tawandamusarurwa
Big Business Ideas
Stephene Chikozho
HOW do you turn a great idea into a fully fledged business?
The world is rapidly changing.
New customer demands, urgent sustainability imperatives and breakthrough technologies have left many businesses scrambling to keep up.
The desire to create and invent is deeply embedded in all of us.
As children, creativity comes naturally, but for many adults, it has to be worked at.
Our childhood memories are often those that involve freedom of play, adventure and unrestrained use of the imagination to create and live our dreams.
As Africans, we never lose the inner joy of creativity, but it tends to be suppressed by the responsibilities of adult life as we trade the playground for the office, farm, mine and many other work stations.
However, like the playground of our childhood, companies and other workplaces that embrace creativity and innovation as continuous improvement are exciting places to be.
For businesses, establishing a climate of perpetual creativity motivates staff and improves the company’s competitiveness.
Telecommunications, financial technology, mobile technology and digital media entities, for example, are renowned for hiring and nurturing creative people, as well as rewarding imagination and invention.
They attract thousands of applicants as a result.
Moreover, creativity is not only a potential source of ideas that can yield economic value, but is also a vital asset for individuals and companies operating in increasingly changeable global markets.
Unpacking creativity
Creativity involves the generation of new ideas, alternatives or possibilities, as well as solving challenges in unique ways.
Innovation is the practical application of creative thought. It is the implementation of something new that has realised value to others.
When successfully realised, creativity and innovation are highly motivating.
They allow us to combine our distinctive desire for autonomy, purpose and mastery.
They also produce a sense of achievement and motivation, factors that allow us to feel value and self-actualisation.
For businesses, establishing a climate of creativity has the dual benefit of enhancing employee satisfaction and improving competitiveness.
Excited by the pursuit of invention, employees will often work harder, longer and more productively, yielding innovative solutions to problems, new cost-saving processes or profitable new products.
So significant is the competitive edge that can be gained that researchers list creativity as the most sought-after trait in leaders.
Fostering creativity
The challenge is for companies to balance creativity with financial prudence.
For example, for Masawara Group, whose business footprint is expanding across East and Southern Africa, there is a strong and deliberate pursuit of creativity and innovation.
When the founder of Masawara Group, Mr Shingayi Mutasa, started his entrepreneurial journey, he was responsible for some of his business’ biggest creative successes, notably the establishment of Joina City in the capital city, Harare.
In the early years of that journey, he presided over a period of significant innovation and growth for his businesses, carving a niche in commodity broking and expanding to real estate.
In 2010, however, it was about balancing growth, creativity and financial prudence that resulted in his advancement from the day-to-day running of the group to a more strategic role as the group chief executive officer (CEO).
A new focus was needed, with Masawara’s new, young and innovative management deciding it needed a new creative direction.
They, therefore, spread their tentacles to companies and innovative projects with a focus on agriculture, mining, retail, distribution, telecommunications and real estate.
As such, even the most established entrepreneurs and creative brands feel the need for reinvention.
As businesses, for the benefit of staff and the bottom line, creativity and innovation by everyone, everywhere, and all the time, are vital ingredients for business success.
An organisation must allocate capital to its different product and service innovations.
A consistent method for a business to identify where to invest and where to cut back is to analyse the market attractiveness (the size of the market, its growth potential and pricing) and business attractiveness (the competitive strength of the innovation or product in that market).
Using the method can help a business plot the relative profitability of its innovations.
The method allows a company to judge each innovative product, service or business unit on two factors to determine its future success — the attractiveness of its industry or market and the product’s competitive strength within that industry.
Market attractiveness is rated according to the market size, growth rate, profitability and level of competition.
Business attractiveness is rated according to the innovation or product’s current and growth level of market share, its brand strength and its profit margins relative to rivals.
By analysing the attractiveness of an industry on one hand, and the competitive position of a product or business unit in that industry on the other, entrepreneurs and CEOs can compare the strengths of diverse business products and innovations.
Conclusion
Creativity and innovation are crucial for market and business success.
They can help to anticipate market changes more quickly and get ahead of opportunities.
They can also help differentiate yourself from the market.
Innovation and creativity can increase the business’s revenues in numerous ways: from reducing employee turnover and cutting costs to differentiating the product or service and keeping the business alive.
Innovation is the cornerstone of any company that aspires to be great.
Stephene Chikozho is managing director for Urbane Create Agency — a strategy, marketing and advertising agency. He writes in his personal capacity. You can follow him on social media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) WhatsApp +263772409651 or email [email protected]
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