Small Businesses Are the Drivers of Innovation

On a traditional and maybe not so even playing field, small businesses are not capable of competing with larger, more established industrial players. They do not possess the resources to take the same kind of large-scale actions – bulk purchases, to give a simple example. This is why they are on the losing end of any competition that requires scaling, such as a price war.

Amazon.com is a good example. Look at the way that they manage to undercut traditional bookstores. This is due to their ability to survive on thinner profit margins and optimise their activities, from their shipping processes to the ways that they hold stock at their warehouses, economy of scale as such.

However, if we think back to the beginning, Amazon started small (more specifically, one-man-in-his-garage small), which is pretty small by anyone’s standards. How do such companies manage to grow, and how can the small businesses of today’s world hope to emulate their success? I’ve been thinking about this recently and I’ve come to some surprising conclusions.

It is my assertion that being a small business enables the innovative approaches that create game-changing economic juggernauts. On the other hand, the realities of being an economic juggernaut make the same type of innovation much less likely.

This is why small businesses are the true drivers of innovation. It’s impossible to compete in a traditional manner, so the only way to win is to change the game.

Unlike small businesses, large companies favour orderly changes that are easily contained in an existing industrial or corporatized context. They like controlled processes, where their tight structures and access to resources put them at an advantage. Any hierarchical organisation has the same attitude.

Even if there is a mass adoption of new modes of problem solving, this is usually followed by attempts at acquisition on the part of a larger organisation. Look at the history of any large technology company – after a certain point they stop developing new products and begin buying start-ups and once again fast tracking their path to new and more innovating technology, all to stay ahead of the pack.

Even when a company is not the creator of a certain type of disruption, many arise to occupy the new ecosystem that it generates. There would be no search engine optimisation industry without search engines, after all. In the rise and fall of these niches, it is the least established organisations that benefit from them.

Why Small Businesses Can Create Disruption

We know why industrial disruptions benefit small businesses, but why are they the ones that are uniquely capable of creating them? There are several reasons for this.

Disruptive innovation is a mass-level, non-institutional change. At its core, it threatens the status quo and is usually born out of small, non-hierarchical groupings. Structural change and disruption take place in large, traumatic upheavals, which uniquely benefit small, loosely-organised groups.

In smaller organisations, where each person is more likely to wear multiple hats, specialisation is practically non-existent due to the need of being the jack of all trades. This leads to a greater flexibility and willingness to change fundamental approaches. A specialised method of solving problems is a recipe for orthodoxy and thinking that any deviation from the norm is impractical.

For exactly the same reasons that larger organisations are better at solving problems at a large scale, they are worse at recognising necessary deviations from the norm. Compartmentalised, specialised processes stifle novelty and creativity, keeping them less nimble while being necessary for mass support and service.

Furthermore, the ties between those who run small businesses are most often not economic, but predicated on other social ties. Small businesses, including start-ups, are often formed among friends and family, rather than among a group of specialists in a particular field. This allows them to harness the self-motivating forces of loyalty and genuine ownership of the product, giving them that extra drive to overcome any potential hurdles.

There are large companies that have attempted to create these types of structures within a larger corporate environment, but their successes are the exception rather than the rule. They become unwieldy and difficult to control from the centre. Industrial hierarchy makes it possible to take less trained workers and get more uniform results from them. Anyone who’s ever had a fast food job can attest to this.

Small businesses, when faced with an unusual problem (and when you’re developing the next big thing in your garage, there’s no such thing as a usual problem) tend to find unusual solutions to it. In larger organisations, each possible new solution has to be passed up the corporate ladder, being distorted and or diluted each time it’s passed up or down the chain. This delays and usually weakens any adoption of new ideas. Furthermore, the employees in large organisations often resist new methods of their own accord, preferring habitual but non-optimal solutions.

Mass adoption of new methods of socialising, doing work, or making money are never the results of the types of calculation that are common in the boardroom. Because the motives are so inarticulate and arise spontaneously from wildly varying sectors of society, this process cannot be manipulated, predicted, or controlled with any degree of exactitude.

