Blog post 12 – My reflective experience with New Venture Design

Throughout the academic year of enhancing my entrepreneurial knowledge in NVD (New Venture Design), I have come across four essential and innovative skill set; Networking, constantly seeking for opportunities, making new things happen (Innovation) and finally where to look for money. The aim of this essay is to summarise my reflective learning shadowed by these four skill sets which in turn helps me to achieve my future goal/ my new business idea, ‘Pop-pods’.

At the early stage of NVD, ‘Work around’ was one of the topics that were brought to the class’s attention. At first it was difficult to come up with a good business idea, however the ‘Work around’ topic helped me come up with one by firstly observing an issue and subsequently seeking a solution for it. ‘Pop pods’ came from observing commuters on the London underground aggravatingly untangling their earphones. Similarly, another issue I noticed was that friends and family lose their earphones regularly which they find very frustrating. In Blog post 1, I have mentioned that a work around is a temporary fix to an issue. An external source also mentions that “A workaround is a concept that describes a short-term or temporary solution to a problem” (TechoPedia, 2011). However in the case of Pop pods, I have decided to implement a permanent fix to the issue instead, by forming a retractable earphone cable built in a phone case, where users are able to retract and/or extend their earphones from their phone case. This avoids users from experiencing misplaced and tangled earphones. Seeking opportunities was a crucial skill set for myself to learn as it involved looking for solutions constantly for my product.

Another topic and skill set I learned in class was innovation. I acknowledged that it usually relates to renewing, altering or forming more effective goods and services, or ways of doing things. For entrepreneurs, this implements new business ideas and forms and enhances products or services that are lively. Innovation can be a substance for business success and development and aid business owners adjust and progress in the marketplace. I also realised in class that Innovation isn’t about inventing. It can refer to altering a business model and being able to continuously have a competitive advantage over rivals by adjusting to changes in the business environment very swiftly to deliver and offer better goods and services. To improve my understanding of innovation even further I also researched different types of innovative products such as the CableDrop for USB ports and Silicone Slip-On Pour Spout for pouring liquids from a saucepan (See Blog post 2). In addition to the topic, I have come across the four processes of innovation which includes product, process, position and paradigm. The mixture of these processes aids businesses to gain financial and tactical values (See Blog post 3). To achieve the innovation skill set for ‘Pop pods’, I have decided not to create my own set of earphones and give users the option to attach their own set into the cable of the retractable earphone. This is because users favour specific branded earphones. As a result ‘Pop pods’ will have a practical and distinctive feature that no other gadgets have.

A vital topic and skill that was learned in class was how to become a successful C.E.O (Confidence, Experimentation and observation) entrepreneur. Firstly, being confident is essential as it allows you to believe in your own abilities and learn new skills very quickly as well as having the ability to handle challenges without giving up. I have mentioned in Blog post 4 that confidence is psychologically an important factor towards performing well in all business fields, however lack of confidence will prevent individuals from doing well and he/she will find it very challenging to perform out of his/her comfort zone. Secondly, In terms of Experimentation I also learned in class how to experiment with my business idea for instance trying out new ways to improve my product.  This enables me to predict whether if ‘Pop pods’ is profitable. I also realised that experimenting with goods on a small scale enables you to predict the outcomes on a large scale. This is considered to be a safe and tactical move as I don’t have a complete knowledge of the market. Finally, another survival element for entrepreneurs is observation. This includes noticing opportunities and mistakes in the market. In relation to ‘Pop pods’ I have made observations on commuters struggling to untangle their earphones, as mentioned before. This shows that a problem was spotted and a solution for it was found which leads to seeing an opportunity in the market.

Forming a survey to test the profitability and viability of goods and services based on customer feedback is very useful to a business owner. This enables them to make key decisions with regards to enhancing their products and services by tailoring them to customers’ needs and wants. According to SuperSurvey (2005), it’s important to prioritise your actions based on customer feedback. “Rather than relying on subjective “gut” feelings, you can gather objective information to make sound data-driven decisions. Therefore, you can immediately address issues that are important, rather than wasting resources on things that no one cares about”. To create an effective survey and to ensure questions are accurately answered, questions must be short, simple and most importantly relevant (see blog post 7). In the case of ‘Pop pods’ I realised that in order understand the needs and wants of customers, questions were asked based on their experiences with their own earphones. Examples of questions that were asked were; how often do you untangle your earphones? How long do they last for you? Do you lose them regularly? etc.

