Part of value creation is being innovative. Giving people services and products they haven’t seen before. Being creative is great when you are serving your clients but being too innovative could be costly and put your company or your career at a standstill before it even starts.
Everyone is looking for the next big thing to catapult them to success. Sometimes it’s the little things that we miss that can make the biggest impact. Let’s look at two examples of this from the article “7 Ways to Create Value and Profit Out of Thin Air” http://www.newsletterarchive.org/2007/08/08/215088-7+Ways+to+Create+Value+&+Profit+Out+of+Thin+Air.
Let’s talk about two easy steps that you can employ now: Innovation with existing products and Using Your Existing Relationships.
When I talk about innovation of existing products, I am not talking about copying someone else’s product. I am saying that seeing a way that you can improve upon a product that already exists is a great way to create value for the marletplace without spending a ton of money trying to develop something from scratch. Already have a business with an existing product line, copy yourself and look for ways to make your product better. As the article above states, if you don’t, someone else will. Licensing your products is another avenue to look at as well.
Leveraging existing relationships is another easy path to travel. Most entrepreneurs are outgoing, confident people. Because of this, if you put a game plan together to leverage these relationships, you are able to open up new possibilities that didn’t exist before. Examples of this are:
- Joint Venture opportunities (contributing to a newsletter or blog, teleseminars, cross promotion of products through sharing of database etc.)
- Selling a companies product (Affiliate programs)
- Creating a lead source for another company (referrals)
- Teaming up with a complimentary business to do an event
If you don’t have a lot of high level relationships, then start using social media ASAP to build these relationships. One word of caution if you are just starting out. Take it slow, it’s annoying if you meet someone for the first time and they immediately try to sell you on an idea or opportunity. I run into this frequently with people in the MLM business. While I have nothing against MLM business and I know they are excited about their business, there are too many people who care too little about you and more about you being in their downline. My point is, don’t be this person. Take the time to get to know people that you meet on Twitter, Facebook etc. Once you have created some value for the people that you meet then start asking about ways that you can work together.
These couple of avenues when maximized creatively can increase the revenue coming into your business quickly and get your business off the ground much sooner. Start taking inventory on who you know and what you have available and start creating value without having to create something from the ground up.