Two Perfect Innovation Starters

What do you do when you need to innovate? You start looking for ideas. And you fall in love with some of them. But are they really as attractive as you think? Successful innovation is difficult because potential users must change their behaviour. Why should they buy your innovation? That’s the question! You have to give them a very good reason why!

When did you change your consumer behaviour recently? We are all stuck into our habits. Reading the same journals for years. Driving the same car brand for years. Being insured by the same company for years. The only reason for us to change, is when we see a simple new solution for a problem or to make a dream come true.

Effective innovation provides simple solutions for relevant problems or dreams. Of course you can create ideas first and later try to find target groups with relevant problems that your idea will solve. But it is much more efficient though to start identifying relevant problems or dreams first.

You find relevant problems or dreams reaching out to customers using personal visits, focus groups, searching social media or crowdsourcing.

As example, I like to inspire you with a list of 10 practical problems and innovative new solutions solving them.

Problem	Solution
Consultant: I need new assignments. How do I expand my business network in an efficient way?	LinkedIn
Music lovers: I love to listen to music (for free) but I hate to be a pirate downloading it illegally.	Spotify
Consumer cleaning: I sick and tired of a bad performing vacuum cleaner	Dyson cyclone vacuum cleaner
Consumer: Is this bed clean and free of bugs I can hardly see?	The Bed Bug Detective
Snow boarder: I like to go down hill fast but I am afraid for nasty accidents.	The Katal Landing Pad
Consumer painting: If there is one thing that really annoys me, it’s cleaning used brushers and rollers.	Dulux PaintPod
Green consumer: I hate spilling water and money flushing a toilet.	Brondell Perfect Flush
3 world: due to flooding we lack clean drinking water.	Filtrix Filterpen (changes dirty water into drinking water)
Full time mother: Now the kids are getting bigger, I like to re-enter the workforce, but who is waiting for me out there?	Work4Women
Green consumer: I love to celebrate Christmas with a real tree, but don’t like destroying nature.	Lease a living Christmas tree

So start looking for problems and dreams as they are perfect innovation starters. I wish you lots of success innovating your company or organization.