Companies have to change with the market, instead of waiting for the market to change for them. Ultimately, market trends are only a reflection of customer preferences, and these directly affect your sales and revenues. In order to achieve the change necessary to sustain your business, you have to invoke the power of foresight. For many business leaders, there is much concern surrounding a change of direction and the management of this financially.
As market trend turnover increases in rapidity, management is now required to go beyond their comfort zone and focus on innovation. As if to evidence this, there are many examples of large corporations that failed due to lack of innovation.
The term ‘innovation’ is often thrown around in company presentations with little regard for its true meaning. To lead a successful company, you have to embrace innovation as a practical driving force and not merely a buzzword. There are many ways in which your company could benefit from fostering an innovative culture, the following is a list of the major ones.
Potential for growth and development
The growth phase for a business is a turbulent one, not without risks, and consistent growth and development is hard to maintain. A company that is ignorant of the pitfalls and stumbling blocks that mar the growth process is doomed to fail, becoming irrelevant as the market progresses.
Innovation provides a stepping stone for companies seeking growth, and whether that be technical innovation or simply a new way of conducting business, innovative culture can promote healthy business practices and induce organic growth. Even if these new ideas aren’t necessarily implemented, the change in mindset can benefit companies dramatically.
Any company can apply innovative practices in order to speed up the growth process and make it more sustainable. This rule applies to large corporations as much as it does to startups, and though startups are typically more associated with innovation, large corporations are increasingly adopting an innovative culture to realise their growth potential.
Improved quality of work
It’s no secret that innovation can help increase the quality of a company’s output. Encouraging a culture of innovation will allow employees to achieve more creative solutions as they tackle problems from different points of view.
You will also receive more open and honest input from your employees as they become unafraid to present out-of-the-box solutions. Younger staff, in particular, will be able to employ more creative solutions than would normally come into mind.
As a secondary effect, it will also encourage a greater bond among your workforce. Employees will feel more comfortable being open and interacting freely with management. Overall, there will be a greater sense of participation and employees will start to feel more valued.
Better public image
Companies that employ an innovative culture in their workplace are generally seen as positive and forward thinking. In terms of brand association, your company will be regarded as more sophisticated. Not only will it positively affect the company’s image in the market, but individual customers will start to recognise and value your company, increasing brand awareness.
Large corporations like Google or Apple are praised for their strides towards innovative culture. The brands are viewed favourably for this, dispelling the narrative that big corporations are heavy-handed in their approach and lack empathy for their workers.
Above all, it promotes a healthy image to potential investors and shareholders. The company will be seen as forward thinking with great potential for future growth, and this is extremely attractive in the eyes of investors. This can play a huge role when seeking funding or approval for the company.
It creates competitive edge
The corporate world can be competitive and cut-throat, and companies must be prepared to go head-to-head for market share and revenue or risk becoming obsolete. This is especially true in markets approaching saturation, or those with a low barrier of entry in which the threat of competition is especially high.
By utilising innovative culture you are able to set your company apart from its competitors, positioning yourself as superior in the eyes of customers. Differentiating your company in this way will mark you as a potential market leader.
Customers are inspired by an innovative ethos and curious about novel offerings on the market, and you should use this to your advantage. If you have the innovative spirit to take a popular product or concept and transform it into something unique, your company will be on everyone’s radar.
Attracting better employees
A business cannot maintain an innovative culture unless its employees care about innovation. Many employees are comfortable gaming the system with the antique tactics used in typical corporate environments, and these employees will not be conducive to a forward-thinking environment.
In the act of promoting innovative ideas and dispelling non-constructive behaviour, you will simultaneously attract talented free thinkers. Workers that thrive on innovation will be eager to join, sharing their passion, as well as their ideas.
It will help your company stay relevant
As technology continues to advance, this brings change to the products and services available to consumers, as such customer demands will evolve as their options increase. This leads to changes in the market, and in order to remain relevant, your business must evolve to meet these changes.
An innovation culture deconstructs the traditional mindset, and thinking in a different light allows you to engineer the product your customers want. In achieving this you can affirm your place in the market.
As every market niche approaches saturation relevancy to the customer is increasingly important. Innovation culture is a crucial tool giving you the power to get a foothold in the market and establish yourself as a relevant company.
It can aid your company’s globalisation
For large businesses, it is rarely the case that you will be catering to a single market. A true entrepreneurial company leader will have the foresight to understand the impact the global market can have. There are many potential markets around the world that your products and services can be marketed to.
The biggest problem with global implementation often arises from a perceived lack of demand for your offering in a particular region. Due to cultural tastes and social norms, business models and products that work in one part of the world will not directly translate to another part of the world.
Innovative culture can help you understand the market dynamics that come with globalisation, placing you in a better position to respond to global trends and demands, thereby aiding in your scaling process. This will give your company the necessary edge to establish itself and its products on a worldwide scale.
It prepares you to combat business challenges
With today's unstable business cycles, companies commonly face recessions or challenging business environments at some point. Any business, large or small, can be negatively affected by unforeseen circumstances in the market. The mark of a company’s success is how easy it is able to recover from these periods of instability.
Innovation can help you strengthen your core business practices to a degree. It can help you and your employees implement a problem-solving mindset, and the ability to apply creative solutions to a problem can be the difference between success and failure for a business.
Innovation prepares you for a wide range of challenges in business. By diversifying your approach, your business will become more robust, and in the markets of high competition, the flexibility innovation affords you is more important than ever.
Conclusion
Innovation as a concept has the ability to transform your business, allowing you to produce a higher quality of work whilst at the same time differentiating you from your competitors. By striving to be different from the culture that surrounds the corporate world and adopting an innovative culture, your company will be seen in a positive light.
Being unique in the market will allow you to stand out, and this is important with regards to brand awareness and name recognition. In order for your business to develop organically, you should focus on making the company an appealing prospect in the market, thereby earning goodwill with your customers. Innovation provides a vehicle for this success, and its adoption has the ability to take a company to new levels of success.
Jurij Radzevic is Growth hacker with experience in digital marketing and SEO. Graduated from The University of Southern Denmark with a master's degree in marketing, globalisation, and communication. Currently working as the Head of Marketing at Valuer.ai in Copenhagen.
