When it comes to innovation – developing new ideas or creating commercial opportunities – there are often characteristics that individuals possess or businesses build, to develop an innovative idea.

New ideas start with people and it’s how these ideas evolve and move forward that turn them into a reality. As we know, a business is nothing without its people, and what makes an innovative business very much depends on the characteristics of the team, the culture built by the leaders and how it is nurtured for business growth.

Some of the key characteristics of an innovative business are:

 1. Staying focused on the vision

Clarity of what the vision is and being able to visualise the next three to five years keeps everyone on the same path, to keep abreast of market share, target market, industry impacts and knowing where it’s all leading. 

Staying focused on the strategy, customers and reminding teams about ‘why?’. This can be helpful when developing a new product, process or service, so the team are all working to the same outcome.

 2. An open-minded and collaborative team 

Teams that are open to experiment, to embrace challenges, to look at how to improve, are all what makes for an innovative business. 

This requires a certain type of leadership, one that embeds an entrepreneurial mindset and a collaborative culture where all ideas are welcome. An empowered team who are all unified by the vision, creates a business that can work together to introduce ideas from all areas of the business yet remain focused on the vision.

3. Drive, tenacity and commitment

Pushing the boundaries and innovating will always bring a level of risk. When projects get tough, a business needs the passion and determination to see it through, as well as the knowledge and acceptance that sometimes, things won’t work.

This stems from a belief that it is worth pursuing, the belief in a concept and commitment to create something that can be greater than the ‘norm’.

Innovation in action: Modo25

Case Study Film - Modo 25 - YouTube

A company who demonstrates this is Modo25, an inhousing and marketing technology provider who secured innovation support from the LEP to develop its Digital Marketing Platform Index, BOSCO™.

Chief Operating Officer at Modo25, Abi Liddle, commented: “Innovation is creating something new and purposeful - finding the cut-through among what others are doing. Innovation is also about inclusivity and getting to those who are unknowingly innovative.

We encourage people to share their ideas; we don’t claim to have all the answers so if someone has an idea and it’s got sound logic behind it, then why wouldn’t we give it a go? We’re not afraid to fail - if it doesn’t work, we ask why and learn from it".

How can the LEP support your innovation journey?

If you are a business with the ambition to bring your idea to reality, the LEP’s Connecting Innovation programme can help.

To hear more about how we can help you, contact the innovation team at ConnectingInnovation@the-lep.com.