Develop a new concept

Written on the 23rd of January 2010 by Joe Walsh

Meeting needs is the basis of all business. It is easy to get caught up in the day to day operations of running a businesss and lose sight of ways to innovate and improve your business. Take time out to flesh out some new concepts and determine how your product or service can be newer or better than anyone else; Ideas should be strong in at least one of the following areas in order to truly be competitive:

Coming up with new offerings: This could be a new product, service, feature or technology.

Improving existing ones: This could be an improvement on an existing product or service encompassing more features, lower prices, greater reliability, faster speed, increased convenience, or enhanced technology.

Targeting an undeserved or new market. This includes market for which there is greater demand than competitors can currently satisfy, an unserved location, or a small part of an overall market — a niche market — that hasn’t yet been tapped. Sometimes markets become underserved when large companies abandon or neglect smaller portions of their existing customer base.

Using a new marketing or distribution system: New technologies, particularly the Internet, allows companies to reach customers more efficiently. This has opened up many new opportunities for businesses to provide products or services less expensively to a wider geographic area, with far more customised options.

Increased integration. This occurs when a product is both manufactured and sold by the same company, or when a company offers more services or products from one location. This is a great way to save overhead expenses.

Not all concepts have the same ease or cost of implementation. Make sure that any strategy to move forward is based on a full consideration made to cost versus benefit. Be realistic but creative.