Technical innovation…or value innovation? Stop…don’t make this mistake…

Are you innovating in your business to stay ahead of the game and to stay fresh and relevant?

Be mindful of technical vs value innovation. I’ve made this mistake more than once.

More than once I’ve focused on technical innovation because I love technology and I’ve got caught up in the excitement of achieving a ‘technical outcome’. One example was a bladder rainwater tank I spearheaded the design and development of.

Long story short, we spent close to a million on developing it, and we got it into Bunnings, but it bombed. The customer just didn’t see value in the innovation. It was a great technical innovation, but didn’t offer enough increased ‘value’.

iPhone sales are dropping drastically for a similar reason. The increased ‘value’ of new versions isn’t there compared to early days.

We buy value. So…if you are innovating, and want a sufficient number of people to buy it, please do a stock take and make sure you are adding plenty of ‘value’.