In a business context, innovation is the ability to conceive, develop, deliver, and scale new products, services, processes, and business models for customers. Innovation is vitally important for a business if it wishes to retain or grow its market share. Innovation is like inventing something new or finding better ways to do things within a business. In simple terms it's like a chef coming up with a new dish or a smartphone company creating a phone with new features. These offer new benefits to the customer and will hopefully increase demand and therefore profits. The ways in which a business can be innovative are outlined below.

Creative Process: This is a staged approach to creativity which does not occur by accident and involves a set of distinct processes including...

• 1. Preparation- Research or reviewing current processes

  2. Incubation- A period of reflection and working through ideas both consciously and subconsciously

  3. Illumination- The light bulb moment when ideas become crystalised

  4. Implementation- When the ideas or process are put into action

Theoretical models exist in a vaiety of formats, stages and terminology, for example Graham Wallas' 1926 four stages of creativity model, where implementation is a verification stage, testing out the process for suitability.

In simple terms this is like the journey of coming up with new ideas. A company might brainstorm to think of cool features for their product.

The Google 80/20 creative process was a new and innocative business process and had many benefits to Google. Read more about it here.

Product or Service Development: This requires both innovation and logical steps to the process. While refining a current product or service might appear to take a less formal approach, there are theoretical models for new product development (NPD) developed by Booz, Allen and Hamilton. However, any business needs to establish a strategy for development to avoid compromising the existing business. 

In simple terms it's like improving what you sell. A computer company might develop a new laptop with faster performance and longer battery life.

Increasing Efficiency: New ways of increasing business efficiency or improving profitability are another way a business can be innovtive. Improvemnets to business efficiency can increase productivity, cut costs and improve profitability. Think of it as finding ways to do things faster and better. A delivery company might use new software to plan routes more efficiently.

Successfully exploiting a new idea is both innovative and enterprising and may be the start of a new business or development of an existing business. Examples of recent success stories include:

1. Innocent drinks

2. Moneysupermarket.com

3. Tyrell's Potato Crisps

4. Dyson and the bagless vacuum cleaner.

Adding Value: Adding value to products has become an expectation, especially as we are technologically dependent. Examples of digital and non-digital products include:

Adding cameras to mobile phones

Internet enabled phones

Sandwich packaging which also serves as a temporary tray

The Saucy Fish Co., where the packaging is used for the cooking process. 

In simple terms it's like making something even better. A coffee shop might offer free Wi-Fi to make their customers' experience more enjoyable.

Examples:

Apple's iPhone Innovation: When Apple launched the iPhone, it combined a phone, music player, and internet device. This innovation changed how people use technology in their daily lives.

Tesla's Electric Cars: Tesla innovated by making electric cars that are powerful and fun to drive. They differentiated themselves from traditional car companies by focusing on clean energy and cutting-edge technology.

Services are added and new markets are exploited to differentiate a business from its competitors, such as:

• The introduction of tablets transforming the popularity of desktop computers

• Reactolite rapide glasses enabling prescription glasses to react to light chnages.

• Velcro providing alternative fastening to traditional methods such as press studs or hooks and eyes and which can be used on a wider range of products such as trainers.

• Virgin, from the humble beginnings as a record shop in the 1960's, to record company diversifying into airlines, trains, telecommunications and finance

• Online banking and mobile banking, first introduced in the US in the early 1980's

• Standard broadband to fibre optic

• Multi-car insurance offering discounts for families with more than one car.

By definition enterprising is "having or showing initiative and resourcefulness". 

Enterprise: Creativity is sought by employers and it is required if a business is to thrive. Organisations exist to support the research and development of creative enterprise. Project teams explore ways to develop exciting and creative commercial enterprises. In simple terms enterprise is the adventurous spirit in business. It's like spotting opportunities and taking risks to make something new happen.

Identifying Opportunities: This involves careful analysis of your market and customers and noticing when something could become a successful business idea. If a person sees that many people are looking for a certain type of gadget, they might start a business to sell it.

Creative and Lateral Thinking: Lateral thinking is a concept originally created by Edeard de Bono to encourage creativity. You might know of this approach through the popular term "thinking outside the box". De Bono also introduced his "Six Hats" concept which means considering an idea from the perspective of how others might view it. His metaphor of wearing someone else's hat is deemed to be extremely powerful. This is about looking at things from new angles. Instead of just selling shoes, someone might think of a way to make shoes that change colours.

'Blue Sky' Thinking:  This represents a no holds barred approach to thinking creatively. Consider it as giving permission for anything to be possible- the sky's the limit to expand individual and group ideas beyond any constraints which may appear to exist. Imagine it as thinking without any limits. Someone might dream of creating a car that flies like a plane.

Chance and Serendipity: These are valuable ideas that occur out of the blue. They could relate to business which is unexpected, perhaps due to a misdialled phone number. For example, much like the serendipitous circumstances that led to the develoment of penicillin, James Schattler discovered the artificial sweetener Nutrasweet through unrelated work with amino acids. Of course, not all examples will result in a positive outcome, but one very famous of a discovery by chance and serendipity was made by Alan Turing's teem. Their discoveries ultimately saved thousands of lifes, ending the Second World War earlier than expected. Their work also led to the production of the world's first electronic computer. Other serendipity products include Kellogg's Corn Flakes which were developed due to a delayed cooking process. The medical sector have also known several serendipity moments. The discovery of penicillin being the main one.  Sometimes, good things happen by luck. Someone might start a small bakery and unexpectedly meet a chef who wants to invest and make it big.

Intuition: This can also lead to viable business opportunities. It can be considered to be something that happens by accident but theories exist that intuition occurs naturally as a result of complex thought processes and decision making. Many suggest that Steve Jobs showed great insight with his creation for Apple- he famously did little market research but, rather, offered the market what he felt they wanted, with obvious success. 

Examples:

• Amazon's Diversification: Amazon started as an online bookstore but used creative thinking to diversify into selling everything. They saw opportunities beyond just books.

• Airbnb's Lateral Thinking: Airbnb looked at people's spare rooms from a new perspective and created a platform for renting rooms to travelers. This creative approach disrupted the hotel industry.

Remember, innovation and enterprise are the engines that drive business growth and development. They're like the magic ingredients that turn small ideas into big successes.