u look ahead one year, you should sow. If you look ahead ten years, you should plant a tree.” This famous saying, which as far as I can remember comes from an ancient Chinese poem, appeals to the imagination. What you do now determines your later situation.
This quote also perfectly illustrates the dilemma of innovation. Different strategies lead to different outcomes and choosing between them, while looking far ahead, is not so easy. Moreover, this quote assumes a situation of rest, where you are in charge and can choose what to do with your company, team or product. But in reality, innovation is related to pressure. There is a problem that you have to respond to and so you start something new. You have to move, so you move.
A trend is ‘a long-term development in a certain direction’. Trends exist, for example, in the technological, economic, social and ecological fields. And if you are aware of this, you can predict your innovation moment. So you don’t always have to be surprised by this moment.
3 situations where you need to innovate
In this article you will read about three moments when you should innovate. If you recognize these situations, you will make a decision more easily. Innovating at a self-chosen moment often works out better than last minute , or in some cases too late.
One more thing before we dive into the fixed moments: your business depends on innovation to survive. The world is changing every day and your business has no choice but to do everything it can to keep up. Standing still in these cases means going backwards.
Moment 1. Crisis
A recession, a reorganization or suddenly losing a few clients – a crisis comes in many flavors. In any case, a crisis almost always hits you unexpectedly and harder than you had anticipated. You have to be able to keep a cool head and decisions weigh extra heavily. They deepen a crisis faster than they solve a crisis.
But you are probably also familiar with the saying: ‘ never waste a good crisis’ . There are always opportunities that arise when the world is on fire. The trick is to spot and seize those opportunities.
Innovation offers you that opportunity by investing in your service, product or in the division of roles of the people who work for you. Other standard innovations in the midst of a crisis are the critical assessment of all things that are taken for granted. Certain ways of working, hierarchical relationships, expenses and strategic partnerships can all be examined. This is the moment to evaluate whether you are still doing the right things.
Also read: Innovate? Don’t make these 5 mistakes!
Man thinking behind laptop.
Moment 2. Flat sales curve or disappointing profits
A frequently chosen moment to innovate is when your turnover curve stagnates. After all, it is an indication of disappointing profits, certainly if your spending pattern remains the same. A declining turnover can have various reasons. Your product no longer fits the target group, resulting in less sales.
Flattening comes from different angles. To a certain extent you can blame this on turnover, but also look at the cost picture from a different perspective. Are your employees doing their best in the position they are in? And are you making optimal use of your purchases?
The advice to invest turnover in an innovation list of senegal consumer email strategy is not without reason. This way you prevent a bulk of expenses at a time when you actually no longer have room for it. In addition, you ensure that you have already considered future plans at several points.
Moment 3. Competition catches up with you
The theory of the creative industry prescribes that companies are in a never-ending process of rise and fall. No matter how successful your company is, you will email marketing: 6 steps to achieving your goals in 2024 eventually be overtaken. There are examples of companies that aob directory have been at the top for an incredibly long time. In an earlier article I already talked about the originally Limburg DSM that has managed to reinvent itself time and again in its 120-year existence.