New Business Opportunities

Happy Fragrance Day!  I certainly hope you get to enjoy all the people out there who smell nice.

Everyone wants to get in on the ground floor of a new business.  They want to be a part of the realization of the next great idea, and make a pretty penny along the way.  The main problem is how to do that!  There are a lot of web sites that outline ideation, and I really like reading about them.  But when you're a skilled professional that wants to find a growing opportunity, how do you do that?
 
Be excited. As I've begun my personal path toward the front end of the innovation curve, I've noticed that the more excited you are about an idea, the more people are drawn to you.  The more people who are around, the more input you have for your own ideas.  And a bonus is that people will help you refine your idea, not to mention execute effectively. 

Talk to everyone about new ideas.  I'm not advocating that you share all your ideas with everyone.  But if you begin talking to people about new ideas - especially those that you know you will never implement, you become a valuable resource for vetting ideas.  You basically get in on the ground floor of other people's great ideas. 




Share your ideas with everyone.  Ok, now I'm advocating that you share your ideas.  Sharing is the source of many innovations that have occurred in the past.  Many will tell you this is a terrible idea because it lets all your secrets out.  The rewards are not to have the best idea, though.  Those come from great execution.  You just have to be aware that there is competition out there and not be afraid of it. 

I have found these based on a my experience with social media, and applying the ideas I found there.  They are not new, but they do really focus on the value of relationships.  I can't wait until I get to explore new ideas with my grad school teams post-graduation. 

S(CAMPER) attempt for Tissues

The S in the SCAMPER acronym stands for Substitute.  It asks you to look at your product innovation and try identify what you can substitute in the product makeup that would make it an innovative product.  I've found a list of questions to ask at this website, and am going to post here what I've come up with.  I'm going to try to use the S to come up with some ideas for how to change facial tissue.

Let's see.  Repackage the box as oval from cube for aesthetics.  I could have tissues be a stand in for building blocks.  That could be a way to get more schools buying boxes, if they could double as building or stacking boxes when empty.  Maybe they could be a stand-in for temporary storage.  Have removable covers to protect against the elements.  Redesign the package so it can fit into different types of spaces.  Engineer it so it fits in a standard container, then sell refills?  Change the name from facial tissues to clean cloths, and make them way more durable.  Put antibacterial agents on them to protect against infection.  As part of the advertising campaign, you could crowd-source a new name.  Is there some way to disassociate them from colds and the sniffles?  Associate them with feeling better and relief - almost a medical bent.  I feel most tissues are focused on preventing embarrassment for having a runny nose.  

Feelings: Two things jump out at me while using SCAMPER.  First, these are great at sparking ideas.  I got a lot of leads that I likely wouldn't have without the suggestive questions and lateral thinking directive.  The other is that once you get a few ideas, the boundaries of a given letter may make some people uncomfortable in voicing new ideas.  It took me a few minutes of consideration before I allowed myself to run with some ideas up there.  Trying to force my thought process into areas dictated by "Substitute" wouldn't have worked well for creative thinking.

Do you have anything that's been bothering you that you want to Substitute out to make it better?  Product or Process here.  :)

SCAMPER and Ideation

The process of ideation can be difficult for some people, me included.  But when coming up with ideas, there are many processes that can help out.  One that's both easy to remember and very useful is SCAMPER.  It is an acronym that stands for:

• Substitute
• Combine
• Adapt
• Modify
• Put to another use
• Eliminate
• Reverse

The plan is you should take each of the acronyms and apply them to whatever you are trying to change.  As an example, for "Eliminate", companies cut the number of cords for external hard drives from 2 to 1 by using the power from a USB connector to power the storage device.

When I read about SCAMPER, it strikes me that it works better with products than a service.  All the examples I've found of applying SCAMPER have been for vaccuum cleaners, cups, electronics, and a host of other products.  That said, I'm sure it can be adapted for use with services, as they all have intangible parts to them that can be changed through the use of these methods.  I can't wait to give SCAMPER a try.

Divergent Thinking

Have you ever day-dreamed?  The answer is yes, as sure as I'm wearing my comfy sweatshirt right now.  And your subconscious is great at divergent thinking.  It takes a theme floating around in your head (important or not) and builds a narrative.  Your dream will be unique, often interesting, and sometimes surprising.  Your brain follows a strand of story, filling in the details as needed. 

Divergent thinking is the same way.  You use ideation techniques, some of which I'll explore during another post, to expand the number of ideas you are working with.  At the end of a divergent thinking session, you have hundred(s) of ideas that you can refine and combine until you have a working solution to a problem. 

Divergence is not difficult when you are in the right frame of mind and are surrounded by people who are supportive.  The problem is that some people jump to quickly beyond divergent thinking and straight into the next step, Convergent Thinking.  To prevent that, the leader has to enforce rules.  Such as No Criticizing Ideas!  Even using negative words, such as "but" can stifle a person's creative mind.  Using "And" builds on ideas, while not shutting an idea down.  Its a classic improv trick.