At the mid/late stage of this module we have touched on the topic ‘monitoring financial records’. The topic gives an insight of how tracking financial records for businesses is essential as it aids them to analyse and monitor their position as well as evaluate their level of profitability. Blog post 9 discusses two points that explain why it’s important to monitor business trends regularly and they are ‘Accuracy’ and ‘Financial health’. Firstly, ‘Accuracy’ explains how it would be beneficial for a business to have its records checked by more than one personnel to avoid human error. Secondly, ‘Financial health’ clarifies how examining a financial statement provides business owners an idea of how successful their businesses is which in turn enables them to make tactical key decisions in order to stay competitive. According to ‘Info Entrepreneurs’ it states “It will be much easier to invest and manage for growth if you understand how to drill into your management accounts to find out what’s working for your business and to identify possible opportunities for future expansion”(Info Entrepreneurs, Unknown) . These financial elements would be important for ‘Pop pods’. It would allow me to make future predictions regarding ‘Pop pods’, it would give me the flexibility of making more effective commitments of money, time and energy and have the ability to expand my product at a much larger as well as more efficient scale and finally it enables me to measure and reassess my business progress. The skill set ‘Finding money’ applies to this topic as monitoring my financial records would allow me to make future predictions in order to progress financially.

The final skill set that I have learned this year was networking. This involves forming a relationship based on trust which includes a give and take. The co-auther of the book ‘Make your contacts count’ states that networking “is about teaching and giving. Teaching people who you are… and what kind of opportunities to send your way. And it is about giving — listening so generously that you can also help people accomplish their goals” (Rangwala, Unknown). I realised that expanding my network constantly is a vital skill to pick up especially when promoting my products. I have applied this skill during the Bright Ideas competition in Semester 1, where I presented the idea ‘Pop pods’ to the judges. One of the judges was fascinated by my business idea and has given me his business contact details to discuss further my business expansion with him.

In conclusion, a summary has been made on my reflective learning of how to become a successful entrepreneur. With the aid of some of my blog posts and external sources, I have firstly summarised and discussed the topics I learned in class which I thought are essential to my future business idea, secondly I addressed the skills set that the topics are involve in and finally how my reflective learning applies to my future business goal, ‘Pop pods’.

I am glad to have chosen NVD as one of my main subjects in my university degree. I have learned so much throughout the academic year which consequently enhanced my confidence in becoming an entrepreneur. With the knowledge learned from the module, I hope to begin and expand the business of ‘Pop pods’ in the near future.

 

References:

SuperSurvey (2005) Why Survey?. Available at: http://knowledge-base.supersurvey.com/survey-goals.htm (Accessed: 9th April 2014).

TechoPedia (2011) Workaround Available at: http://www.techopedia.com/definition/14634/workaround (Accessed: 12th April 2014).

Info Entrepreneurs (Unknown) Measure performance and set targets. Available at:http://www.infoentrepreneurs.org/en/guides/measure-performance-and-set-targets/#3http://www.infoentrepreneurs.org/en/guides/measure-performance-and-set-targets/#3 (Accessed: 14th April 2014).

Rangwala, S. (Unknown)’Networking 101’. The washington post. Available at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/jobs_articles/networking-101/2012/10/09/dbb7d628-121d-11e2-be82-c3411b7680a9_story.html (Accessed: 18th April 2014).

  

Blog post 11 – Dragon’s den: Student Study Suite

On the 27th of March we presented our group business idea to the Dragon’s (i.e. Business associates and University teachers) at University. Our business idea is based on the work around of Blackboard, where students found it less user-friendly to use. The issues that student faced, based on the feedback we received were that they found it too complicated to use and it was time consuming as they have to navigate through several pages before arriving at the page they want to get to.

The idea we presented is an academic study source called, Student Study Suite. The idea behind this service is to replace blackboard by offering students a more organised and better academic experience. The following will give a brief discussion on the presentation given to the Dragon’s with the aid of power point slides:

Power point slide 1

We began by introducing the service to the Dragons and addressed the issues faced by students.

 

Power point slide 2 – 6

Slides 2 to 6 show how many pages the user has to navigate through before reaching the final page. We also address the frustration of students when they are navigating via Blackboard as it takes up their valuable time.

Power point slide 7

After pointing out the faults with blackboard, we displayed a prototype of the service. This includes a similar theme to social networking sites such as Facebook, where Student Study suite includes a news feed for academic events posted in a chronological order, a chat system for students and staff to communicate with each other and an events section where students can keep track of their academic events. It also consists of other additional features such as an automated search bar which saves the users previous searches.

