “weird” but means finding was to make your product and services stand out in the mind of your partners and potential customers. These innovative differences will give you a top of mind position in your chosen field.

In order to make innovation work for you, you need to cultivate it. You need to look back at all the experiences that you have had in your life and business career and put them into play in the building of your new business. Take time to regularly look at your business as it relates to your desires, those of your clients, and the needs of your market. Look for ways to tweek things so that you continue to have top of mind presence in your field. Remember that without innovation you will eventually blend into the background and be just like everyone else.

Our generation has become experts at looking beyond the “normal” and find the unique and innovative. Your business will become more successful as you bring innovation to the basics truths of business success.

Talk more later ….

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