BUSINESS INNOVATION
Innovate Your Business Out of a Recession
A story about three fundamentals of innovation
The best approach to a recession is to innovate your way out of it.
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” — Brene Brown
Many companies cut back, slashing costs, curtailing the very essence of creative thought. Free spending, as if there was no recession, is a risk too as you could run out of cash. So focused investment guided by innovative data-led opportunities is the best approach.
A zero-spend strategy gifts your competition an advantage. Market players can steal your customers if they release the next generation of products or services as your business stands still.
Brands that invest in innovation during a recession benefit during the next wave of growth. Those who stall risk being left behind.
In the digital world, consumers spend more time searching for products or services to choose the best deal that they view as value for money. Ironically, innovative brands have conditioned consumers to spend the time to buy the latest version to realise value. As such, buyers overlook ageing products and services, they’re yesterday's news.
Doing nothing during a downturn is a missed opportunity. If cash is tight, it’s vital to manage funds. If you’re cash-rich, beware of complacency, it can starve imagination that sparks radical innovation.
This article will address three ingredients that underpin the ability and willingness for a business to innovate.
№1 — Purge roadblocks
Eliminating waste is fundamental to innovation. Meetings, processes and bureaucracy can block the arteries of creative flow, all of which are symptoms of a crisis and ambiguity.
It can be simple. Take travel for example, which is costly. As we know from recent experience employees are agile, adopting technology at ease, reducing travel costs as a result. Many companies have installed conferencing facilities or simply use Zoom to stay connected in the virtual world that 2020 enforced.
Beware of managers who try to squeeze more from employees during a crisis. Overloading work schedules can be counterintuitive and undermine efforts to improve.
“All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” — Walt Disney
The best way to develop an innovative culture is to do so moderately, working collectively to drive-out bottlenecks — purging roadblocks. To borrow the words of Dr Mehmet Yildiz, innovation is a “community of practice.”
№2 — Engage people
Invite employees, suppliers and customers to contribute.
Employees: There is no better time to strengthen internal working relations than during a crisis. Engaging employee inventiveness can lead to cost reduction, revenue growth or both.
Empower people to play their part in business success, no matter how small. Showing trust pays back in abundance.
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
Customers: Strengthening external relations is a powerful ally. The very people who buy and use your products and services are a goldmine of insights. Seeking out ways to save time or money will grab their attention and solidify your relationship.
Loyalty and gratitude endure beyond a downturn as customers show greater interest in radical solutions.
Suppliers: Partners want to maintain a healthy trading relationship, so don't be afraid to lean on them.
№3 — Question everything
Encourage adventurous thinking.
Why can’t you design and launch a new product or service in half the time?
Why can’t you reduce costs?
Why?
Why Not?
The fact is, you can.
Apple launched the iPod during a recession. Also, “Warby Parker was founded during the Great Recession by four friends who were focused on the fact that fashion-forward frames were simply not affordable for the average person.”
Multibillion-dollar business, Airbnb, “was born in August 2008, when tech entrepreneurs Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky launched a simple online platform to rent out an air mattress in their apartment in high-rent San Francisco. When the Great Recession hit later that same year, suddenly the need for short-term, low-commitment living quarters exploded exponentially. By March 2009, the site had over 10,000 users and 2,500 listings, and big-name investments started flying in not long after. The rest is history.” — Looka.com
Your competitors are fearful too, full of doubt and uncertainty. By introducing innovative solutions that others cannot easily imitate requires adventurous thinking, so don’t be afraid to think differently.
Final Thoughts
The energy harnessed by bringing people together often results in an avalanche of ideas. Employees shine at times of great challenge, especially those who are encouraged to discover new ways of doing things.
Employees that stretch and squeeze reality can unlock diverse opportunities.
Companies can grow during a recession. Asking demanding questions and rewarding smart thinkers can unearth problem-solving potential at every level in your business.
An innovative ethos instills a momentum that fuels businesses to outgrow their competitors during and after a downturn.
The 3 key takeaways are this:
- Remove roadblocks and cull assumptions
- Engage all stakeholders to nurture collaborative creation
- Question everything
When a downturn passes, and it will, companies with the courage to innovate during tough times are most likely to offer the products and services that consumers need and want right now.
Every crisis brings an opportunity to innovate — Don't let it slip away!
