Real Growth Does Not Happen By Itself – Henra Mayer

Maybe you have been one of the lucky ones. A fairly stable operating environment in your industry, a general downward trend in interest rates the last year or two and customers that still like your product or service…. you think. Academics and business gurus alike are constantly reminding us about the dynamic and changing environment we live in. Truth is that change will happen, customers will change preferences and new solutions will be demanded. It may just be completely different from what you ever imagined….and it happen even quicker than you thought.

When strategic forecasting means simply the usual ten or twenty percent increase in market share, profit margin or budget, alarm bells should start ringing loud and clear. Growth does not happen by itself and unless your planning includes innovative, new ways of doing business – in a sustainable way, your current good fortune might come to an abrupt halt.

Including innovation in your strategic planning is not only applicable to the established enterprise. Innovation and the sustainability of a new enterprise also go hand in hand. The ability to make new things happen is the entrepreneur’s strength. In a study done by Da Vinci Research, successful SME leaders indicated that their ability to innovate was core to the business’ success. Success in this case was defined as very positive turnover growth sustained over a period of 3 years, at least more than 30% per year and up to 200% a year.

Planning for the future is not as difficult to achieve as it may seem and the following suggestions may be a good starting point.

Leading for the Future

Seizing the opportunities of tomorrow calls for strong leadership and vision today. Modern leaders need an ability to entrench a culture of innovation by constantly advocating the importance thereof, they need to look beyond the prevailing successes of the present and harness their abilities to mobilize the people in the organisation towards a better and greater vision.

Anticipating Decay

Should we breed faster horses or maybe start to manufacture cars? Most companies do not question their way of doing business until a crisis hits them. It is much better to think about the business in a pro-active, long-term way when times are good. Are you analyzing more than just financial health?

Making the Future Happen

Innovation does not happen by itself. It needs to be enabled in the core of the organization, driven by the appropriate technologies and managed by people who believe in it. Innovation should have a place to go. Are you enabling innovation in your organisation by implementing end-to-end innovation processes, and in doing so address culture, metrics and technologies to support it? Employees should know what innovation means for themselves and for the future of the organization.

Face the Facts

Outdated beliefs and tunnel vision approaches often lead to opportunities being missed. A change from the norm is uncomfortable and not all of us enjoy the “turning tummy” feeling of a bungi-jump into the unknown, but as the old saying goes – nothing ventured, nothing gained – real growth needs to be planned, you never know when you might need Plan B.

Besides, without real organizational growth and innovation there can be no real economical growth and with it, no new job opportunities. Innovation is everyone’s business.

Cape Town Business Building...

The Business Building 2012 Workshop Series with a ICT and Mobile focus presented over two days in Cape Town on 30 & 31 May 2012. All sectors welcome to attend.

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Business Building Workshop 12 June 2012 Pretoria

12 June 2012 at the Innovation Hub in Pretoria -‘Preparing Yourself for the Entrepreneurial Journey’ by Coen Bester and ‘Future technologies and Business modelling for your business’ by Dr Anthon Botha and ‘The role of ICT within SME’s in Gauteng and the Knowledge Economy’ by Lloyd Modimogale.

Cape Town Business Building Workshop with ICT and Mobile focus 30 & 31 May 2012