These changes also lead to the emergence of changed landscapes where the services developed by the establishment may not be relevant. Take the example of the recording industry. The CD manufacturing, distribution, and promotion infrastructure were devalued when digital downloads disrupted the industry. Their reluctance to accept it is understandable.

If you already have an established business model that brings in revenue, it is usually foolish to abandon it. Even expanding your core services takes a great deal of resources and vision, and the largest, most profitable companies have made themselves that way by introducing disruption within the circumstances where they do their business.

This can be accomplished, but the fundamental tendencies of each type of organisation remains the same – small organisations tend to be more agile and to seek unorthodox, innovative answers, while larger ones tend toward standard solutions to standardised problems.

So there you have my view on how small businesses continue to be the drivers of innovation. As every professional was once an amateur and every expert was once a beginner and every successful company was once a small start-up.

Internet Home Based Business

Starting an internet based home business is not easy, in fact it can be very time consuming and very expensive. Finding an idea that you like can take hours of research, and sometimes can drain your bank account in the process of chasing after your dreams. Another thing to consider is that you don’t always want to take the easy road, especially when it comes to starting a business. Most of first opportunities that people get sucked into end up being the get rich quick schemes that they were trying to avoid in the first place.This article will give you a basic look at what legitimate opportunities are out there for starting an internet home based business. It will also try to inspire you and get those creativity wheels turning in your head in order to find an idea for your internet business that you will love doing every day. I will also help you to navigate some of the predatory scams that are out there right now as to avoid the heartache and financial loss.Home Based Business IdeasThe first obstacle that people face in starting any business is coming up with an idea that they feel will work for them. The place that I would start is brainstorming about what you would love to do. For most people it is better to just start out brainstorming about what they know. The look at ideas that are based on the field they are currently working in and try to devlop the business idea for the internet. So get out a pen and paper and start listing things that you love to do, and try to determine if the format could be changed to accommodate an internet business. There are ample opportunities out there for anyone. Some of the more successful online businesses involve freelancing.Freelance Internet JobsOne thing you can do, if you don’t have a budget, or maybe you have a low budget, to start generating some income working from home is to start freelancing. Freelancing gives you the ability to outsource your skills to companies all over the world. I made my first $500 online by freelancing on a site called Elance.com. There is another similar website called Odesk that also allows you to freelance. These sites have real companies all over the world that are looking for service providers to fulfill temporary, and some times long term needs. The companies list the project that they need assistance with, and you as a provider will bid on that project just like a sub-contractor bids on building projects. Both Elance and Odesk are absolutely free to sign up. They give you a limited number of bids per month that are included with their free membership. If you would like to bid on more projects, you can buy more bids. I made my first $500 off of Elance without ever spending a dime.Internet Research CompanyThis is an idea for working from home that has very little start up costs and would be very simple to obtain jobs and projects for companies. The initial costs would include setting up your website, buying your domain name, getting hosting for your site. Then the majority of your time would be spent marketing your business to companies in order to complete research. There are opportunities out there to do all kinds of research projects for companies that would rather outsource to another company than to pay someone a full time salary to do the work. An example is a company out of Boston hired me to research their national competition before deciding to go national. They pretty much had Boston cleaned up, but didn’t have a clue as to their competition outside their immediate area. This project took several months, and was completely conducted from my home, on the internet, and over the phone.Virtual Assistant BusinessIf I were to tell you, that you could wake up every day, and be an assistant to an executive from New York City, all from your home through the phone and internet what would you say? How about an executive from Hong Kong? How about a mother of 4 from Nebraska that doesn’t have time to sneeze? A virtual assistant is just that, an individual that assists someone in need from a distance. Most of the time the interview and the entire job is handled through e-mail and over the phone. Some of the tasks a virtual assistant does is managing a calendar and scheduling meetings, answering e-mails, answering the phone (through the brilliance of call forwarding), managing employees. Sometimes you can elect to be a local virtual assistant and run errands for people, do research for projects. There are endless opportunities if you are creative enough. People also use the virtual assistant field to work their way into places they might not ever get an interview or job. It really can open doors for you to work in all kinds of different industries.Your Home Based Internet Marketing BusinessOver the long run is the name of the game. Too often I encounter people who just want to get rich quick and are not looking for a home internet based business opportunity, and are not willing to put in the work required to get a business up and running. But, if you are willing to plant the seeds, water them, and watch them grow, then you can be successful. If things are getting too heavy, consider taking on a partner to help shoulder some of the load. There are legitimate opportunities out there for anyone who is willing to be dedicated and hard working. So come up with your idea, buy your domain name, get your website hosted and set up and start marketing. And then market some more. After the initial set up you will spend 90% of your time marketing and 10% working for the clients you do get. Don’t get caught up thinking that you must have some sort of product, or re-invent the wheel. If you focus on helping others, and providing a service, then most often you will find success.

