Companies that Innovate Adapt to Success

Companies that innovate and are proactive can break into new markets or stay ahead of their competitors, instead of reacting and then scrambling to keep up. I just met with one of our local manufacturers who has consistently come up with ways to make its process ‘lean’ and strives to offer new products that meet evolving customer needs.  This particular company is fairly small so the President is the research and development department.  Another interesting strategy is that since they have developed a unique item, they can’t just order new machinery, so they are actually in the process of inventing a new machine to automate part of their production process.

Companies that also develop an innovation strategy can be more successful rather than relying on someone to magically come up with the next product line that is going to propel them ahead of their competitors.

I recently attended a three day, intense workshop on learning how companies can spark innovation and quickly evaluate whether a new product/idea/service is worth trying to commercialize.   One of the most valuable lessons of attendees that I talked to was for companies to learn to “Fail Fast, Fail Cheap” a term coined by Doug Hall, marketing guru and former product developer for Procter & Gamble.

Hall has developed a process called Innovation Engineering, which essentially helps companies learn to constructively brainstorm and also uses a process to quickly summarize, identify and evaluate whether a new product/idea/service is worth spending more time and money on.  Class exercises also included learning how to define and explain features versus benefits of  a product, be able to briefly summarize what a product is and why a customer should buy it, and determine realistic numbers of market share and above all, if it will be profitable.

Start-ups can learn from this process as well. An entrepreneur with an idea needs to be able to describe his/her product in one sentence, describe the benefits and answer the all-important question of the consumer – “Why should I care?”.

There are resources available to learn this process – give us a call if you are interested in learning more.

YVCC Grandview Entrepreneur Seminars:

Wednesday, May 11

Funding Your Business:  How to Locate Financing and/or Investors

All classes are held from 6-9 p.m. at the YVCC Grandview Campus.  Classes are $25 each, or $150 for the series.

For more information or to register, please call 509.882.7016 or email msmith@yvcc.edu.

New Vision Gears up for 2nd Enterprise Challenge

We are excited to announce that the Enterprise Challenge will run again this fall.  New Vision will award over $17,000 in prizes to the Valley’s brightest entrepreneurs.   The Enterprise Challenge is a three month business plan contest to identify our Valley’s best and brightest new businesses and entrepreneurs.   The competition kicks off in the fall of 2011 and will be held from September – December.  Contestants will work on their business plans and advance as the contest progresses; the top eight finalists will turn in a full business plan and make an oral presentation.

We have made some adjustments to the contest to provide contestants additional time and assistance developing their business plans, and also plan to include more testimonials and ‘lessons learned’ from successful local entrepreneurs.  Contest activities will include:

• Educational Workshops
• Business Plan Assistance
• Mentoring & Coaching
• Networking Opportunities

The contest is open to Yakima County Residents- Entrepreneurs, Students, New Small Business Owners or people that want to start a new business in Yakima County.  New businesses need to be less than two years old.  Previous Enterprise Challenge cash winners are not eligible; however previous participants can compete again.  Registration begins August 1st.  Entry fee is $100.

We are finalizing the schedule, but here are the key dates to keep in mind:

Important Dates	Event/Contest Stage:
August 2011	Registration Begins.  Informational meetings about contest for general public and interested participants.
EnterpriseChallenge	Participants Only:
Around 9/16/11	Registration Deadline.  Registration form and $100 fee due.  Mandatory Contestant Meeting.
September 2011	Contest assistance, business plan workshops.
Around 10/14/11	Opening Round.  ‘First Draft’ Business Plans Due. Contestants compete to advance to Investment  Round (top 16).
End of Oct/early Nov	Investment Round.  Contestants compete to advance to the Final Round (top 8).
Around November 11	NWEN Entrepreneur University (top eight finalists).  (NOTE: This was ranked as one of the MOST VALUABLE activities of the 2010 contest by the top eight finalists)
Nov-December 1	Coaching Round.  Review full business plans.
December  2, 2011	Final Round.  Full written business plans due.
December 8, 2011	Oral presentations & final judging round.
December  9, 2011	Gala Finale.  Winners announced

Give us a call or send us an email to be added to our E-newsletter list for all the updates and contest news!