An innovative business not only helps you, but it can also help all of those around you. Innovation is the key to progress, and using novel ideas to improve on a product or service is an excellent way to further your business goals. Unfortunately, many people have no idea how to start an innovative business, nor do they know how to protect their business interests.
Find a Need and Fill It
Whether you are looking to start a company or change an existing one, you should take a page from David Walsh Bronxville. He took an existing system and found a way to improve it while founding a groundbreaking company based on that idea. He examined a situation, saw a need and filled that need using what he knew about technology.
If you want to start an innovative company, you will need to find a need that you can fill or a problem that you are capable of solving. This is not to say that you have to have an immediate solution. You do, however, have to recognize that there is a gap that needs to be filled.
Gather a Team
No one can do everything all by themselves. Even Bronxville’s David Walsh knew this and co-founded companies with others who wanted to be a part of his vision. By aligning yourself with other entrepreneurs and innovators, you can share knowledge and get informed opinions on how to solve a particular problem. In fact, there’s an online network for innovators that will you put right among thinkers of your same entrepreneurial caliber. They may have a way of looking at it that you haven’t considered.
Protect Yourself
In today’s market, if you want to be successful, you have to protect your property. This includes your ideas. Intellectual property laws are made for innovators so that they do not have to be afraid of having their ideas usurped. You can gain protection through patents, copyrights and trademarks. It is highly recommended that you know and understand your rights.
Create a Plan
All businesses need a business plan to secure funding and ensure that the business remains on track. A business plan is a clear cut map of your goals, what it will take to accomplish them and how much time you need. This is not to say that this plan won’t change as you work towards your goals, but it gives financiers and your team an idea of what you are trying to accomplish.
Secure Funding
You can secure funding from a variety of sources. Fortunately, you do not have to rely solely on banks anymore. You can fund your business through crowdsourcing and other platforms. You can also ask your team and co-founders for an investment in return for part of the profits later on. This way, everyone has the same vested interest in seeing the company succeed. It is similar to how the stock market works with publicly traded companies only without public involvement.
Starting an innovative business seems very daunting. It is hard to present your ideas to the world, especially if they are new and different from the status quo. The important thing is to follow through with making your idea into a real solution.
