In this fast-forward economy, innovation has disrupted the world with many enchanting products and services beyond the usual norms. This new epoch is history in the making. This further enhances the work on innovation because of the presence of digitizing the world where we are right now.
Innovation is about creative ideas being translated into something more useful. In the process, innovation entails the incubation of imaginations that will certainly result in the introduction of brand-new goods and services. Even consumers have brighter ideas too. They’re powerful concepts, unique imaginations, and extraordinary disruptions. Consumers inspired business owners, startups, and entrepreneurs to engage with good products and services to provide customer satisfaction.
In a world where business competition is complex, there is really no time to simply try and test our ideas. From the primary formation until its maturity, there should be no room for mediocrity. Ideas are fascinating statements and concepts. We use such ideas to blossom into more entrepreneurial ventures. Ideas are reflections of our knowledge, wisdom, and collected information about ourselves and the world we live in. In marketing 101, it is valuable to consider the salient core foundation of one’s product or services with the right formulation and information of price, people, product, place, promotions, presentation, packaging, processes, and, to some extent, performance, excluding policy and partnerships. These “Ps” in marketing are key areas on how to primarily address future business operations.
In sales or any activity that entails business transactions, it is usually essential to consider the pointers on how salesmanship should work. There are building blocks when it comes to closing a deal. This means that startups, entrepreneurs, or businesses in general should undergo the process of prospecting to know one’s target market share; preparation: when you present, there should be impressive materials and knowledge dissemination; you should also know how to answer objections, if there are any; closing: after convincing your clients; and, eventually, follow-up if there are other underlying concerns. The personality, attitude, or simply the persona of the startup or entrepreneur can make or break any deal. Such a basic motto is often deterred because many individuals think that business is just the collection of income, profit, or monetization. We forgot the character that radiates within ourselves during the process and after the purchase closure.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when vaccines were merely adopted, we embraced E.M. Rogers concept of diffusion of innovation theory at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, where I completed my MPA as a Li Ka Shing Foundation recipient. The theory demonstrated the passage of brand-new ideas through stages of acceptance and adoption by individuals from all walks of life. These individuals are classified as innovators who are risk-takers; early adopters who are interested in advancing new technologies and eventually promoting them to a larger society; early majority are those who engaged in the utilization of innovation; late majority are those individuals who followed the early majority in adopting innovation as part of their usual routine; and finally, laggards are those who lag in the adoption of new ideas.
When the products and services offered are elevated, making them better than before, innovation may thrive. Innovation is not only about upgrading; it is about the usage and relevance of new methodologies. Innovation is about brand-new ideas. Something exciting, forward-looking, and that wow factor. Thus, innovation is the transformation of our innocent ideas into worthy outcomes that contribute to our world.
Innovation is not limited to technological advancements. Innovation’s core foundation is its commitment to contest the normal paradigm from pragmatic to non-traditional status quo. A resolution that will lead to a milestone, a breakthrough, and things beyond our own imaginations.
Innovation is indeed a buzzword. How do we localize the adoption of innovation even among the small players in businesses, the MSMEs around the world? Beyond the imagination of many startups and entrepreneurs, the future of our business operations may be rooted in innovation. That direction is still unstable, searching, generating, and transmitting right now. Whether it’s all good or a combination of both, there is a good thing to learn from Anne Frank: “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
