It has always been accepted that innovation can increase productivity and improve profitably in any business sector, yet many businesses fail to realise that innovation is key to surviving the recession.
Innovation has a key role, and is often a defining factor for small businesses as they are more agile and so can get new products or services to market quicker. However many businesses do not try to be innovative in everything they do, and so miss easy ways to gain a competitive edge over competitors by being innovative in their marketing, and the ways they look to reward staff.
In the past many companies maintained their competitive edge by driving down production costs, yet with countries like China being able to produce products and services at a far lower cost then we can ever hope to achieve, the business scene has changed dramatically. UK businesses now have to look to for new ways to compete through innovation and value rather then cost.
At the heart of it, though it affects businesses are the politics behind international trade, and the legal situation over patents and copyright law in many countries such as China, where they are able to produce an imitation of your new product within days of it being exported there. Businesses need to look at putting innovation at the heart of their business, and make it part of the daily routine.
Innovation is change, many business people hate change with a passion, and yet they do not realise the world is changing around them, and innovation is the key to not being left behind!
