Your Business Needs New Ideas

I really empathize with small businesses that nowadays struggle to survive. A constantly changing market, aggressive marketing campaigns pursued by larger businesses, changing trends and a non very attentive crowd of customers out there, sometimes causes small businesses to collapse, defeated by this vortex system. One of my mentors one day told me something: “If you always do what you’ve always done, you will always get the same results!”. So…change something, and try to think outside of the box. Read the article below and then ask yourself one question: “Am I getting the most out of my business?”. Enjoy your reading

Customers are getting ever more demanding, they constantly expect something new, different and exciting. Competition is fierce for just about every business and it is only by generating new ideas that you can keep ahead and attract more clients.

The problem with generating new ideas is often working out where they will come from. Those of you who believe you are not creative need to stay with me here. When you were a child of around 5 years old, 90% of you had lots of ideas, played imaginary games, and dreamt of doing things you didn’t know were impossible. By the time you were 10, that number had dropped to just 2%. No wonder so many of us believe we aren’t creative, we’ve become so conditioned to thinking logically that our creative “what if?” side hasn’t a chance to show itself.

Get Those New Ideas Flowing

· Consciously do different things – take a different route to the office, buy a different newspaper or magazine, read a completely different kind of book, try a meal you’ve never had before.

· Keep on learning – people who think they know it all soon get left behind by new ideas and technology unless they are prepared to be open to continue learning. Spend time surfing the internet, subscribe to publications that will keep you up to date.

· Ask your customers – what new products or services would they like to have?

· Talk to someone unconnected to your business – they will have a completely different perspective.

· Create the right environment – colour of decoration, type of music, furnishings, inspiring pictures. Whatever you need to get in the mood for thinking.

· Create some space – even 15 minutes a day spent ‘day dreaming’ can bring surprising results. Is it worth 15 minutes of your time each day to be more successful in your business? Put it in the diary!

How much more money would you make if you developed a new idea that just 50% of your customers bought?

Louise Barnes-Johnston is “The Business Accelerator”. She provides business coaching and mentoring for entrepreneurs and owners of small businesses.

© Louise Barnes-Johnston, 2007

Tagged as: Business, Ideas