5 Key Components of a Good Business Innovation Strategy

Companies that survive are the ones that are constantly on the forefront of innovation. Here are the key elements of every good innovation strategy.

Did you know that more than 67 percent of enterprises believe that innovation is critical to business survival? Yet, less than one third feel their company's current innovations are successful in terms of driving profits and growth? 

When it comes to leading from the front, many of today's companies are doing the opposite − , getting smoked by the competition. 

It's little wonder, then, that 60 percent of senior executives argue that today's CEOs lack the passion and vision to make innovation happen in the first place. In the age of disruptive ideas, innovation laziness represents a recipe for disaster.

Fortunately, having a bullet-proof innovation strategy can put your company ahead of the pack. But how do you level the playing field through innovation strategies? Read on for five ways to get started.

1. Define Measurable Longterm Goals

Before anything else, you've got to have a clear concept of why you need to innovate and how you're going to do it. You also need a solid understanding of what success looks like for your company. 

To get started, revisit your company's long-term goals. Or, create a concrete list if you don't already have one. 

Not sure where to start when it comes to penning a list of innovative business goals? Networking and brainstorming with entrepreneurs from various fields can lead to successful new ideas. 

Once done, you'll have a clear concept of where you'd like to see your company go in the near future. Then, it's time to choose an approach to innovation. 

2. Choose an Approach to Innovation

How to approach innovation usually falls into one of two categories:

• Leveraging an existing business model
• Business model innovation

If you've already got a business model in place, then you can work on leveraging this existing foundation rather than starting over from scratch. After all, why throw out the figurative baby with the bathwater?

This approach means continuously improving your business model through sustainable, incremental growth. You'll focus on improving your core business rather than creating a new model. 

As for the business model innovation approach, you'll start from square one crafting unique concepts that support your company's mission, vision, and financial viability. You'll also draft processes allowing you to realize these concepts. 

3. Understand Your Customer and the Competitive Landscape

When it comes to strategy choice, success stems from providing your customers with exactly what they want. In other words, you've got to understand your ideal customer segment inside and out. 

You also need to have a firm grasp of the competitive landscape. By carefully studying what your competition's been up to, you can avoid their innovation landmines and pitfalls while building upon their best ideas. 

In other words, understand the playing field. Then, use this knowledge to your advantage by providing your customers with what they truly want and nixing the rest. 

4. Know Your Value

Once you understand your customer and you've scoped out the competition, you'll be in a much better place to define one of the most important keys to successful innovation. Your company's unique value proposition.

Ultimately, what is innovation strategy? A means for guaranteeing your company has a competitive edge. Of course, the only way to have any kind of a competitive edge is by providing your customers with unique value. 

Here's more info on what you need to succeed when it comes to business innovation. 

When you marry innovation with value, your company can achieve a competitive advantage through sustainable growth and the ability to vision past the current state of your industry. In essence, you have value innovation.

5. Define Your Innovation Strategy

Now that you've got all of the moving pieces for innovation, it's time to develop implementable strategies. To do this, think in integrated and scalable ways. 

Keep in mind what you'll need to do to streamline your systems and processes so that you've got the right innovation infrastructure elements in place.

You should also clearly define how you'll measure success and which supports you'll need in place. 

Have and Execute a Winning Vision

The tips above will help you establish and define a winning innovation strategy for your business. But don't stop there! 

Make innovation a continuous process at your company. That way, you'll not only get but maintain a winning edge.

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