Innovation in a traditional industry is the goal of many modern start-ups and successes. Uber and Lyft have innovated the taxi industry, Airbnb has innovated the hotel industry, and so on.
Recently, Adi Klevit interviewed Liza Roeser, the founder of FiftyFlowers and FlowerFix, about how she innovated in the centuries-old flower sales industry. Liza shared what she learned and how she tackled innovating this staid and ancient industry.
There are many ways to disrupt an established industry. The five strategies below have helped many business owners carve their own paths and create a thriving, innovative business in the industry of their choice.
Five Strategies for Supporting Innovation in a Traditional Industry
1. Hire the right people.
Both expertise and culture fit are essential, but Liza found that culture fit was one of the most vital parts of hiring in her business. While you need experienced and knowledgeable personnel, you also need people who are not stuck in their ways and are willing and able to pivot.
Hiring is an area that benefits from well-documented processes and procedures. Building an effective hiring system that includes the type of person who would be the best culture fit is a fantastic way of ensuring you have a unified team.
2. Make the hard decisions now.
Take time right now to make difficult decisions. Don’t wait and then find that you are stuck in the mud because you waited too long to make a hard choice.
For example, if you have an employee who is not a good fit for your company, have the discussion now, rather than waiting and making a tough decision later. They may be able to change and adapt, or it might be time to part ways, but either way, having that discussion and making the tough decision early on will benefit both you and the employee - as well as your business.
Another example is building processes. Creating systems and processes early on gives you the opportunity to ensure they are dynamic and can change as your business pivots. Implementing systems early on is a lot of work, but that makes systems part of your company culture, which is a huge boon as you continue to grow your company.
3. Encourage open communication.
If your business is challenging the norms, make sure it is safe to communicate about and discuss ideas and norms within the company. Listening to your team and giving space for pushback creates a place where your team can come to you with wild and possibly genius ideas that may improve your business.
Creating a system around communication sounds like it might stop those genius ideas from coming your way, but it actually makes open communication easier. For example, building a “new ideas” or “challenging norms” time into your daily meeting could bring about some wild and amazing innovations.
4. Provide your team with support to do their best work.
Are you always operating at 100%? Do you have zero “off” days or bad conversations? Of course not, right? We all have off days or moments when we can’t give our full attention to our work. Part of the company culture that Liza shared includes giving her team the grace to take a break when they are having an “off” moment. This allows them to get back into the right headspace to give the business their best work - and at the end of the day, that’s what every business owner wants from their employees.
Another way to ensure your team gives you their best work is to support them with processes and procedures. Having a process for the more stressful activities necessary for their job can help ease the pressure off your employees and support them as they work hard to give you their best.
5. Support continued education.
Innovation is about gumption and a great idea, but it is also about the education and information that supports making that idea a reality. Building continued education into your business will not only increase employee satisfaction, but it will also ensure that the best people in the industry are working for you.
Systems for supporting continued education should be part of every innovative company. There are many ways to go about it, but automatic approval of free education (like ebooks and webinars), education time added to every calendar, and a weekly meeting where the team learns something together are all simple ways to support growth and education.
Business systems go hand in hand with innovative companies as they disrupt long-standing traditions and build something new and exciting. Processes and procedures provide the support and foundation needed to grow your business, regardless of industry.
Find out how to implement the necessary processes to support growth and innovation. Click here to schedule your free initial consultation.