Power point slide 8

This slide displays the potential performance of Student Study Suite across the UK and around the globe. The initial start up plan would be offering the service to Kingston University free of charge for a year to see if the service is worth pursuing. We’ll receive feedback from students and staff at the end of the year which helps us determine whether the service requires operational, technical and/or security improvements and most importantly if they are satisfied with the service. If successful, the service will then be offered to other universities across the UK which make use of Blackboard. The potential profit that will be made from UK universities is estimated at £1.5 million per annum. Having said that, if UK institutes are satisfied with our service we’ll look to expand across the globe, estimating a potential revenue of £135 million per annum.

Power point slide 9

This part of the slide shows the financial forecasts of  Student Study Suite. To break even on the first year of operation, it is required to sell 10 licences at the price of £15,000.

 

Blog post 10 – Pricing strategies

Pricing is one of the four elements of the marketing mix, along with product, place and promotion. Pricing strategy is important for companies who wish to achieve success by finding the price point where they can maximize sales and profits. Companies may use a variety of pricing strategies, depending on their own unique marketing goals and objectives.

What is pricing strategy?

Pricing is considered one of the elements of the marketing mix (Product, price, promotion and place). Pricing strategy is crucial for businesses who wish to grasp high market share, and maximise profits. Businesses may implement different pricing strategies depending on their distinctive goals and objectives towards marketing.

What are the different pricing strategies?

There are many pricing strategies that businesses implement to make the most sales and to outstand its rivals. The following four points discuss what these strategies are.

Premium Pricing

This type of strategy is used by placing a price on goods higher than its rivals. Only well established businesses with a distinctive brand image can afford to set higher prices than others. The higher prices on goods send a message to customers, showing how unique and luxurious the product is or when it is first to be launched in the market which results to a better competitive edge over for the business over its rivals.

Penetration pricing

Penetration pricing is best used when a business just enters a market offering a low prince on its goods compared to its rivals in order to attract customers. The idea behind this strategy is for businesses to generate awareness and encourage customers to sample the product. This may cause loss in profits, however if customers like the goods it will eventually drive sales up and in turn increase market share.

Prince Skimming

Price Skimming is used when a business sets higher price because it possesses an extensive competitive advantage over its rivals. However the advantage tends to be unmaintainable. The high price set on goods entices new competitors into the market and the price eventually and inevitably decreases because of increased supply.

Psychological pricing

This pricing approach is used frequently in supermarkets where prices are slightly low to make customers think that the cost is not substantially a lot. For example, rather than setting a price for a bar of chocolate at £2, a retailer would drop it by 1 penny which makes it £1.99. This makes it seem that it’s good value for money.

Fig. 2: Pricing strategy matrix (Reference 1)

Fig. 2 (Reference 1), illustrates the level of pricing and quality of goods and services sold. Using airlines as an example, the lower budget airlines such as Easy Jet will focus on using the Economy pricing strategy. This includes lower quality service and cheaper prices for shorter journeys compared to higher ranking airlines. The more expensive airlines however such as Emirates implement premium pricing strategy where it offers better service quality and higher prices for a more comfortable, luxurious and longer journeys compared lower budget airlines.

Pricing strategy youtube video (Reference 2)

This videos gave me a better understanding on what pricing strategy is and how and when it is used.

References

Reference 1 – http://www.marketingteacher.com/lesson-store/lesson-pricing.html

References 2 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lsf3m5s-Qac

Blog post 9 – Monitoring financial records of businesses

In class (27^th Feb) we touched on how businesses monitor their finances using a balance sheet, profit and loss account and cash flow forecast. Keeping track is critical for businesses as it helps them shadow their current business position and evaluate its level of profitability. Financial statements can show information regarding the following:

• Capital expenditure
• Income
• Financial trends
• Cash flow
• Balance sheets
• How money is managed

There are several reasons why it’s crucial for businesses analyse its financial trends on a regular basis.

• Accuracy

Business owners should check their financial records even if they have accountants monitoring the trends as it ensures more precise financial reporting. Additionally, this reduces the chance of mistakes being made in their financial statements and improves accuracy.

• Financial health

How successful a business becomes depends on how successful its financials are.  Business owners examining its financial statements will give them an idea of how profitable their business is. This includes details such as liquidity and leverage which provides better guidance in management strategy for accomplishing the business’s goals and objectives.

