Where is South African business in terms of innovation?
What better way to stimulate innovation among aspirant entrepreneurs in South Africa than to expose them to the thinking of some of our own innovators in the business field.
These are people who started out with good ideas that they have grown into some of the country's most successful businesses.
This was the thinking behind this week's First National Bank-sponsored Biznetwork event, which exposed hundreds of people around the country to dynamic entrepreneurs, such as Paul Harris, CEO of FirstRand Bank, Gidon Novick, the founder of kulula.com, and Ronnie Apteker, the founder of Internet Solutions and a leader in the local film industry.
Shaun Edmeston, CEO of Biznetwork, explains that the sharing of ideas among the business community is what drove this event. "We have some great thinkers in this country who have done really inspirational things in business. Why not draw on their experiences and their visions to educate others to do similar things?"
The latest Biznetwork event introduced a new format for the Business Club, a forum for entrepreneurs to meet, learn and network, which has been running for about 18 months. In response to the needs of the business community, events are now being held in the evenings, which certainly seems to suit more people than the early morning functions. "We had our biggest response ever," says Edmeston, "so we're sure that the new time is working better for more people."
Although many South African businesses have in recent years begun to focus on innovation, we are far behind other countries. According to Greg Fisher, a senior lecturer at the University of Pretoria's Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), South Africa struggles with product innovation. ”We are at least three years behind other countries and our innovations tend to be copies of things seen overseas - like kulula.com and Ryanair in the UK."
This does not mean that our innovations are not paying dividends, though. Exciting innovations in the business model have created highly successful companies, such as Discovery Health and Outsurance. Here, creative individuals looked at mature industries and assessed them to see how things could be done differently, leading to business models that have significantly challenged their industries and created sectors that are far better off than they would otherwise have been.
Harris encourages business people to vigorously question the basic assumptions we hear all the time. "A statement such as, 'This is the way we've done things for many years', is a yellow card offence," he asserts. Scanning the environment and questioning the way things are done are the very things that will allow for spotting a gap or coming up with a better way of delivering a service or making a product.
Speakers at the event agreed that there are a few core issues in order for innovation to take hold:
- Implementation of an idea is difficult - you need tenacity and passion.
- An open environment allowing people to test ideas without fear of failure encourages creative thinking. This means that a business must "have great tolerance for bad ideas" - among a few ideas that don't succeed, there will be an absolute gem.
Innovation is core not only for existing businesses to expand, but also for new businesses to establish themselves. Since new business development is vital for addressing unemployment in South Africa, innovation has a major role to play in the future of business in this country.
Article from http://www.moneyweb.co.za/
Small business needs the support of large business. When you get to the stage that you need to travel, remember http://www.southafrica-carhire.com
These are people who started out with good ideas that they have grown into some of the country's most successful businesses.
This was the thinking behind this week's First National Bank-sponsored Biznetwork event, which exposed hundreds of people around the country to dynamic entrepreneurs, such as Paul Harris, CEO of FirstRand Bank, Gidon Novick, the founder of kulula.com, and Ronnie Apteker, the founder of Internet Solutions and a leader in the local film industry.
Shaun Edmeston, CEO of Biznetwork, explains that the sharing of ideas among the business community is what drove this event. "We have some great thinkers in this country who have done really inspirational things in business. Why not draw on their experiences and their visions to educate others to do similar things?"
The latest Biznetwork event introduced a new format for the Business Club, a forum for entrepreneurs to meet, learn and network, which has been running for about 18 months. In response to the needs of the business community, events are now being held in the evenings, which certainly seems to suit more people than the early morning functions. "We had our biggest response ever," says Edmeston, "so we're sure that the new time is working better for more people."
Although many South African businesses have in recent years begun to focus on innovation, we are far behind other countries. According to Greg Fisher, a senior lecturer at the University of Pretoria's Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), South Africa struggles with product innovation. ”We are at least three years behind other countries and our innovations tend to be copies of things seen overseas - like kulula.com and Ryanair in the UK."
This does not mean that our innovations are not paying dividends, though. Exciting innovations in the business model have created highly successful companies, such as Discovery Health and Outsurance. Here, creative individuals looked at mature industries and assessed them to see how things could be done differently, leading to business models that have significantly challenged their industries and created sectors that are far better off than they would otherwise have been.
Harris encourages business people to vigorously question the basic assumptions we hear all the time. "A statement such as, 'This is the way we've done things for many years', is a yellow card offence," he asserts. Scanning the environment and questioning the way things are done are the very things that will allow for spotting a gap or coming up with a better way of delivering a service or making a product.
Speakers at the event agreed that there are a few core issues in order for innovation to take hold:
- Implementation of an idea is difficult - you need tenacity and passion.
- An open environment allowing people to test ideas without fear of failure encourages creative thinking. This means that a business must "have great tolerance for bad ideas" - among a few ideas that don't succeed, there will be an absolute gem.
Innovation is core not only for existing businesses to expand, but also for new businesses to establish themselves. Since new business development is vital for addressing unemployment in South Africa, innovation has a major role to play in the future of business in this country.
Article from http://www.moneyweb.co.za/
Small business needs the support of large business. When you get to the stage that you need to travel, remember http://www.southafrica-carhire.com
Labels: South Africa - Investment
