Being an enterprising entrepreneur who wants to set up his/her own startup business, you often come across the term ‘open innovation platform’ in various seminars you attend. However, you may be wondering how is it going to benefit the organization you intend to establish. Experts specializing in this field say that this business model enables you to take advantage of the creative talents of an online community. This helps you to come up with groundbreaking products or services, which may not be possible for you to do on your own.
Open Innovation platforms – How can these business model help you to develop your business?
These professionals further clarify that open innovation platforms are not only for large companies with vast resources at the disposal of the people who manage these establishments. They say even small entrepreneurs of startup businesses can adopt these models to develop their organizations. This help them to be a cut above the rest within their respective industries. They point out the 3 important ways such platforms can be a catalyst in developing your business organization:
- Results in the creation of innovative products
As an entrepreneur, you can never express in words how you feel when you launch your first product to the public and see it exceeding your customers’ expectations. However, when the sales of this product become stagnant, your customers may be looking up to you for something new. This may prove to be tense time for you to create a new product especially when you lack the ideas and monetary resources for such a move. Utilizing the creative talents of an online community via this business model can help come up with a new innovative product. This can go a long way in boosting your business’ sales and revenues.
- Build vibrate online community
With open innovation, you can keep in touch with your customers and members of the public who want your company to do well in the marketplace. You get to know what these people want from you and gives you the opportunity to deliver it to them at reasonable price. They even go to the extent of suggesting their ideas so that you can come up with a groundbreaking product or service to launch in the market. You just need to look at the progress of the toy manufacturer ‘Lego’ for inspiration.
- Improves employee engagement
Industry experts clarify one of the most common reasons for employee dissatisfaction is people who work on the same project for days start to lose interest in their jobs. They may have creative ideas on making innovative products that can improve the efficiency and profitability of your organization. However, they may be reluctant to being such suggestions to your notice. An open innovation platform in your organization can help them to generate more interest in their work and put forward their ideas to you. It gives them a sense of ownership in your organization.
Experts say implementing open innovation platforms within your organization can help you gain the competitive edge in the market. You can come up with groundbreaking products that alternative revenue streams. It also helps to improve your relationships with your customers, the general public and employees.