Balance Sheet

“The balance sheet is a financial statement that shows what the business is worth at one point in time. A standard company balance sheet has three parts, assets, liabilities and ownership equity or capital” (Reference 1).

There are three components in a balance sheet which are Assets, Liabilities and Equities.

• Assets

Assets are things that organisations possess or own. Assets are considered as resources that have been acquired via transactions.

• Liabilities

Liabilities are what the company owes such as

• Equity

Equity is the residual interest in the assets of a company after the deduction of liabilities.

 

Profit and loss account

A profit and loss account is a summary the company’s financial performance over time such as monthly, quarterly or annually. It reflects on how financially strong the company is.

Profit and loss statements do not display what the business owns or owes i.e. assets and liabilities, as they are found in balance sheets. Fig. 1 displays an example of what a profit and loss account looks like (Reference 2).

Fig. 1: profit and loss account sample.

Cash Flow

Cash Flow measures finances that enters and leaves a business at any given time. Ideally, businesses prefer to instantly have more cash flowing in than out, however that’s never the case in reality. Most businesses have to pay out costs such as labour and producing the goods first before gaining any profit. Businesses that always have enough cash to pay all wages and bills on time show that they have a healthy cash flow. However if this isn’t the case then businesses will experience a ‘cash crises’ where they’ll have issues accessing supplies and possibly distort its operations as well as its ability to gain profits.

Examples of Cash inflows are:

• Payments made by customers for goods and services
• Bank loan receipts
• Shareholder investments
• Tax returns

Examples of cash outflows:

• Costs for raw materials and equipment (Capital costs).
• Costs for labour, rent and general operational expenses.
• Debt payments
• Direct and indirect tax

References

Reference 1 – http://www.e-conomic.co.uk/accountingsystem/glossary/balance-sheet

Reference 2 –https://www.google.ae/search?q=profit+and+loss+account&espv=2&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=3wFJU4O5EYXo4gTmy4CQCw&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=653#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=QCEJNapRprBE9M%253A%3BfuVhQ86fMpHiqM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Flegacy.businesscasestudies.co.uk%252Ftheory_images%252F125%252F11237639503.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fbusinesscasestudies.co.uk%252Fbusiness-theory%252Ffinance%252Fprofit-and-loss-accounts-and-balance-sheet.html%3B466%3B43

 

Blog post 8 – Innovation

The session that was taught (20^th Feb) was based on innovation principles and how it was applied to our business plan and feasibility study. The class was divided into groups and were given with several innovation principles to choose from to present in front of the class.

The Innovation principles were written by Diego Rodriguez and our group chose one of his principles called, ‘Experience the world instead of talking about experiencing the world’. This principle helped us understand that in order for businesses to achieve maximum innovation outcomes, its important to constantly seek to experience opportunities rather than talking about them.

I searched for other principles of innovation and there were some that helped give me a better understanding of what innovation is:

1. Innovation should not be constrained. Businesses should not focus mainly on how big their product or service’s label is. Their main concern should be actively looking for and listening to new and all ides.

2. All ideas should be put into consideration by businesses, whether if they’re good or bad. The discussion that ideas form can sometimes result in something that businesses never have thought of in the past. Entrepreneurs should value any ideas that come their way even if its not possible to implement them.

3. Businesses should look at what they can do differently to their rivals in order to enhance innovation.

4. Businesses discourages email interactions when it comes to enhancing innovation. Its more preferable and effective when face to face meetings and conferences took place.

Blog post 7 – How to compose an effective survey

Survey Design

In class (19^th Feb), we learned how to create a good survey for our business plan to get an understanding of what customers’ needs and wants are, and what their behaviour is towards our service.

What is the purpose of surveys?

Many business owners would love to know exactly what their clients are thinking of and could provide them with exactly what they wish at all times.  This is never the case unfortunately as the business world doesn’t operate this way.  Businesses would have to spend the time and money to research the needs and wants of their clients.

• Using a memorable title

It is vital for a business to pick a title for the survey which defines the topic of the survey and attracts the attention of the respondents. It’s important to make the respondents feel that investing their time in completing the survey is worthwhile in order to receive an accurate answer from them.

• Avoid asking long questions

Its important not to ask long questions as respondents will eventually get bored and subsequently guess the rest of the answers. As a results, this will give the surveyor inaccurate results.

• Ask one question at a time

Business owners must not bombard respondents with several questions at once. Asking one short and simple question at a time helps them to answer the questions quickly.

