Where’s the innovation in your business? Without innovation your company’s offerings will grow tired and growth will stagnate.
Peter Drucker, famous management guru, said, “The purpose of a business is to create a customer.”
A proven way to create customers is through innovation. We must always seek ways to improve how we serve clients to better meet their needs. If you’re looking for an essential baseline from which to innovate, think time and money savings. People will always pay to save time and money with a good product or service.
I’d like to introduce you to the Keurig, one cup coffee maker. I purchased this unit for my wife for her recent birthday. It’s vastly more expensive than your average coffee maker. You’d probably question whether you like coffee that much when confronted with the price.
Well, we do like coffee around here, but we have a basic problem. My wife drinks regular and I drink decaf. Do you really think we’re going to make 2 pots of coffee each time we want a cup? Moreover, our former coffee maker isn’t a one-cup device. We were always throwing out leftover coffee with it.
Because I couldn’t have my decaf at home so easily I found myself buying it at Starbucks quite often, say 2-4 times a week. If each cup costs me $2., then that’s $4 – $8 a week. Multiply that by 50 and you have as much as $400 being spent annually at Starbucks.
On top of that I have to go to one to get it, which I won’t do in pajamas on a Sunday morning. The Keurig solved these issues. They have what they call Kcups that make one cup at a time and it’s brewed to one of three strengths to suit every drinker. It’s faster than brewing a pot and will pay for itself many times over in the first year of use (for us).
The final innovation is this machine’s eco-system. There are 200 varieties of Kcups to choose from including tea and hot cocoa being supplied from numerous companies including Tully’s and Emeril’s. It’s incredible, really. So, I’m looking at this machine and thinking to myself, “Now how can I save my clients time and money with my services? And can I do it as well as the Keurig does?” Very good questions. What are your answers to these questions?
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