Let’s assume you have a developed a great invention or innovation, or even just a breakthrough idea. How do you effectively translate your innovation into a successful, thriving business during the COVID-19 pandemic?
First consider, what do the following companies have in common?
A&W Restaurants
Big Boy Restaurants
Carvel Ice Cream
Dairy Queen
Gallo Winery
Hewlett-Packard
K&W Cafeteria
KFC Restaurants
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts
Krystal Hamburgers
Little Debbie Bakery
Publix Super Market
Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI)
S & S Cafeteria
Steak and Shake Restaurants
Tollhouse Cookies
United Technologies Corporation
Walt Disney Productions
White Castle Restaurants
They all started during the Great Depression!
Many other large, successful businesses also began during various other economic downturns. For example – CNN,
General Electric, General Motors, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, and Microsoft.
The bottom line is that very successful businesses can be launched even during the most difficult economic times.
These and many more startup companies survived and thrived during the economic chaos of their day, and with proper planning and execution a business can be launched and thrive during our current COVID-19 pandemic.
In the past two newsletters we have considered various innovations that have been developed in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now Let’s Take That One Step Further
Let’s say that over the past several months you have developed a great idea, invention or innovation. The next step would be to turn it into a thriving business so that you can obtain the full value from it.
Ask any entrepreneur – starting a business is always a challenge, and even more so during tough economic times like these.
To start your business, grow it, generate a profit, and scale it to the next level you could just take a giant leap of faith, and by trial and error, try to make it a success.
But…, what if you discovered a methodology that would eliminate the guesswork, trial and error, and uncertainty associated with starting a new company or growing an existing one?
What if this methodology provided you with the winning formula for success and reduced the risk of starting a business even during difficult economic circumstances?
This methodology is called the Structure of Success™, which is a tried and true business growth and scaling process that has been used by over 1,200 companies during the past 17 years to either grow their existing business or start a new one.
Starting a New Business or Growing an Existing One
As you know, I am innovation expert and the topic of our monthly communication is applying innovation to your company. Our innovation offerings include four items:
- FastTrak Innovation Program™
- Innovation Academy™
- Brite Idea Lab innovation management software
- i-Lab innovation management software
The unique strength of these four innovation offerings is that they are all built on our Structure of Success™ business growth and scaling methodology.
Even if you don’t have a new invention or innovation, but instead own an existing business or work for one, the following five Building Blocks of creating a successful and thriving business will be pertinent to you.
If you are in leadership or management of an existing company, the following will be of specific importance to you because no doubt you are facing particular challenges or even unique opportunities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and this methodology can provide you with the structure to successfully deal with these challenges.
Develop a Compelling Vision for Your Company
The first building block is that the ultimate destiny of a company is determined by its leadership’s vision for the 
business.
This Vision establishes the direction or destination of where you want the company to go. In other words, what does a successful and thriving business look like to you? This cannot be a pie-in-the-sky Vision, but instead a concrete, specific, and detailed description of what you want the enterprise to look like.
In conjunction with this Vision, you need to determine the values you hold near and dear. Once both these have been specifically established, you can use them to start a business or transform an existing organization.
Identify Your Critical Success Factors
An organization needs to identify its unique make-or-break, must-do activities for it to be fully successful.
These are called a company’s Critical Success Factors—the things that a business must absolutely, positively do, and do correctly, to be successful. An organization will typically have 15-25 Critical Success Factors areas or functions upon which the entire company is dependent.
Create a Comprehensive Strategy
Next, an organization needs to develop a comprehensive strategy to achieve its Vision and accomplish its unique Critical Success Factors.
This strategy needs to address all six of the following functional areas of a company:
- Vision and Leadership
- Marketing and Sales
- Production
- Finance and Administration
- Human Assets
- Information Technology
Establish a Practical Execution Plan
Then it must develop and implement a plan to execute its strategy.
This execution plan needs to develop a day-by-day, week-by-week, and month-by-month plan of the tactical things that must be done to achieve its overall strategic plan. This execution plan consists of the following five components:
- Systems
- Personnel
- Metrics
- Quality Loops
- Incentives
Continue to Innovate Your Business
Finally, it needs to establish a spirit of innovation that will allow the application of transformational innovation to flourish within the entire organization.
Developing this culture of innovation will enable a company to differentiate it from its competition.
If you could use assistance with effectively translating your innovation into a successful, thriving business, growing your existing company, or deal with challenges you may be currently facing in your organization, please contact us using the information below so we can be a resource to you in this critical area.
Fountainhead Consulting Group, Inc. is an Innovation and Business Planning firm. During the past 17, years we have shown over 1,200 companies how to achieve their goals by using our unique, comprehensive, and systematic FastTrak Innovation Program™, Innovation Academy™, and Structure of Success™ methodologies. Using the components in these methodologies, each month we examine an aspect of how to transform your business or organization into a true 21st Century enterprise.
Office: (770) 642-4220
www.FountainheadConsultingGroup.com
George.Horrigan@FountainheadConsultingGroup.com
Tags: entrepreneur, front end of innovation, innovation, invention, small business consulting, small business planning, start a business
