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4 Tips for Incorporating Innovation into Your Business In the constantly evolving business landscape, innovation has become more essential for survival. Businesses are continually faced with new challenges and shifting customer demands. Those who remain stuck in their ways inevitably phase out, while those who rise to the challenge triumph.

Incorporating innovation into your business model is a challenge in and of itself. Regardless of whether you are operating a large manufacturing plant or a small local business, change can prompt a range of emotions from excitement to pure terror. However, there are four steps you can take to guide your innovation and minimize your risk.

Think In Systems

Ideas can fail, and that’s one of the reason so many business owners think of innovation as high-risk. Instead, think about innovation in terms of systems. By implementing streamlined, rigorous systems, you’ll move your business forward with a less abstract direction.

Test Before You Develop

Before you put significant resources into the development of your new product, service, or system, you need to understand whether the concept is viable. Consider what research you can conduct at your desk through interviews, social advertising, or conversations with internal stakeholders. You may need to go out and talk with people. Perhaps you can connect with others who have already done something similar. However you make it happen, understand whether the market and/or your company is ready for your new idea.

Begin Incubating

Instead of throwing all your resources at your new endeavor, start small. Take a short, defined period of time to develop the materials you need, and don’t let this stage drag on until it’s perfected. This stage is about creating something tangible, albeit probably not perfect, for real world testing. Once you have your materials, spend between 6 months and a year attempting to turn it into a business.

Evaluate and (Perhaps) Abandon

When incorporating innovation into your company, you cannot be afraid to close the project down. The biggest mistake many business owners make when attempting to innovate is that they put too much into the process before they know whether it has potential for success. If you’ve kept the project on an incubation scale, then you have nothing to lose when you realize the chances of success are lower than you originally thought. Now you can move on to your next great idea!

It’s often overlooked that innovation takes trial and error. However, with the proper team in place and realistic expectations, your company’s innovation initiatives will inevitably launch your next level of success.

