Key concepts
What is creativity and how to use it in the business sector
9 methods to become more creative in your business
The success of a business is mainly based on bringing something new, innovative to the market. It may not be new at the concept level however if you manage to deliver it in a unique way compared to your competition you may already have won steps ahead. The main purpose of a business is to attract new clients that bring more profits so presenting a diverse and as differentiated as possible offer can easily give you this. Here is where creativity comes handy.
What is creativity?
Creativity is the capacity to implement something new or bring significant improvements based on an idea or concept.
How is creativity used in business
Creativity brings and gives you the air of originality, of being different, of standing out and being noticed. This principle should be used for solving better and more efficient the problems of the clients, while bringing some added value on the market through optimising the production processes or clients’ assistance in order to reduce the costs and improve the value offered.
9 methods to become more creative for your business
Brainstorming - every idea is a good idea; don’t disregard them immediately even if they may sound silly; the basic concept behind it can bring you lots of benefits, even if the way it was expressed was maybe not the best one. Talk to people, encourage your team to bring ideas and write them down. Extract whatever possible out of them and use it.
Perfection aside - running for a perfect product or service will make you blind and disconsider everything else on the way. If you create things that are perfectible, you will be able to find various divergent solutions from it, that can give you much more space to evolve. Ask for feedback from the clients for improving it. In the end they are the ones that use it and as tailored services or products you can offer, the better you solve their need.
Educate yourself - invest a lot in your education. Read biographies, opinions on experts, stimulate your brain to see creativity and innovation in what others are doing. Learn from their success and study their failures. Go to courses, listen to podcasts, read books and articles - expose yourself to the knowledge of others and use it to your advantage.
Expand your interests to connected domains - don’t remain stuck in your field only. Accumulate various experience and knowledge, see experiences, learn from mistakes, search for ways to improve your offer through connected domains and expertise of collaborators.
Embrace the failure - mistakes and failures should be important lessons and a reminder that it was just a way not to repeat it again when doing that thing. This should be the exact starting point for your further development. Don’t be afraid to try various ways and assume risks every now and then (mind the consequences to be controllable).
Put your assets to the community’s disposal - if you manage to involve the community through CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) programmes where you use your know-how, expertise and products, you can benefit from real hands-on feedback from people that are not your customers. They may become, yet this is not a reason to have CSR. It’s about connecting to the community and giving back one way or another from what you have and who you are.
Personal development increases business value - expand your horizons, travel, learn, meet people, exchange contacts, have experiences. Identify growing opportunities and take advantage of them. Changing at the personal level will improve your business on the way.
Health first - as much as you’d like to do many things as you believe in your business, don’t disregard your body limits. Postponing a doctor appointment or pushing boundaries constantly will eventually make your body respond less and less as you’d like. Mind your body and you’ll be able to take care of your business.
Play games - think of or look for games where you need to use everything you know, yet through limited physical resources that will challenge your mind to think outside the box. For example, how many objects with letter C you can find within 1 minute that can fit in a travelling bag or how to construct a way from point A to B using specific resources that through their normal usage you wouldn't be able to reach it. Create your games based on what you need to develop, and do include your team along.
Be creative and improve yourself so you can grow your business all along.