6 Sources of Business Model Innovation
If you are ready to innovate your business model but don’t know where to start, here is a list of places you can find innovative ideas.
1. Business books- make sure there are lots of case studies. Business owners and entrepreneurs tend to learn best from other business owners. The best way to create innovation for your business model is to learn from the real life stories of other businesses. Think back to all of the great stories in Tom Peter’s book In Search of Excellence. It wasn’t the points Peters made in the book that made it terrific, it was all the stories.
2. Competitors – If you tune out your ego, you can learn a great deal from your competition. Borrow their best practices and throw away their worst practices. Be sure to include indirect competitors on your list as well.
3. Consultants – much like a bumble bee cross-pollinates flowers, consultants collect best-practices and cross-pollinate them between businesses. Harness a seasoned consultant with experience in different industries to get the maximum benefit.
4. Great companies outside your industry – best practices and business ideas can be found almost anywhere. If you can find the commonality in other businesses rather than the differences, you can learn a great deal. Much of the time, it is the title insurance company that has the best practice for the woodworking job shop. That is, the seemingly unrelated industry with no relevance to yours probably has the best ideas.
5. The crystal ball – your ability to predict the future trends in your industry can be a powerful source of business model innovations. Once a year, look into your crystal ball to see if your current business model matches your vision of the industry down the road.
6. Employees – employees have a wealth of experience outside your business. These employees can bring best practices from their previous employers and implement them at your business. Additionally, forward-thinking employees can be an excellent source of business model improvements aside from the best practices they bring.