Information Product Creation: Never Compete on Price Because There Is Only One You

Information product creation requires extensive preparation, no matter which niche you work within and you want to make sure that your information product has a successful launch. That probably sounds scary and intimidating but here’s the thing: this is a one time effort and it will pay off in a foundation that is strong enough to get your ideal clients to invest in your high-end programs and services without the perils of a traditional funnel. This article will teach you a few of the things that you need to remember if you’d like to invest in yourself and start on the information product creation path using your unique talents and abilities. Remember that you never have to worry about anyone ripping off your ideas because if you understand how to properly position yourself around your story.

Understand Both Strengths and Weaknesses: It is good to have an impartial view of your own strengths and weaknesses when lay the foundation of selling yourself within the information product creation process. It helps you figure out where you are, what you lack and how to move forward so that you get as much growth as possible. It is more than important, it is urgent if you want to create fast success for yourself to have personal positive reinforcement and deep belief to provide yourself the support you need so that you can get over your own limitations to ensure that your information product is as valuable as it can be.

You also need to know exactly who your competition is so you can study them and use their methods to help you improve your own standings. Down recreate the wheel, but understand the wheel and position yourself going uphill from the competition. Check out which kinds of opportunities you’ve already got and try to figure out how best to use them while taking care to remember your strengths and weaknesses. This is a great way to figure out where you stand against your competition which helps you figure out how best to grow.

Launch on Time: No matter what, even if you haven’t officially announced your “launch date” you should launch the site when you’ve said you would. This will force you to stick to your goal and actually work on it. Thinking that “I’ll launch it when I think it’s ready to launch” will only hinder your efforts. You’ve got a responsibility that you need to live up to with your launch, and you can’t move back on that one. If you get close to your launch date and you are getting hung up on your self limiting beliefs in your information product creation, don’t worry this about getting it out there and not perfection. As long as it is usable you should launch it. Launching on time is the professional thing to do and it is more important than creating a “wow” effect in your site visitors. You can always update/upgrade your website when you have to, so there shouldn’t be any issue with that.

Analyze Your Own Concept: If you want to make your information product creation successful you need to understand how good your concept is: is it really going to work for your chosen audience or would something else be better? You already know about your competition; how does your concept measure up? If you haven’t come up with your own idea and are trying to work with someone else’s concept, do some more work on your own before your launch. People want original ideas because they’ve seen too many other me-too websites already.

Test Your Concept Before You Commit To The Information Product Creation Process: One of the biggest failures people have with information product creation is not testing an idea before putting a lot of effort into producing an information product. PPC to a small 5 page site with a landing page is a great way to test an offer before you even produce it. If people will sign up to get it, you can be sure that you can create an information product that will target eliminating the pain of your target market. The small amount of money will be invaluable in using crowd sourcing to direct the final outline of the information product creation process.

You’ll have lots of hurdles to clear after the launch of your information product and the only way to truly take care of them is to follow the advice in this article to work smarter. Plenty of people work hard, but it is the ones who work smarter who make real money online with the information product creation business model.