• Getting feedback

It is important to receive honest opinion from customers with regards to the product or service that’s being provided. Entrepreneurs won’t know the needs and wants of customers unless they ask.

 

Our idea of the service, Student study suite was presented to Students randomly at Kingston University and we asked what their thought were about our service and whether it will be viable to launch it for them at university. As a result, the majority said that they loved the design and its simplicity compared to the current online study platform, Blackboard that they’re using.

• Evaluate the competitors

It’s important to ask customers how satisfied they are with their current service provider; what do they enjoy the most? How easy is it to use the service? What don’t you like about the service? Etc. This enables business owners to identify weak spots of their competitors and will make them aware of opportunities in the market and how to compete best.

• Accept criticism and new ideas from potential customers

Understanding how customers feel about the service is crucially important as it enables business owners to tailor the service according to the customers’ needs.  Criticism of the service must be positively accepted as well as any issues should be maintained or resolved immediately. In addition receiving new ideas from customers is also important. Customers can bring forward their new ideas to the service which they like.

 

 

Blog post 6 – My new business design

Tags

Business idea, Corrine (USER value), earphones

To help think about and expand on a business idea, we learned in class (17^th Oct) that all bright business ideas begin with solving a need which is meaningful. Our lecturer has come up with something called the USER values which are displayed below.  These values need to be viewed differently, depending on what’s best for a particular business idea.  The aim of this is to produce a good or service which consists a balance of these values via good design in order to improve customer experience which in turn stimulates business success.

In order to find out what customers’ needs and wants are, a good starting point would be empathy. This can be done by observing how individuals act in real life situations and being able to recognise issues they face as well as a work-around/solution to those issues. Another empathic method that would be useful for a business is testing ideas with potential customers. This is because it enables a business to have a better understanding on what customers want, make quicker decisions regarding forming the product that customers require which in turn reduces time wasting, and it diminishes costs. When testing business ideas on potential customers, it’s important to do something tangible with them rather than thinking about it in isolation.

Generally speaking, some people who are asked what their wants and needs are aren’t really sure of the answer. However for those who do know, they usually don’t give a direct or straight forward response. Instead of asking, it’s more effective for a business to observe issues that individuals experience giving the business a better understanding on how to overcome the problem and therefore offer a solution to its potential customers.

My business idea is based on a workaround of tangled earphones and this idea triggered in mind when I observed commuters on the underground trains experienced difficulties and frustration untangling their earphones.  My idea of a workaround to the issue is to have the earphones wrapped around a spring chord which is attached to a phone case. The earphones can be rolled out of the phone case for use by pulling and rolled back in when finished by pulling slightly.

Even though individuals face problems with having to untangle their earphones, tangled earphones weaken the connection between the wire and the phone in the long run. The solution to this problem can help earphones last longer and save users from constantly having to buy new ones.

This idea is beneficial and suitable for all phone users especially for the elderly who experience movement disorder.

As a result of this, my innovative idea balances out on the USER value displayed above. It meets the needs and wants of the customers as they look to avoid untangling their earphones as well as purchasing new earphones every time theirs break. The business will profit from this as it isn’t costly to produce.

Blog post 5 – Experimentation Design

Tags

Experimentation Design, iPhone, Toothbrush

During our New Venture Design class (17 Oct), we looked into ways to test innovative ideas and be inspired by those ideas. This was done by conducting several experiments and observed how they were put together to form a complete innovative product.

The main object used to experiment in class was a toothbrush where we all had to find many different ways to use it by using other objects that we see around us in class. One method in mind was to involve technology in my experiment, where I taped my toothbrush to the back of my iPhone. The idea behind this experiment is to be able to brush your teeth more effectively when using the vibrate feature of the iPhone and to see yourself brushing when using the front camera of the phone.

In addition, we experienced what it was like to be the person conducting the experiment as well as how it felt to be experimented on. As this was a group assignment, my teammate voluntarily chose to be the person who was experimented on and I was the observer. After a few minutes of observation, I noted that my teammate used slower movement to brush his teeth and that he was more focused on looking at the iPhone camera than the observer. On the other hand felt, my teammate felt that it was more effective to brush his teeth when using the vibrate feature on his phone compared to manually brushing his teeth using just the toothbrush itself. The idea of this experiment helped me understand that this could be very beneficial for people who travel frequently as they may lack a mirror when brushing their teeth and its easier to carry in their pocket.

Blog post 4 – How to become a successful C.E.O entrepreneur?

