In light of April Fool’s day, we thought we’d share some fun information about innovative businesses.
Coming up with innovative business ideas
There are many debates to what constructs an innovative business. The most popular definition of an innovative business is that it is one that takes an existing idea, but creatively reinvents it to develop a new concept.
In truth, every company is unique. What may help one one business innovate may not have the same effect on another company.
Developing a successful innovative business requires creativity, teamwork, a clear understanding of how the business works and knowing what kinds of ideas will work and won’t, knowing what the market wants, and of course, some adventurism to try things that have never been done.
Some of the worse “innovative business” ideas ever
What some companies think will be great “innovative” ideas sometimes turn out to be a complete waste of time and money. Here are some ideas that made the world ask “What were you thinking?”
Nokia’s Mobile Smelephone 1134
In 2008, Nokia introduced the Smelephone, a phone that released a scent when a call was received. While the fragrances sound pleasant enough (strawberry, citrus, mountain rain, meadow dew, discarded stem cells and urban blight), it was advised to keep the phone away from one’s eyes, as the fragrance could cause them to temporarily burn.
Designer gowns made out of garbage bags, bubble wrap and plastic
Green ideas, but not really for mass market consumption.
Tours of Sewers
Yes…you can tour sewers, in Paris.
Naked Airlines
An airline that had nude attendants. It went out of business after one flight.
Great innovative business ideas
Jeans: Levi Strauss sold denim pants to miners during the Gold Rush. Little did they know they would be very popular even outside of the mining community.
Social networking sites: Social networking sites were first made closed groups only, like school buddies or college classmates. But their popularity have led to sites like Facebook getting millions of users, and millions of dollars in investment.
The iPhone:The iPhone changed the mobile phone market. Not only is it a good looking gadget, but with 50 000 applications, you can literally turn the phone into anything you want. Enterprising application developers are also able to earn millions from selling applications at 99 cents apiece.
Come up with your own great innovative business ideas with OneDesk
Coming up with good innovative ideas is always a risk. OneDesk makes this process easier by allowing your company to connect with external parties and gather feedback and ideas from the people who use your products on a regular basis. This way, you will have a clear understanding of what the market needs, and from there, you can encourage your customers, employees and business partners to contribute their innovative business ideas.
OneDesk works with the latest social collaboration technologies, which facilitates teamwork. You can capture ideas from anyone, whether they work right next to you, or are in another continent. If you are unsure whether an idea will work, you can simply start a conversation, elaborate on it, and ensure it won’t make it into worse innovative business ideas list.
There are many more ways OneDesk can help your company become an innovative business. Find out how – try it for free today.
We want to know: What techniques does your company use to develop innovative business ideas?