We are 10 days away from a holiday here in Utah called Pioneer day. It’s basically a celebration of when the first Mormon settlers came and set up shop. Since I live in Utah and want to talk about innovation, I thought talking about the pioneers that settled the west is a perfect parallel to this discussion. The lesson that pioneers can teach us about innovation? It’s pretty damn hard to be the first at anything.
For your business, innovation is no different. There are 2 types of innovators. There’s the inventor who comes up with ideas that no one else thought possible and works for years to try and make it a reality and there’s the business person who takes what’s already in the marketplace and sees a way to improve upon that. Both are important, it just depends on what you are willing to sacrifice.
Pioneers in the 19th century endured many hardships to settle in the west. Illness and death, confrontation with native people, lack of knowledge of what may lay ahead, weather, lack of food and lack of resources just to name a few. As an inventor of new products, you face a high degree of uncertainty. Is your product something that the market will purchase? Can it be made in a cost effective manner? Will my family be able to endure the stress financially? Do I have the resources to make it happen? How will I market it? How will I protect the idea? As you can see there are a lot of unknowns involved.
For the entrepreneur who wants to improve what already exists in the marketplace, there is a higher degree of certainty. Namely, there is already a niche carved out for your product. You know what types of people buy it. You have an idea on pricing structure. These are the same advantages that the people who followed the first settlers had. They could observe and find out what routes worked best and avoid earlier mistakes. When they settled in a spot that was already settled they could observe what crops grew best in the area and where to find resources for building a home.
Look at some of the improvements to existing products over the past 15 years. HDTV, Blu Ray, Lap top computers, cell phones, e-mail, DVR etc. All of these products improved a product that already existed. Take the cell phone, a company like AT&T did not have to wonder if people wanted a phone or if a phone was useful. It was already established that people found value in a phone, the cell phone just made it even more convenient for the marketplace. Do you remember the BASF commercials?
Observing the market and what exists currently is a path of much less resistance than looking to create a product and market from scratch. Most entrepreneurs would be better served to taking this approach in the beginning of their venture. Regardless of the innovation that currently exists, there are still problems that need to solved in the world. The current state of our financial system in America is proof of that. You don’t have to be a pioneer to have a successful business and product line.
What is broken out there that you can fix? What are you currently observing in the marketplace that can be improved upon that you have knowledge in?