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The Innovation Series: Part Five
June 2007
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In this issue
-- Think Outside of Traditional Categories
-- Life is Full of Categories
-- Define Your Business -- What are your core strengths? -- What other needs do your customers have? -- The best, and most recent, example of thinking outside traditional categories... -- Is Oscar de La Hoya just a boxer? -- Speaking of boxers, have you bought your "George" yet? -- You could end up like Xerox -- Do you need to grow?
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Think Outside of Traditional Categories ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THINK OUTSIDE TRADITIONAL CATEGORIES
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Life is Full of Categories ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fill out a form
for anything, and it will automatically try to place you
in categories such as age, gender, area of residence,
marital status, contact information such as phone
numbers, e-mail addresses and fax numbers, and a
great variety of other classification slots.
It is almost a conspiracy to place people in boxes throughout their entire lives until they are placed in that final box, the coffin; even then, the classification and grouping goes on. Your business faces the same challenge; every one wants to put it in a category box. You even do it to yourself by using an "elevator speech" to quickly place your business and what you do in another easy-to-identify box. But - that is not all that you can be. Nor is it all that your business can be. Too quickly, people get in the habit of thinking that what they currently do is what they are, and, therefore, all that they can become. Innovation is about breaking out of the categories and boxes in which the rest of the world places you, your businesses, and your products. That is why this issue of the Innovation Series is titled:
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Whatever your business, think outside the traditional categories of your industry, such as Luxury, Exclusive, Popular, Teen, High Price, Low Price, Prevention, Repair, Improvement, Mobility, Portability, and so on. You (and your clients) define what business and specialties you are in. In the previous issue of this series, I made reference to an In-flight Food Service company, Goddard Enterprises, that is faced with the challenge created by their clients the airlines who no longer want to serve free meals on board. This is a situation where the need to think outside traditional categories is being created by the customers. Could the same thing happen to your business? You bet it could! That is why you need to think through, not only what business (or businesses) you are in, but also which ones you should be in if you are to grow. Here are some thoughts for you to consider:
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Define Your Business ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What business
are you really in? For example, is Ford in the
auto manufacturing business? Or, is it in the
business of providing people with the freedom of
getting from Point A to Point B when and where they
want without depending public transportation? If this
is so, then it opens up a plethora of possibilities that
could move Ford into such things as rental services,
automated highway systems, and maybe even
teleportation - if they can figure out a way to develop
it.
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What are your core strengths? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What do
you do well, or better than others? How can you
build on those strengths? For example, if you are in
the bakery business, when is a bakery no longer a
bakery? Take a look at Corner Bakery
facilities around the country. Do they only serve
baked products? No, they serve a variety of different
foods, and provide tables and chairs for customers to
eat what they buy. Is Corner Bakery a bakery, a
restaurant or a fast food outlet? Maybe all three, but
is also a place where people meet to socialize and
talk without incurring in the expense of a full-fledged
meal.
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What other needs do your customers have? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What other needs do your customers have that
your business could do an excellent job of
serving just by using your core strengths in new
ways? For example, are gas stations just
providers of gasoline, or are they also convenience
stores? What other conveniences could they offer?
How could they help customers save time, purchase
greater convenience, and maybe even save money?
What are some of a gas station's core strengths?
Location and long working hours. Thus, customers
who need to tank up their cars, at any time can also
purchase a variety of other products and services that
the gas station supplies without the need to even add
more employees.
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The best, and most recent, example of thinking outside traditional categories... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The best, and most recent, example of
thinking outside traditional categories - thinking
beyond your own industry (see the previous
Innovation Series issue, Think Beyond Your Own
Industry ), and building on your core strengths, is
Apple Computer. Steve Jobs took Apple's
computer miniaturization strengths and software
development outside of both the computer industry
and its categories, and used them to enter the
downloaded music industry. The result: Ipod and
Itunes. They provide music freedom of choice
and portability. What company would have been the
logical choice to provide these products and services
- but didn't? SONY! SONY missed the boat by not
leveraging its aging Walkman to match today's
trends; the company got stuck in its traditional
category.
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Is Oscar de La Hoya just a boxer? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No, he now has built a fight promotion company
that sets up and manages major events. Core
strengths? They are his knowledge of the business,
his likeable personality, his fame and popularity, and
his connections - all of which provide him with both
opportunity and resources. Not only did he think
outside the box of his category - the boxing ring, he
moved into the Sports Events industry.
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Speaking of boxers, have you bought your "George" yet? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
George Foreman's popularity
as a former heavyweight boxing champion, and his
ability to promote products, services -- and himself
primarily, made it possible for him to persuade a
cooking products company to name an innovative
product after him. (He also named each of his sons
George. Not very imaginative either.) Foreman
moved outside both category and industry.
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You could end up like Xerox ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You could end up like Xerox if you look
at a new product or service and think it doesn't "fit"
your industry. Xerox developed some of the most
significant inventions of modern times, and passed
them over because they were not copier-related. By
staying within its comfort zone, Xerox severely limited
its potential.
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Do you need to grow? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yes, you definitely
do,
and innovation is one the best ways to do so. If you
come up with a new product or service that has
interesting potential, you will have move out of your
comfort zone. If you do, as 3M did with the Post-It,
you can create a whole new market niche that may
grow forever.
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Bottom Line. Whatever you call yourself or your business, it may be the very thing that is keeping you from growing beyond it. Don't allow yourself the false security of a category label to box you in a no-win situation. Remember:
Got Innovation? Stuck in a
slow-growth industry?
Want to grow? Need to make more profit?
Time to do something about it!!! Contact
Michael Wynne, president of International
Management Consulting Associates; call
(630) 420 2605, or e-mail mykwyn@aol.com. Be sure
to check out our web site www.FreeProfitTips.com
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Contact Information ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:
mykwyn@aol.com
phone:
(630) 420 2605
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