Tags

Confidence, Experimentation, Observation

In my previous lecture (10^th Oct 2013) the discussion we had was about how to become a successful C.E.O entrepreneur. This is an abbreviation of confidence, experiment and observation. This blog post will elaborate on how C.E.O come together to form innovation for entrepreneurship.

Confidence:

Confidence is said to exist when an individual strongly believes in his/her own capabilities to develop and learn new skills, to be able to perform at certain levels and to reach personal goals. Psychologically speaking confidence is an important contributor to performing well in all business fields because an individual may have all the ability in the world to accomplish his/her objectives. However lack of confidence will preclude an individual from using that ability to its fullest extent in pursuit of success.

How to gain confidence?

To gain confidence, an individual must know his/her strengths and weaknesses. It helps to list the things a person does well in that he/she enjoys and additionally list the things that he/she would like to do well for the near future. As strengths are used and improvements are made where there’s room to grow, individuals will then soon develop both confidence and fulfilment at once.

Another way to gain confidence is if an individual gets outside his/her comfort zone. Being challenged to new tasks is an effective way to build confidence. For example if a person is shy or lacks confidence in talking to other people then he/she should make the effort to small talk or be more sociable with other people.

Observation:

Observation is a very crucial survival skill to have in the business world especially for small businesses that are competing in a competitive market. This skill, for example enables a business to note the progress of other businesses as it may have an impact in the market it is in. Observation could also use to spot opportunities and mistakes in the market made by other businesses.

Experimentation:

Extermination for a business usually means trying out new business strategies on a small scale. This is similar to trial and error where the business would cost effectively test its new goods in a market. This helps business to predict whether its new product is profitable in that particular market. On a small scale, experimenting allows business owners to predict the outcome on a larger scale. This is a cost effective and a safe tactical move for a business as it doesn’t have a complete knowledge of the business environment.

Benefits of experimentation: 

The benefits of experimentation allow firms to save money and obtain financial stability in the long run. Instead of the risk of a company diving into a new market with a big expenditure of resources, it has the ability to limit its financial exposure if the strategy the company used is unsuccessful.

Blog post 3 – The four processes of innovation

Tags

Processes of Innovation (4 p's

The picture of a shining light bulb displayed above has globally become the representation used for innovation. In order for a business to financially grow, it’s vital for business owners to be innovative. New and creative ideas must be thought of such as new developments, products and services. Innovation varies from one person to the next. For example, a creative idea that might be new to one person may be old news to another.  To be become successfully innovative in any firm this would involve positive changes, constant improvements and developments.

There are four types of innovation which are famously known as the 4 P’s of innovation and they are products, process, position and paradigm.  Firstly, product innovation is concerned with introductions and improvements made to products and services that businesses offer to their customers. Secondly, there’s process innovation which focuses on improvements in the way businesses construct and deliver goods and services. Thirdly, position innovation is when improvements are made in the way in which goods and services are communicated and lastly paradigm innovation looks into improvements in the model which forms what businesses do.

The mixture of the four types of innovation can assist businesses to gain several tactical and financial values. Product innovation is a result in a change in what is offered to end users i.e. the customers. Product innovation assists businesses to capture valuable benefits for goods that already exist in that they are able to make improvements on the existing goods and services to meet the customer’s needs and wants that the existing goods and services could not meet. An example of a product innovation is having internet on your mobile phone. Users can surf the net on their phones whilst on the move instead of having to use their computers.

Process innovation looks into the processes used to produce and deliver goods and services to customers.  Examples of process innovation are pre-made packs and kits. Businesses are able to gain profits from process innovation due to the fact that customers are likely to purchase packages and kits as opposed to single products.

In terms of position innovation there are cases where firms come up with a product that is meant to be used in one way however it ends up being used in a complete different way. Businesses should not hesitate to accept and proceed with the change of the products’ position as it could benefit them financially. To give an example, Levi Jeans marketed their products towards manual labourers. Eventually Levi saw an opportunity in the market where their jeans could be worn as a fashion accessory. The reposition of the use of jeans is an example of position innovation. Levi has the capability to capture value from position innovation because the company has managed to obtain a larger market for its jeans.

In addition to the three innovation processes discussed above, Paradigm innovation focuses on the processes of making changes to the model which builds the general structure of a business. An example of this type of innovation is improvements in leadership and ownership which changes how a business is run. If a business has the capability of changing positively in leadership then it will lead to better acceptance of innovation.